When a technical writer looks for work, they use samples of previous work as evidence of their abilities: reports, proposals, editorial before and afters, FAQs, websites, data visualizations, info-graphics, video how-to, and so on. While a digital object itself testifies to the writer's production skills, surrounding that object with a multimodal narrative that explains how they came up with that specific solution to a client's real world problem elevates the sample work to the level of a case study. UXers use case studies extensively both for archival and marketing purposes.
Because your final deliverable in this class is a case study, it is vital that you inform yourself about them, look at enough to generalize a pattern and find a couple of models to follow.
George: Hey ChatGPT, Please define "case study" in a User Experience Context
ChatGPT:A UX case study typically includes the following elements:
- Problem Statement: Describes the problem or challenge that the project aimed to solve, often framed in terms of user needs or pain points.
- Research and Analysis: Details the research methods used to understand user behavior, preferences, and pain points. This may include user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and competitive analysis.
- Design Process: Explains the design process, including ideation, wireframing, prototyping, and user testing. It should highlight key design decisions and iterations made throughout the project.
- User-Centered Solutions: Discusses the solutions that were implemented to address the identified user needs or problems. This may involve the design of user interfaces, interactions, or information architecture.
- Usability Testing: Presents findings from usability testing sessions, including user feedback, observations, and any design changes made based on the test results.
- Results and Impact: Discusses the outcomes of the project, such as improved user satisfaction, increased conversion rates, or other measurable improvements in the user experience.
- Reflection and Learnings: Reflects on what went well during the project and what could have been done differently. This helps in sharing insights and best practices for the UX community.
- Visuals and Assets: Includes visuals like screenshots, wireframes, prototypes, and any other design assets that help illustrate the process and the final product.
UX case studies are, in other words, both archives and marketing tools. They demonstrate success at solving real problems and show exactly how the solution was derived.
Whenever possible, you should cross-check an AI's response with another's (or other sources of information). I asked MS's Copilot about UX case studies. Below is what it offered. Notice that it offered links.
George: Hey Copilot, In user experience research, the case study is a standard form of report. What are the common parts of a UX case study and what are some good examples?Copilot: A UX case study is a document that describes the process and outcome of a UX design project. It showcases the skills and abilities of a UX designer, as well as the challenges and solutions they encountered. A UX case study can help potential clients or employers evaluate the quality and value of a UX design.
There are many ways to write a UX case study, but a common format consists of the following parts:
- Background: This section provides some context and background information about the project, such as the client, the industry, the problem statement, and the goals and objectives.
- User research: This section explains how the UX designer conducted user research to understand the needs, preferences, behaviors, and pain points of the target users. It may include methods such as interviews, surveys, observations, personas, user journeys, etc.
- Ideation: This section describes how the UX designer generated and evaluated ideas to solve the problem. It may include methods such as brainstorming, sketching, wireframing, prototyping, etc.
- Design: This section presents the final design solution that was chosen after testing and feedback. It may include screenshots or mockups of the interface elements, interactions, animations, etc.
- Evaluation: This section summarizes how the design solution was tested with real users and what results were achieved. It may include metrics such as usability scores, satisfaction ratings, conversion rates, etc.
- Reflection: This section reflects on what was learned from the project and what challenges were faced. It may also include recommendations for future improvements or similar projects.
Some examples of UX case studies are:
- [Perfect Recipe]: This is a mobile application that enables users to search for food recipes and to buy what they need to cook different dishes. The case study illustrates how the UX designer applied product personalization features to enhance user engagement and satisfaction.
- [CareerFoundry]: This is an online platform that offers courses in web development and design. The case study demonstrates how the UX designer conducted user research to understand their target audience's needs and motivations.
- [Bootcamp]: This is a website that provides resources for learning web development skills. The case study shows how the UX designer used user research methods to create a project overview that covers all aspects of a UX case study.
I hope this helps you understand what a UX case study is and how to write one. If you have any questions or feedback, please let me know 😊 Source: Conversation with Bing, 11/16/2023
Every time you complete a project (UX or otherwise), you should add a case study about it to your portfolio. If you don't yet have any content for your portfolio, you can create hypothetical case studies to showcase how you would solve problems given the opportunity. Below are two links to Case Study Generators which offer prompts that might inspire you to design something you could then use to show the world how you can solve problems.
At the dawn of AI-assisted composition, I think anyone who wants to be a technical writer needs several case studies in their portfolio that demonstrate both effective prompt crafting and rhetorically asstute robot-prose editing. What the machines generate sounds like a machine generated it, for the most part. It's clear but uniform. I think companies want people who can produce a great deal more writing now than in the past, but they also don't want all that prose to sound machine-generated -- even flat gray needs a clear coat.
7 Best UX Case Study Generators (and how to use them)