Published on <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/7-tips-for-writing-more-compelling-case-studies-f479c76f068b?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Vivian Chung 
You chose to become a UX Designer because you’re a creative problem solver. You love the wireframing, sticky notes, whiteboarding, mockups, and collaborating with others to create cool, beautiful, and usable things.
No one said anything about writing. Enter: the dreaded case study.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/245/1*a0jiBu8ecVnN9EpKDQVY9g.gif">
Even as someone who used to make her bread and butter on writing, design case studies made me anxious. What do I talk about? How much is too much? Too little? What do hiring managers want to see? Gah!
To help anyone out there who may be struggling or looking to improve their case studies, I’ve compiled a short list of tips (in no particular order) for writing more compelling case studies.
<ol>
<li>Always start with an outline. Even a rough outline with just the broad headings (e.g. research, ideation) is better than nothing. We do so much during the design process that it can get exceptionally overwhelming to go straight from doing to writing about it all. Ideally, once you have the broad headings written down, you can jot down a few sub-headings (e.g. research &gt; what we needed to know; user insights).</li>
<li>Tell a story. Give the reader context for the utility of the solution you’ve designed. Where and who is/would use this solution? This can be especially difficult for school projects that are theoretical or if you’re working — usually for free — with concept-stage start ups. It could be something as simple as writing out a brief scenario for when your solution would come in handy. Giving context for your solution encourages the reader to look at your solution not only in terms of its visual appeal but also its utility within the context given.</li>
<li>Explicitly state the impact. This applies to the overall solution as well as specific design stages. If you’re struggling with thinking about what the impact of, for example, the research stage was, ask yourself: what was the result of the research stage? Did your research reveal cultural traditions? Or redefine the user problem?</li>
<li>Plan the structure of each section. Example: Research goals &gt; tools used &amp; why &gt; interesting/important data &gt; transformation of data into user insights &gt; impact on problem definition/user need Again, the intent is to break things down into manageable chunks so we’re not paralyzed by information overload. It also makes it easier for the reader to follow because of the logical flow of information.</li>
<li>Headings should not be an afterthought. The longer the article, the more likely we are to only skim the headings and sub-headings. This means that headings should, at the very least, convey the most important point of the section. Ideally, a well-thought heading will also hook the reader to actually read the section. For example: “User Research” vs. “User Research: insights into motivations &amp; challenges”</li>
<li>Find the right balance of words and images. Images are great, particularly because we’re in a visual and creative profession. However, too many images without enough description makes it difficult for the reader to understand what the image is supposed to illustrate and can break the flow of your story in a bad way.</li>
<li>Explain how you found your user problem and why you focused on designing a solution for it. Especially at the beginning of our UX design career, we’re being hired for our ability to find and frame a meaningful user problem. As such, it’s not enough to say that the problem was an ugly website or that the solution is a redesigned website. If that was what the client initially said they wanted, then talk about the process you went through to dig further.</li>
</ol>
Hopefully these tips help! And who knows, maybe you’ll actually enjoy writing case studies sometime in the future. Maybe.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/250/1*3fBM5mbM6i2alcEbZpglfA.gif">
Do you have any other tips for writing more compelling case studies? Please share with me below! I’m always looking for ways to improve my writing skills as well.
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<a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/7-tips-for-writing-more-compelling-case-studies-f479c76f068b">7 tips for writing more compelling case studies</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io">Prototypr</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

7 tips for writing more compelling case studies

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