Skip to content
Design Academy My progress

Template

Portfolio case study outline

A skimmable structure for a 5 to 10 minute case study that shows your reasoning.

Case study outline

Title

A specific outcome-focused title, for example "Making first-time bookings possible on mobile".

Summary (3 sentences)

  • Problem:
  • What I did:
  • Outcome: (only what you can honestly claim)

Role: Team: Timeline: Tools:

1. Context

Who are the users? What did the organisation need? What were the constraints (time, technology, budget, policy)?

2. The problem

What was going wrong and how did you know? Include the problem statement.

3. Research

What did you do, with whom, and why that method? Show one artefact that mattered (an affinity map photo, a journey map). Two or three key insights, each with evidence.

4. Exploration

Show two or three directions you considered. Why did you reject the others?

5. Design

Annotated final screens. For each, one caption explaining the decision and the reason.

6. Testing and iteration

What did you test, with whom? What changed as a result? Before and after.

7. Outcome

Results with honest numbers, or qualitative results clearly labelled. If the project is not launched, say what you would measure.

8. Reflection

What would you do differently? What did you learn?


Final checks

  • Every image has a caption that explains a decision
  • No invented data or quotes
  • Client and personal data removed or permission obtained
  • Readable in under ten minutes
  • Alt text on images
View the Markdown source
# Case study outline

## Title
A specific outcome-focused title, for example "Making first-time bookings possible on mobile".

## Summary (3 sentences)
- **Problem:**
- **What I did:**
- **Outcome:** (only what you can honestly claim)

**Role:** **Team:** **Timeline:** **Tools:**

## 1. Context
Who are the users? What did the organisation need? What were the constraints (time, technology, budget, policy)?

## 2. The problem
What was going wrong and how did you know? Include the problem statement.

## 3. Research
What did you do, with whom, and why that method? Show one artefact that mattered (an affinity map photo, a journey map). Two or three key insights, each with evidence.

## 4. Exploration
Show two or three directions you considered. Why did you reject the others?

## 5. Design
Annotated final screens. For each, one caption explaining the decision and the reason.

## 6. Testing and iteration
What did you test, with whom? What changed as a result? Before and after.

## 7. Outcome
Results with honest numbers, or qualitative results clearly labelled. If the project is not launched, say what you would measure.

## 8. Reflection
What would you do differently? What did you learn?

---

### Final checks
- [ ] Every image has a caption that explains a decision
- [ ] No invented data or quotes
- [ ] Client and personal data removed or permission obtained
- [ ] Readable in under ten minutes
- [ ] Alt text on images

All templates