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Do you read «Case studies» and find it useful?

almost 5 years ago from , Founder

Hey everybody. I have found that «client's cases» trend gained incredible popularity among corporate blogs. I've spent a day viewing tons of Design companies blogs and found that very often description reminds praising itself rather than useful professional details of project, workflow, processes and etc. Content for content from copywriters.

Do you read it or flipping through the newsfeed?

Thanks, P

33 comments

  • Pedro PintoPedro Pinto, almost 5 years ago

    Hey Paul, I usually don't read case studies, only if they contain some relevant info about some topic that I might be interested at that time.

    Btw, probably you'll find this website useful: https://www.casestudy.club/

    6 points
    • Paul MitPaul Mit, almost 5 years ago

      Thanks for the link!

      Well, the problem is that you need spending some time looking through it to define whether it contains some relevant info or not. From my experience, about 90% of reading case studies in blogs are reading advertising articles.

      Now I think that the best way to know something useful is to read personal UX/UI blogs at Medium. That is less corporate.

      1 point
      • Pedro PintoPedro Pinto, almost 5 years ago

        Yes, and sometimes (if not most of the times) the case studies were written by content marketers that probably weren't directly involved in the project :/

        2 points
    • Jan Haaland, almost 5 years ago

      Thanks for sharing, Pedro! I'm Jan, the maker of Case Study Club.

      I completely agree... Case studies come in many different shapes and forms. Mostly based on intended use and audience.

      Since we’re discussing companies showcasing client work; I think it’s ok that their case studies are marketing material, angled towards prospective clients.

      On the other side, you can find long-format case studies posted on Medium and shorter-condensed versions found in portfolios.

      These are written by designers (like you and me). Their audiences are fellow designers eager to learn or design leaders looking to hire.

      In Case Study Club most of the featured case studies are the latter kind, sprinkled with occasional exceptional company features.

      Now... to answer your question; Yes, I do read case studies. To learn, grow and connect. Useful :)

      4 points
      • Pedro PintoPedro Pinto, almost 5 years ago

        I think most of the interesting Case Studies I've found were on Case Study Club. :) It's one of the newsletters that I usually open every week

        1 point
      • Paul MitPaul Mit, almost 5 years ago

        Jan, thanks for the comment, I've never met Case Study Club before, but I will read it, hope it will help us to create our own format for Case Studies. Is there any pieces of advice you can give? Thanks

        0 points
  • Dirk HCM van BoxtelDirk HCM van Boxtel, almost 5 years ago

    I read anything I can get my grubby hands on, as long as it contains information related to the topic I'm trying to learn more about.

    And if it's written in a smart way (scannable) I'll absorb even more of it.

    3 points
  • Nelson TarucNelson Taruc, almost 5 years ago

    The case studies I find most useful are when a project failed, but the designers/entrepreneurs learned something useful from that failure. Real stories that dive deep into those pain points, rather than gloss over them.

    Case studies of "successful" projects, in which the designers followed some version of "design thinking" methodology, and came to a great result … they rarely share the bumps in the process that would make them worth reading.

    2 points
    • Paul MitPaul Mit, almost 5 years ago

      Agree, but that needs a lot of courage to write about failed projects. I've never met published case like this.

      0 points
  • Jennifer Nguyen, almost 5 years ago

    As a designer, I don't find them very useful but I imagine that the target audiences are more so for prospective clients and partners. "Hey look at what we've done for this big client! You can be like this too". So it strikes me as more of a marketing tactic than anything. If you're looking for more in depth material, I would suggest following designers/design teams on Medium. For example: https://medium.com/google-design/evolution-of-android-homescreen-and-navigation-bad189d536f2

    2 points
    • Account deleted almost 5 years ago

      'it strikes me as more of a marketing tactic than anything'

      Pretty much this - Even when interviewing people, I'm not going to read 5000 words about how they draw wireframes. It's just there to look good 99% of the time.

      4 points
      • Paul MitPaul Mit, almost 5 years ago

        Todd, but what is most interesting when interviewing designer? Process, tools, oк what?

        0 points
        • Account deleted almost 5 years ago

          Depends on the job they're going for. If they're a visual designer, visual skills followed closely by their personality.

          0 points
          • Paul MitPaul Mit, almost 5 years ago

            Ok, if we are talking about UI Designer, what do you prefer to know, what would be interesting to you?

            0 points
            • Account deleted almost 5 years ago

              Sorry; should've clarified. I do mainly ui/ux work so for me a user interface is a visual designer. Same skillset :)

              0 points
    • Paul MitPaul Mit, almost 5 years ago

      Ok, thanks, got it!

      0 points
  • Isabelle LepezIsabelle Lepez, almost 5 years ago

    Created a lot them; didn't even read one as a potential customer ^

    1 point
  • Andy Dent, almost 5 years ago

    I read and clip case studies into Evernote. That gives me a persistent local copy to which I can save local links as I also 1) write commentary on them and 2) use them in design decision documents. They help inform my product design more than "how to" articles because they usually offer more explanation of WHY. One of the very best I've read this year https://www.uxfol.io/project/04f7271c/Add-a-Feature--Setting-the-conversation-level-with-your-Uber-driver

    1 point
  • Miklos Philips, almost 5 years ago

    There are great UX portfolios out there with very very detailed design case studies that are immensely valuable as to the process but I agree may not be relevant to your specific project. Nevertheless, looking through how other designers approached a problem and came up with a solution is immensely valuable. Check this out (yes, I put it together so I'm a "little" biased, but this has been massively researched over weeks and weeks. I'm not selling anything with it just providing info.) https://www.toptal.com/designers/ux/ux-designer-portfolios

    1 point
  • Jake BarryJake Barry, almost 5 years ago

    Some of my favorite case studies to read were from Teehan+Lax (when they were around). Still beautiful and inspiring to read today.

    For anyone who does branding work, I often find branding case studies to be more informative because the process and thinking is so integral to the work. Matchstic is one branding agency I enjoy following.

    1 point