We’re at the point where you can start to showcase your work. Since we’ll undertake three projects during this course, we’ll stop the first project now so you can learn about case studies and create your first one. Also, this week we’ll introduce your second project.
In upcoming weeks we’ll learn about usability testing and visual design, which of course are key components in UX. Towards the end of this class you should have time to return to this first project and add those pieces to this case study if you plan to use it in your portfolio.
What is a UX Case Study?
A UX case study showcases all the steps you followed while completing a project. This includes your research, artifacts such as user flows and personas, a synopsis of your design process, usability testing, visual design, and a conclusion. While your final solution is perhaps the most important part, the real purpose of the case study is to demonstrate your knowledge of UX.
And I’ll let you in on a secret. The UX people who will consider you for a job DON’T want to see what a great idea you had at the outset of your project – they’d rather see your original idea, which may have been ok, so-so, mediocre, or just meh, and see how you followed the UX process to turn it into a strong solution. As with so many other things UX, it’s all about the process.
In this article for UX Collective, Jared Spool shares his secret for how new UX designers can impress hiring managers: Focus on what you’ve learned.
He offers this rarely-used portfolio trick to help you stand out and impress a hiring manager:
Start each case study with a detailed description of what you didn’t know at the beginning of the project. Tell them what you thought was correct and were later proven wrong. Tell them what had never occurred to you until you were deep into the project. You obviously know it now, which means you must have learned it along the way. Show the transformation in your thinking.
Nobody does this. It’ll completely take the hiring manager by surprise.