The case method began to be used in education relatively recently, but it is rapidly gaining popularity and demonstrates high efficiency.
The main difference between this method and traditional teaching methods is that the case does not have a uniquely correct solution. Each student can offer the most optimal, in his opinion, way out of the proposed situation. In the case method, the emphasis is not on the result, but on finding solutions and discussing them.
Many students, when faced with cases for the first time, do not know how to approach a task that is different from traditional and familiar tasks. Let's understand what cases are, how to solve them and design them. But first, a little history.
Definition and history
Case – from Latin case – a problem or situation that requires a solution.
The solution to the case is not in textbooks; you should look for it only in your own head. Theory and practice, as we know, go side by side, but at the same time they stand on different banks. Even if you take all the textbooks in the world, they will not contain descriptions of situations that happen in real life.
This is exactly what the wise professors thought about Harvard university V 1924 year. It was simply impossible to train specialists in modern specialties using existing textbooks.
Then the university organized seminars where entrepreneurs and businessmen told students about the real problems that their companies faced. Students had to propose their own solution, which each one chose individually.
This method of training quickly brought results. Thanks to the cases, graduates received practical experience while still at the university and were well prepared to solve non-standard problems.
If cases have become popular all over the world already in 50 -X years 20 century, then into the education system Russia this method came only after the millennium. Nowadays, case assignments are actively used in education, and it is simply irresponsible to underestimate their benefits.
What goals does the consideration of case situations help to achieve as part of the educational process?
- Development of intellectual abilities;
- the ability to defend one’s position with reason;
- resistance to stress;
- development of communication skills and the ability to work in a team.
Cases exist in almost all fields of knowledge. After all, problematic situations arise and can be modeled in every profession: medicine, law, pedagogy, psychology, business analytics.
By the way! For our readers there is now a 10% discount on any type of work
Cases in business
Cases are actively used not only in training, but also in business. To attract new clients, a company can write a case based on a specific situation.
Example: a company is engaged in demolition of buildings. The case posted on the website examines the task of demolishing an old power plant in the city of Tolochin. A potential customer, having read the case, immediately sees how the work happens, what equipment is used, and how real practical problems are solved. In other words, this is a clear demonstration of the service in action.
Thus, the case is a powerful tool for promoting services and products. 
Another popular use of cases is using them in interviews. Instead of studying resumes, applicants are asked to go through a case interview and offer solutions to several situations, after which it immediately becomes clear whether the candidate is suitable for the position.
Here is an example of an interview case.
Situation: poet Marina Tsvetaeva was left without work. She can translate from French and German, and has a musical and philological education. You are her agent. What are your actions to successfully help Marina find a job? When solving a situation, you can use data from the biography of the poetess.
As you can see, there really is no clear solution to such a task, but the ways to solve it will allow you to judge such qualities as the ability to negotiate and competently argue.
How to write and design a case
Many people ask themselves the question: how to properly prepare a case? A case is a non-standard task, so when designing it you don’t have to adhere to strict rules. In other words, preparing a case is not as serious a task as preparing a coursework or diploma.
What the case should contain:
- Title. It is important that the title reflects the essence of the case and gives an advance idea of the situation that will be considered further.
- Description of the situation. It's like the "given" section in physics problems. To make information easier to perceive, the situation can be divided into points.
- Searching of decisions. Detailed description, analysis of ways to solve the case and selection of the optimal way out of the situation. Everything needs to be considered here possible options indicating the expected consequences.
- Description of the result. This paragraph describes the result of actions to solve the problem. What happened, what happened and why.
It is recommended to choose a font that is comfortable and easy to read. In the design of the case, the use of illustrative materials is encouraged: graphs, diagrams, videos, tables. Cases are often presented in the form of presentations.
Any experience is gained through difficult trial and error. Now you can avoid this by contacting our authors to complete the case. We will not only solve assignments, but also help you prepare a document or case presentation, which will only need to be submitted to the teacher for review. Learn easily and gain new experiences with Zaochnik!
Gaining the trust of potential clients is not easy. First you need to convince them of the validity of your promises. And only bare facts can help with this.
The best way to prove your value is to create a case. It can highlight how your offer has positively impacted the business of existing or past clients.
Step 1: Select the right candidate
To write a case study, you need permission, citations, and an outline. Here's what to look for when choosing a potential candidate:
- Product Knowledge: The more familiar a customer is with your product or service, the better. This will ensure that he communicates the value of your offer as needed.
- Significant results: For effective cases, it is better to choose companies with the best results. If they really like your brand, then they have the enthusiasm you need.
- Unexpected success: unusual clients whose results have improved significantly after working with you will help overcome any doubts of potential buyers.
- Famous names: While smaller companies can also have interesting stories, large and well-known brands will help you build trust and status for your brand.
- Former clients of competitors: clients who contact you after collaborating with competitors will help highlight your advantages and increase the odds in your favor.
Step 2. Contact case participants
Before you start work, you need to prepare the ground for communication. To do this, discuss expectations and set deadlines in advance.
The preparation of most cases lasts for indefinite time because deadlines were not set for clients, or all conditions were not agreed upon. To avoid this, it is necessary to discuss organizational issues at the very beginning, and only then get to work.
To do this, you can send an email message with information about what the client should expect from, as well as what you expect from him. To facilitate communication, it is recommended to use the Case Study Consent Form and Case Study. What is this?
Consent form for participation in case study
This document will vary depending on the size of your business, type of activity and purpose of the study. Here's what you need to pay special attention to:
When creating a Success Story, you need to pay attention to the following elements:
- Agreement: First, you need to obtain consent from the company's marketing team, as well as a signed Consent Form to participate in the case study. At this stage, it is advisable to determine a time frame that would satisfy both parties.
- Questionnaire: To conduct an effective interview, it is best to first ask participants to fill out questionnaires. They will be an excellent basis for future conversation.
- Interview: After completing the questionnaire, participants must be contacted to schedule an interview lasting 30-60 minutes. Questions should focus on the experience of interacting with your product or service.
- Short review: After drawing up a draft case, it is necessary to send it to clients for approval.
- Final confirmation: After making all the necessary changes, send the final version of the case to clients for final confirmation. After the study is published, share the link with participants. Ask them to share this link with friends and colleagues, because the case will help them highlight the rapid growth of the company.
Step 3: Make sure you're asking the right questions
When writing questionnaires and preparing interview questions, you need to make sure that you have done your best for future success. For truly meaningful research, it is important to not just ask questions, but to ask the right questions.
You can use the following in the questionnaire:
- What are your goals?
- What difficulties did you encounter before using our product or service?
- How is our product or service different from our competitors?
- What does your decision-making process look like?
- How has using our product or service helped your business? (Please provide exact numbers if possible.)
Remember that the questionnaire is designed to help you identify areas that need to be explored in more detail during the interview.
When organizing a telephone interview, it is advisable to ask open-ended questions. If you want an interesting and useful story, yes-or-no questions won't suffice. Don’t forget about clarifying questions: “could you describe...” or “tell me more about...”.
To increase efficiency, it is recommended to break the interview into six parts: the client’s business, the need to solve the problem, the decision-making process, implementation, the solution in action, and the result. Using these questions will allow you to gather enough information for a complete study. Here's what these sections might look like:
Client's business
The purpose of this section is to better understand the current challenges and goals for the company, and how they combine with the state of the industry.
Examples of questions: How long have you been in this business? How many employees do you have? What are the goals of your departments currently?
The need to solve the problem
Creating a good story requires context. This will help match the client's needs with your solution.
Examples of questions: What problems and goals created the need to find a solution? What would happen if you didn't find a solution? Before working with us, did you use solutions that didn’t work? If so, what happened?
Decision making process
Understanding the decision-making processes of existing customers will help you manage the decision-making processes of potential customers.
Examples of questions: How did you hear about our product or service? Who was involved in the selection process? What was most important to you when considering your options?
Implementation
In this section, you should pay attention to the experience in the process of mastering a product or service.
Examples of questions: How long did it take you to master the product or service? Did it meet your expectations? Who was involved in the process?
Solution in Action
The purpose of this section is to better understand how a customer uses your product or service.
Examples of questions: Is there one element of the product or service that you rely on most? Who uses the product or service?
Result
Here you need to pay attention to the impressive results and conclusions. The more numbers there are, the better.
Examples of questions: How does a product or service help you save time and increase productivity? How has this impacted your competitive advantage? How much did you manage to increase indicators A, B and C?
Step 4. Create a case
When it comes time to collect all the information received and create a case, it is easy to get confused. Where to begin? What to include? Which structure to choose?
Remember that there is no recipe for the perfect case. But in any case, the format should be visual - using photos and videos.
Be sure to add the following elements to your research:
- Heading: it should be as short as possible, reflecting only the most significant results.
- Summary: use 2-4 sentences here that explain the essence of the research, and be sure to include 2-3 impressive facts confirming the success.
- About the client: This part is a description of the person or company you worked with; you can use information from the Internet for it.
- Challenges: This section should include 2-3 paragraphs describing the challenges customers faced before using your product or service, and it is also advisable to add a description of their goals.
- How you helped: This section should be 2-3 paragraphs talking about how your product or service solved your customer's problems.
- Their results: In this section, in 2-3 paragraphs, you need to indicate how your product or service influenced the person or company and also helped in achieving goals. It is advisable to use data.
- Visual content or quotes: choose two or three striking quotes from the previous text, and also select suitable illustrations.
Examples of cases
So that you know what kind of result you should get, it is useful to analyze the best cases from famous brands. You will find some of the most successful examples below.
1. “New England Journal of Medicine” by Corey McPherson Nash
All the work of branding and design studio Corey McPherson Nash attracts attention with striking visual elements. This is not surprising, because this is their sphere professional activity. And the New England Journal of Medicine project was no exception. In it, the brand literally showed what results they managed to achieve.
2. “Shopify Uses HubSpot CRM to Transform High Volume Sales Organization” from HubSpot
This case is different in the way it presents the client. This approach is the HubSpot credo: the customer always comes first. The study explains why Shopify uses HubSpot, complete with video and statistics. Please note that this case combines different types content.
3. “Designing the Future of Urban Farming” by IDEO
IDEO knows a lot about simple cases. As soon as the user lands on the page, he is greeted by a large photo and two simple columns with text: problem - solution. Below, the entire process of cooperation is described in more detail and interestingly.
4. “Secure Wi-Fi Wins Big for Tournament” by WatchGuard
In this case, the visual content (video) tells the whole story. It contains information about the company and a description of the experience of cooperation with Windmill Ultimate Frisbee.
When planning content, you should try to present the collected information in the most understandable and in simple form. Organize the structure so that the text is easy to read, and also be sure to include visual elements and a call to action so interested readers can learn more about your product or service.
When I was in my fourth year, we were told how to write cases and were asked to do a case study for home. To be honest, I didn’t understand what they wanted from me then. In-depth interview - everything is clear: you need to find several people and talk to them. A survey is the same: you hand out questionnaires, wait for them to fill them out, and then process the data. Even ethnographic research seemed complex, but more or less transparent. What is a case study? What information do you need to find and what to do with it?
I failed the assignment and received a negative grade. But my classmate did brilliantly. He took the story of one event, described it from start to finish, found photos, videos, other people’s interviews, articles related to the topic on the Internet, and put it all together.
My article will be useful for entrepreneurs who want to find new clients, as well as for copywriters who want to master new format. Well, let's improve our skills and income?
What is a case: a brief excursion
As you already understood, cases are descriptions of specific cases in a logical sequence. They are needed to teach people through real examples. It all started in the 20s of the twentieth century, when teachers at Harvard Business School realized that dry theory was not enough for students, and decided to add some real-life stories to the curriculum. Subsequently, the case method entered the academic environment and is now used in many areas, from accounting to psychology. Also, in the hands of entrepreneurs, it has become a tool for attracting audiences and making profits.
In other words, today everyone needs cases. No matter who you work with, the ability to write them will be useful to you. Especially if you work in the field of internet marketing.
Cases are made for a reason. They are needed to:
- show a successful project;
- note your strengths and weaknesses;
- optimize the workflow;
- make a name for yourself.
Do not think that cases are written only for personal gain. They demonstrate the real-life experience of one person or team that can potentially help others solve similar problems. This is very useful and the right type content, which is why they actually love him.
The secret to the popularity of cases is obvious. An excerpt from real life is always more interesting than information chewed a hundred times. Think for yourself, what would you open first: the routine rules for promoting on social networks or a text with the title “How I got promoted on Instagram in 2 months and started earning 20,000 or more from advertising”? Same thing.
Can I build a case from scratch?
I would be lying if I said that writing a case study is easy. In fact, this is a job for a one-man orchestra. It is necessary not only to write the material well, but also to present it competently. You must become not just an author, but also a designer, a creative, an analyst, a storyteller, a bit of a comedian and, most importantly, an expert on the topic you are writing about.
In large companies, cases are developed by a whole team. One sits on the text, another edits, the third selects illustrations, the fourth typesets, the fifth brings coffee to everyone else. But there are also specialists who combine these skills. If you dream of creating completely original content or you simply don’t have the money to hire a staff of assistants, you can really learn everything.
Preparing to write a case
Before you sort the case into pieces, collect all the information about it. Those who make a custom case need to interview the client and take from him materials that may be useful. For those who are making a case for themselves, it is advisable to chronicle the event that will be described, and at the end simply format it into an article.
Dutch professor Jamie Anderson from TiasNimbas Business School states that writing a case should be carried out under the guidance of the company's top manager. This means that the customer can and should control the process. Do not hesitate to pester your client with questions and involve him in the case in every possible way. In the end, you both work for the result.
3 fatal mistakes when writing a case study
Inexperienced authors sometimes miscalculate. Most often this happens because they do not understand the essence of the work and do not know why to do it. Let's list the most common mistakes and never make them again.
Dubious news feed
"God Ex Machina"
Cases should demonstrate how youon one's owncope with difficulties. If you initially had a wealthy patron who hired staff and bought advertising, what will you tell readers about? Perhaps it’s about how to find a sponsor and captivate him with your idea - but this is a topic for a separate story.
Mistake with the target audience
Do you work remotely, sit at the computer for 6 hours a day and earn 40 thousand? This will not surprise experienced colleagues. Have you signed a multi-million dollar contract with an official Apple representative? For twenty-year-old budget students, this is, of course, very important information.
Think carefully about who you are addressing your message to. One wrong step - and your case will gather only 10 readers instead of 10,000. If you want to write on the first topic, contact not the luminaries of freelancing, but rather newcomers who dream of working outsourced, but do not believe that they can get real money there. If you take the second one, focus on top businessmen, and not on the middle and lower class. Get a feel for your target audience.
Size is not the main thing
There are cases that take up a full third of a dissertation, and there are notes that will take no more than 10 minutes to read. Conventionally, they can all be divided into:
- mini-cases (1–2 pages);
- condensed narratives (3–5 pages);
- full cases (from 20 pages and above)
It doesn't matter how much you write. Talk as much as necessary. Omitting important facts for fear that your text will not be read is just as bad as inflating the number of characters for the sake of respectability. If you want to enlarge the text, do it by useful information. If you feel that it wouldn’t hurt to shorten it, remove sentences and verbal structures that do not carry a semantic load.
What will make you read your case to the end?
The case is written in easy language. The reader must fly along it like a slippery slide (hello, Sugarman!), forgetting about time. This is not difficult to achieve: clean out verbal garbage and don’t talk like a paper rat.
There are many good cases without frills, written in pure information style. They are pleasant to read, you don’t stumble over them and you don’t feel Finnish shame for the author. But if you want to become a real pro, this is not enough. A case study becomes truly beautiful when it is presented not as a neutral narrative, but as a compelling story. To charm the public and become an author for whom customers will fight, master storytelling .
How to do this is a topic for a separate article. For now, just know that if you work in this field, you will leave your competitors far behind.
Tell us about your disaster
When we sit down to write a case, the first thing we dance about is its general line. Traditionally, cases are divided into two types: a success story and the so-called fuck up - a serious defeat, a bummer, a failure. With the first one, everything is clear: we talk about how we got a great result by doing such and such. But let's take a closer look at the second one.
If you have worked at least a little in sales, you know that clients are not so easily fooled. They no longer believe in fairy tales about superhuman businessmen, one hundred percent. positive reviews And flexible systems discounts They need facts and, preferably, without embellishment. A case about your failure is a great chance to demonstrate that you, too, can make mistakes, but at the same time you have the courage and integrity to admit it.
To achieve the desired effect, the fak-up must contain:
- chronology of events that led you to failure;
- reasons why you did not get the desired result;
- a short guide on what you are going to do to fix the errors;
- some tips for readers that will insure them against such defeats
Sometimes fuck-ups reach the audience better than success stories. Just when you start writing for one client or for yourself, don’t get too carried away with them. If a business experiences one failure after another, then something is wrong with it. Try to have 10 success stories for every sorrowful confession.
What does the case consist of: 5 main elements
Now that you understand what you can and cannot do in cases, let's talk about their structure. Let's start right away withheader.
A case is such a wonderful thing for which you don’t need to come up with a complicated name. Just remember this pattern:
Don't forget about the teaser details too. Use numbers (“How I launched a humorous public page on VKontakte and collected 10,000 subscribers in a week”), talk about material benefits (“How I went freelance and started earning 3 times more than in the office”), play with paradoxes (“ How I destroyed my business and became a millionaire." A little touch of “salesmanship” won’t hurt.
Introduction
The next important part of the case isleador the first paragraph. Remember that people will never waste time on text from the Internet if it does not spark interest from the very first seconds. Let's not blame them for this innocent feature - it's better to think about how to turn it to our advantage.
There are three ways to make readers fall in love with your case at first sight:
- immediately give them food for thought;
- play on emotions;
- start with a story that you can't tear yourself away from.
The case itself
That's all, you have hooked a person's heart. Now you can go tomain part. You don't need to demonstrate brilliant marketing skills here. Write the “body” of the text like a regular longread, but don’t forget to mention the following elements:
- the task you have set for yourself;
- the steps you took to deal with it;
- problems that arose along the way;
- ways to solve them;
- result.
Conclusion
When the main part is ready, you can move on toconclusion. What did you understand for yourself after what happened? How did the situation help you become stronger/smarter/richer? What should readers take away from the above? Answer these three questions and powerful insights are at hand.
Call to action
The very last line, which should never be forgotten:call to action. We are lying if we pretend that we are writing a case study only for the love of art. Our ultimate goal is to sell a product or get in front of the public once again. This means that at the end of an exciting story, you should gently push the reader to necessary action. Like, repost, order a service - whatever, depending on your intentions.
Cases show clients how cool your business is: the competence of specialists, work procedures, problems that you can solve. A good case proves expertise better than dull descriptions of services. It's powerful marketing tool, and you need to know how to use it. Let's figure out how to write cases that will benefit your business.
We have a minimum of content on our website: a little about the services, a few words about the agency - that’s all. But we put a lot of effort into cases - this is the basic information that allows clients to understand how we can help.
Over the course of our work, we have completed hundreds of cases: for ourselves and clients, for posting on the website and for PR. Some successful and some not so successful. Therefore, we know well how to write the right cases that will benefit the business. We share our experience with you: we give advice, show cool examples.
Case structure
Regardless of the direction of your business, the structure of the cases will be the same, plus or minus:
- Client: who did you work with, what kind of people are they, what do they do.
- Problem: What task did the client come with, what were the difficulties, what needed to be done, what results were expected.
- Solution: what team worked on the project, what they did and how, what difficulties arose during the process, how they were solved.
- Result: what worked, what didn’t work, what benefits they brought to the client, reviews.
A good conclusion to a case is a call to action. Like, let us do the same great thing for you, please contact us. We have created a template call on the site that is automatically added to the end of each case.
It is not necessary to make a template. If you are not too lazy, write an individual appeal for each case - most likely, this will work better. But that's okay too
Before you start writing a case, we advise you to draw up a thesis plan. Just collect all the information in one document, think over the sequence of presentation and distribute the abstracts into the resulting sections. This is purely our editorial advice - it’s easier to cope with a large amount of information and not forget anything.
Where to start the case - tell us about the task and the client
This section brings the reader up to speed. The best work is for cases in which the reader immediately understands: “Oh, this is the same problem as mine!”
Write a couple of paragraphs about the client - who approached you, what he is known for, what he is good at. Praise your customers and show them their good side - the coolness of your counterparties says a lot about your business.
Then tell us what problems the client had and why he contacted you. List the work you performed. If there is an expected or predicted result, you can indicate it.
Example from our website:
There is no need to make huge descriptions that fill a whole page. The client and tasks can be described in a couple of paragraphs - this is an important, but not the most interesting part of the case
If the client has previously contacted other companies and they were unable to help, be sure to write about it. This detail will perfectly demonstrate the complexity of the project. But try not to impose your assessment of the situation on the reader - let him draw his own conclusion.
In our cases, we write a brief summary at the beginning - what we did, what results we got. This way the reader immediately understands whether this case is interesting to him or whether it is better to read another one. And then the standard scheme follows: problem → solution → result.
If you like our case template, enjoy it =)
Describe the process
This is the most important and voluminous part of the case. It is by this that a potential client will judge your competence and approach to work.
How detailed to describe depends only on your desire. You can write an interesting case for several paragraphs, or you can make a large, detailed story describing each step.
Keep in mind that the shorter the case, the higher the chance that it will be read at all. If the project was simple, do not write it down to 100,500 pages. Briefly describe what you did and why. But if you were conducting large-scale research, building a business center, or doing something else complex, it would be a sin to hush up the details.
The narrative format can be anything: a simple listing of facts, step by step process, storytelling. It all depends on the audience and your storytelling skills.
For example, for the recruiting agency Intella we wrote short stories that took a couple of minutes to read.
Who were they looking for, what was the difficulty, how did they decide, where did they finally find it - everything is short and concise
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Also, reviews from the client will fit well into this section. Ask them to tell you what they liked about your work and to voice the results. And try to get a detailed comment. Reviews in the spirit of “Everything is cool, thank you” look unconvincing and work poorly.
And don’t be shy to tell us that something didn’t work out for you. Describe why this happened, what conclusions you made, and how to prevent such situations in the future. This will not scare away potential clients, but rather will show your honesty and openness. Everyone understands perfectly well that there is no business without problems and failures.
How to name a case
We usually write a title for any text at the very end - when we already know exactly what is being discussed inside.
There are 2 successful header templates for cases.
Explain the essence of the work. Describe in a few words exactly what you did. For example:
- Website for a dental clinic
- Made cosmetic repairs in a three-room apartment
- Implemented new software at a state-owned enterprise
Show result. If you have a cool measurable result, you can put it right in the title. Examples:
- Reduced energy costs by 47%
- We built a two-story house in 2 months
- Increased website traffic by 3 times
If the site design allows, you can combine both types. For example, the title shows the essence of the work, and the subtitle immediately reveals the result. This is how we design our cases.
In the feed you can immediately see the essence of the work and the result
If you worked with a well-known company, you can promote yourself a little on it. Write the client's name in the title - this will give the case additional weight:
- We created a remote editorial office for the Beeline website
- Found a senior .Net developer for Microsoft
- How we did PR for Burger King for 3 years
How to submit a case
Most companies format cases like regular articles - it’s convenient and fast. And such material can be placed on an external platform, and not just on your website.
Another option is to design a separate page template to suit your needs. We advise you to bother with this only when you have clearly decided on the structure and presentation of your cases. Write a couple of dozen materials, make an ideal plan - and only then spend money and time on a template.
Nimax agency prepares information about the client and the task according to ready-made template: on the left is the logo, on the right is a neat text block and a link to the site
We also created a template - this saves time when designing. There is no need to think through what should look like - we just enter the information into the previously prepared fields and that’s it.
The third way to design a case is to make a new one original design for each material. This approach is justified in areas where people “buy with their eyes” - for example, in design. Cases of designers and web developers should be beautiful in themselves - because this additionally shows the skill of the companies.
The Func agency does not have two identically designed cases - each has its own layout and presentation. Such pages themselves demonstrate the skill of the designer.
By the way, it is not necessary to spend money on design and layout. You can design your cases on a website builder - for example, on Tilda. There you can make a beautiful page without any design or web development skills. Everything is assembled from ready-made blocks like a construction set.
This is how we designed the case for Stereomarketing. It contained a lot of small details, illustrations and comments - in the format of an article it would have turned out to be a mess. With Tilda's help, we put together a page in a day that we wouldn't be ashamed to show to the agency's potential clients.
The result is a neat and beautiful page: with examples, photo galleries and comments to clients
Find a balance between cool wow design and inconspicuous text. Making each case a work of art is only justified if your business is related to design. In other cases, just neatly designed text, photographs and screenshots will suffice.
Cases can be posted not only on your website
The most obvious way to use cases is to create a “Portfolio” section on the website and throw all your work there. This way, site visitors will be able to learn more about your competence and approach to work.
But with the help of cases, you can also promote your business on external platforms. If you worked on a non-standard project or can boast of cool results, write a case article and publish it on some specialized website.
Our client, Kaiten service, helps businesses organize team work and optimize the production process. The guys write cases on projects from different niches and publish them on vc.ru. Such materials are seen by thousands of new people - and Kaiten receives many clicks to the site and applications.
When writing a case study for external placement, be sure to briefly describe what you do in general. The local audience doesn't know your company, so you need to introduce yourself. And be sure to add a link to your website or contacts so that interested readers can contact you.
The case doesn't have to be dry and boring. To be read as much as possible more people, add challenge, provocation, a little yellowness. We focused on an unexpected result - the dismissal of some staff. This caused a strong reaction from the audience, the case went viral and received a lot of views.
Of course, the material was not only about dismissal - in it we showed all the work, cool results and a satisfied customer. As a result, one case provided StereoMarketing with orders for several months in advance.
By the way, we have . Read it if you want to publish the case in this media.
What projects should you write cases for?
If you have few projects, then for all of them. At least for the first time, to build a portfolio in which the client can get lost for an hour.
If there are already more than 10 completed projects, then there are two ways, both good.
Talk about all projects. This is time-consuming, and you need to think about the right navigation system - otherwise potential clients they won't find anything. But a counter for 500 or 1000 completed projects will very convincingly show your experience.
Artemy Lebedev is following this path - there are already almost 4,000 works on the studio’s website, and new ones appear regularly
Choose only interesting ones. A famous client, a non-standard task, a large-scale project, an outstanding result - your bros. To save time and effort, select projects that show your business from different sides: one case is about a large-scale project, another is about a complex niche, a third is about a tight deadline, a fourth is about an unexpectedly cool result.
We used this principle to write cases for the Intella agency. The guys have more than 1000 closed vacancies, and writing a story about each of them is very expensive and did not make sense.
Therefore, we have selected 20 interesting cases that present some kind of challenge. Each story stands out in some way: special conditions from the client, a super-rare specialist, the need to act secretly, moving to another country, and so on.
Case navigation
When you have only 10 examples of work, finding the right one is quite easy. When there are several dozen or hundreds of them, potential clients will get lost in the list. Therefore, think over a system of categories and tags with which you can find a case study on a topic of interest.
Look at an example of clear navigation - the portfolio of an IT agency:
The works are sorted by areas and areas of activity - for example, you can quickly find cases on search engine promotion of online stores
Here is an example from our portfolio. We have fewer cases and fewer directions, so navigation is not as cumbersome. For the first time, something like this will be enough for you:
Quick tips for creating cases
Standard structure, which is suitable for most cases: who the client is → what task → what was done and how → what happened.
In the title, describe the essence of the work or show a cool result. If you have worked with a well-known company, add its name to the title - this will be beneficial.
At the end, put a call to action and provide contact information. Don't force people who are interested in your work to find ways to contact you.
Illustrate the case - show photographs, screenshots, graphs. Add comments from employees who worked on the project and client reviews - this will make the story more lively and convincing.
Remember that there are no cases without results. If you are talking about a long process that has not yet been completed, show some intermediate result - what has changed in a month or six months of your work. If you continue to collaborate with a client, you can talk about plans for the future.
Don't forget to decorate the case beautifully. Although the content is primary, people are still greeted by their clothes. It is not necessary to make a work of design art with a bunch of animations - a neat design is enough. Break the text into paragraphs, write headings, choose high-quality illustrations.
If you don’t want to spend money on layout of a template for a case, you can design the material on Tilda or another website builder. There is no need for web development skills - the page is assembled from ready-made blocks like a constructor.
Cases do not have to be published only on your website. Write an interesting story about the project and offer it to thematic communities on social networks, blogs or the media. In every field of business there are sites that are happy to publish quality material. This way, many new people will learn about your business.
The case can be made viral so that it gets maximum coverage. All PR techniques are suitable: provocation, using trends, searching for a common enemy. But don't overdo it - you're advertising your services, not just entertaining people.
Do convenient navigation according to your portfolio- so that site visitors can easily find what they need.
Let us help you write a cool case
We will select suitable projects, conduct interviews, write and format the material. If necessary, we will agree on placement in the media.
We create cases that bring clients and money to a business, and do not just hang as dead weight on the website.
Let's talk about your task.
Description: The group is given information in the form of facts based on the actual situation and is asked to discuss problems, analyze issues and make recommendations. The case teaches you to make decisions or practice a new skill based on the analysis of input information. The case is created by the trainer in advance based on information received during the preparation of the training. You can also use ready-made cases. Or adapt a ready-made case to the needs of the training.
Impact on group dynamics:
Increases: incomprehensible instructions, the presence of the correct answer and searching for it, “pushed” by time,” comparison with others, incorrectly chosen time for the case (when there is no leader), the topic is distant or not clear, a sensitive topic, little time, lack of information.
Reduces: familiar topic, hints, jokes, removing boundaries, multiple solutions.
Number of participants: group of no more than 10 people
How to create a case during a training with the help of participants?
The group is divided into subgroups of 5–10 people.
Step 1 - The group is given a task
Assignment: Describe an incident from your experience regarding this topic. ( For example: a month ago, in our department, such a situation happened…”)
Case requirements:
- must be based on a real situation
- the task (problem) around which the analysis is built is clearly defined. For example, the topic: “Methods of non-material motivation of personnel
The case must contain the following items:
- places, positions and roles of the main characters. For example: director, employee, etc.
- short description- only facts - the main stages of the development of events and the actions of the characters. For example: “You are the new development director at the company. The company enters new market, you have been given a task...The employees react like this”
Step 2 – Groups change descriptions of situations
Assignment: Think over a solution to this situation, write options for solving this situation and justify the chosen actions.
Step 3 - Presentation of solutions and evaluation of solutions by group
So the group that created the case gives feedback according to the proposed solution.
Once, I conducted a training “Creativity in Business” for the Ingosstrakh company. And there I used the case method. Try to solve it too, but without this “Google help”.
Can you solve the case in 1 minute?
So, the case is called “Gallery Lafayette”, and it is based on real events.
At the initial stage of the development of her business, the young entrepreneur did not have enough funds for traditional methods of promoting goods to the market; she took a creative approach to solving problems and achieved her goal in very cheap ways. One day she came to conquer Europe, and the manager of the Parisian Galeries Lafayette refused to buy her products - new perfumes. But she never gave up. When our heroine wanted something, she was very creative in trying to get her way. The woman still found a way to prove to the manager in 5 minutes that her perfume could take its rightful place in the prestigious Lafayette gallery.
What did the woman do? What are your options?
And this is what it did. The lady suddenly opened her purse, took out a large bottle with some yellowish liquid and slammed it onto the floor. After just a few minutes, she couldn’t fight off the questions: “Yes, this is my new perfume,” she repeated, beaming with a smile. “This is Youth Dew, and my name is Estee Lauder.” You've never heard my name"
Examples of cases for training inEmployee management (motivation, mentoring)
Example of a sales case “Customer Profile”
Case No. 1 “Developing ways to influence an employee”
Based on the analysis of the situation, analyze the reasons for the change in Yu. Malevin’s behavior. Develop ways to influence Malevin to change his behavior. Fill out the table “Assessing the causes of behavior”
Description of the situation:
Yu. Malevin has been working at Tri Kita LLC since 2009 as a refrigeration equipment technician. During his work, he was recognized three times for high quality work and regularly paid bonuses at the end of the year. However, over the past year, Yuri Malevin’s relations with his colleagues have become strained. He had never been particularly talkative, but now he demanded that his colleagues stay away from his workplace. Yu. Malevin made it clear that his tools were disappearing and he wanted to protect his workplace. The quality of his work has also deteriorated. About a year ago, the devices he produced were assessed as completely defect-free products. Currently, during random inspection, it turned out that his products require rework in three cases out of a hundred. Thus, the defect rate in his work increased from zero to 3%. Among his colleagues, defects do not exceed 1.5%.
Yu. Malevin's behavior caused concern among the division's leaders. A good worker turned into an average one. What could have caused the change in Yu. Malevin’s behavior?
Using table 2. select from the list possible reasons behavior changes, rate them on a 7-point scale and comment on your ratings.
Table 2. Assessment of reasons for behavior 
Comment on each of your ratings.
What can a manager do? Fill out the table. 3
Table 3. Interventions for behavior change
Source: “Organizational Behavior” by G. R. Latifullin
Case No. 2 “Employee selection”
Description of the situation: You are the Manager of five gas stations of the Lesnoy Gorod company in the city of N. One of your gas stations is Green Cedar. It has the maximum cross-country ability among your other gas stations. In this regard, the workload on staff is quite large. If your gas station attendants are still retained because they receive good tips in total, then your cashier turnover is quite high. So you are faced with the task of searching and evaluating a candidate for the position of cashier, since you do not have enough of them. The situation is further complicated by the fact that the Green Cedar gas station has a mini-market with an open display, so the cashiers have a lot of tasks, and they do not receive tips. In addition, the functionality of cashiers is wider than in other fuel companies, so it can be difficult to find a good candidate.
The functional responsibilities of cashiers of the Lesnoy Gorod company include:
- Customer service at the checkout;
- Acceptance of goods;
- Control of expiration dates of goods;
- Participation in the inventory of goods;
- Execution of sales plan for promotional products;
- Cleaning the premises (floors, shelves, toilets, etc.)
Working conditions: schedule 2/2 month per day from 9 to 21, month per night from 21 to 9 (by
agreements with the gas station manager are possible only during the day or only at night). It is more convenient for you as a manager if the cashier can go out both during the day and at night.
Task: Please think and write a profile of a candidate for the vacancy of a cashier at the Green Cedar gas station in the Lesnoy Gorod company. What characteristics and competencies (knowledge, skills, personality traits) should he have to successfully work as a cashier at your gas station?
Case No. 3 “ Retail store”
Description of the situation: Seller Petrova A.K. has been working in the department for one year. During her work, she managed to sufficiently master the department’s assortment and establish friendly relations with the team of employees. Calm and balanced in character. He takes his work responsibly and shows a desire to work in the store. However, he does not show initiative in communicating with customers. She responds to questions and requests for help in choosing a product, is friendly, but tries to reduce this communication to a minimum. He is more enthusiastic about arranging goods, maintaining cleanliness and order in the sales area, and therefore potential buyers are often ignored by the seller and leave.
Exercise: think over and compose a motivational conversation with employee Petrova A.K. to take initiative in communicating with customers.
Case No. 4 “Pharmacy”.
Description of the situation: Pharmacist Vasilyeva N.N. has been working in a pharmacy for a long time. She is well versed in the assortment and is active in communicating with customers. Most often he takes the position of “adviser”. He has his own idea about which drugs are preferable for children, insists on his opinion, and evaluates the buyer’s choice.
Exercise: think over and draw up a motivational conversation with employee N.N. Vasilyeva. to implement its main function - to sell goods based on customer requests.
Case No. 5 “New employee”
Seller Ilyina M.K., 19 years old. At the company on a probationary period. What I like about my job is the opportunity to communicate with people, I am interested in gaining experience as a salesperson, and I am proactive in working with customers.
Systematically violates the requirements for the seller's appearance (youth style, exposed parts of the body), citing the fact that he does not have the funds to update his wardrobe, citing a low salary.
Exercise: think over and compose a motivational conversation with employee Ilyina M.K. for compliance with standard requirements appearance. Cases for sales training can be
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