I FINALLY PUBLISHED THIS! This has been sitting on my private google docs for months now and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever written—something I don’t really say lightly. I love case studies, I love user experience.
Most of all, I am in love with helping people build lives and careers around this incredibly amazing field.
Design literacy is important if we want to build a better future for ourselves, and for the next generation. You can’t achieve that without teaching critical thinking, and it is so hard to develop critical thinking without learning how to WRITE. For designers, writing case studies are the perfect venues to showcase that skill. Alongside our creative solutions, we also should learn how to articulate our thoughts and processes especially with software design.
I made this guide as a primer with an emphasis on principles rather than instructions. It’s been used by multiple designers studying at IDF, RookieUp and General Assembly.
The cherry on top of that is the product pivot, which may be the result of an event, or a redirection, or even a complete overhaul of that initial idea. The ability to start over and to challenge your assumptions is a great skill to continuously hone. Show the flaws in your thinking. Embrace the mess. Don’t be afraid of vulnerability. Celebrate your product “mistakes”. These are the things that are the true test of a good story.
And what is a case study, if not a celebration of a story.
I think we can all agree that 2020 was an exceptionally bad year all around but I’m not losing hope. May we all have better stories to tell in 2021. In terms of UX Case Studies, it’s always a good thing, not just for the industry, but for the world that is lucky enough to benefit from past, present & future GREAT designs. I have the highest respect for all the makers, thinkers, creators out there who continuously make the world a better place to live in with innovation and human-centered design/engineering.
MY FIRST (OFFICIAL) TALK!
I will be giving a talk in a few weeks at UX Camp Winter Edition. It’s such a great opportunity to do so alongside many other renowned people in the industry. Thank you so much Russ and the team at UX Camp for this!
“Mapping the Journey of a Design Career”
How do you design a career you’ll be proud of? How do you turn constraints into advantages? These are the questions I want to explore as I talk about my own journey into UX from traditional design. From past failures to wake up calls and personal reinventions, I’ll map out this human’s journey so far.
I hope to see you all there!
Private writings on UX:
Would you be interested in reading rough drafts of documentations, writings, essays on the topics of product design, user experience, design and technology? I’d love your feedback. They always make my work better. Email me at: nikkiespartinez@gmail.com
Thank you for reading,
Nikki Espartinez