To write impactful case studies, you need to understand three things: your product, your customer, and the specific value delivered in the project you're writing a case study about. A case study should read like a story that is worth being told and not just a list of actions taken during the project.
Below, we’ll show you how to mix compelling narratives with impactful results to demonstrate the value of your software development services.
What is an impactful case study?
Case studies that influence a customer's buying decision combine three essential characteristics:
Expertise
A case study is a story of your client’s success that became possible thanks to your expertise. Every product or service aims to solve problems; a case study provides evidence that you can deliver on your promise and demonstrates the unique expertise you bring to the table through your service.
Story
Case studies need to be evocative. How can you achieve that? Tell a story. Describe the struggles faced during the project, the challenges in finding the optimal solution, and the rewarding outcome. Stories are relatable. They help you show the human side of your project, making it engaging to read.
Value
It’s great to show your past achievements, but why should they matter to potential customers? A case study shouldn't just be a bragging tool; it should offer value and provide lessons that others can learn from.
How to write case studies
We developed this method to teach writers how to craft effective case studies. Here’s the step-by-step approach:
1️. Start with the solution: It's the easiest part to identify.
2️. Describe the client's problem: Gather insights by talking to people or listening to the first client conversations. If your sales team doesn’t record their discussions, encourage them to start.
3️. Define the problem’s cause and impact: These aspects might not be immediately obvious. Use logical thinking to find them.
4️. Identify an alternative solution that failed: Determine what other solutions were considered and why they didn't work.
5️. Revisit the solution to discuss implementation challenges: Highlight the ups and downs that make the story compelling. Use your interviewing skills to extract details from the software developers.
6️. Highlight your unique approach: This is your "secret recipe" or value proposition. Ensure it stands out.
7️. Describe the results: Show the opposite of the problem. Detail what the client achieved by using your solution, including quantifiable results and the positive impact on their business.
5 practices for writing a compelling case study
We came up with five ways to turn a case study into a compelling story that can influence your customer's buying decision.
1. Interview the team
You can't approach a case study as you would SEO articles. ChatGPT doesn't know your team's personal experience, and there's no content to plagiarize. The only viable approach is to interview the team responsible for the project. You've got to get a handle on the product, the market it serves, the team on your and your client's sides, the approach you used to solve a problem, the business challenges, the results your helped achieve, and then you need to find the core message of your narrative and craft your story around that. Think of it like investigative journalism—you uncover the truth first, then start writing.
2. Focus on your readers
Case studies serve to demonstrate your expertise, but the main message should always resonate with your reader. After reading a case study, your customers need to have answers on what you do, how you do it, and if you can solve their problem.
Most case studies we've seen, however, fail to convey a valuable message because the story they tell feels situational—it applies to one company, at one moment in time, and can’t offer anything useful to a different company.
Another common mistake is to make a case study all about yourself, without properly involving the customer and their problem. It can leave the reader wondering, "What's in it for me?"
Make your case study valuable by showing how other businesses can benefit from the solution described, and why they might need your services. One way to do this is by sharing how you tackled a difficult technical problem and the results it brought.
For example, for Dragons Lake, a global video game development company, we wrote a detailed technical case study on porting uncut Square Enix's Life is Strange: True Colors to Nintendo Switch.
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Our case study answers essential technical questions serving as a good resource for anyone attempting to port graphically challenging games without compromising on quality:
- How do you deal with dynamic lights and realistic shadows?
- How do you rework high-polygon models to speed up rendering?
- How do you eliminate visual stair-stepping of edges on the screen?
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By sharing technical details of this challenging project, we demonstrated the main value proposition of the company––deep engineering expertise for building world-class AAA gaming experiences.
Start with "why," not with "what"
The goal of a case study isn't just about developing a solution or migrating platforms, although those can be part of the process. The real goal is to solve the client’s pain and this is what you should start with. Instead of diving straight into solution development, begin by introducing the problem that prompted your client to seek help. This sets the stage for how your expertise can truly make a difference.
What made your client turn to you? This is something your readers may recognize as their own struggle. From there, naturally transition into explaining what actions you took (the WHAT and HOW) and why you chose those approaches. Simply put, focus on articulating the client's problem or goal (WHY) and how you addressed it (WHAT/HOW).
In one of the case studies we wrote for Flyaps, a software development company, we focused on providing the needed talent to help the startup in its early stages:
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In another case study, we focused on solving a business problem:
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When you start with the client's problem, you show what kind of problems you solve and why your readers should choose you as their technical partner.
Include your ups and downs
Let's be honest—the project you worked on isn’t interesting to readers. It's not that they find it boring; it's simply because it doesn't seem relevant to them. However, with a bit of storytelling magic, even the most mundane case study can transform into an engaging narrative.
Do you know what makes a story interesting? Ups and downs.
Don’t pretend the project was perfect from start to finish. Instead, show readers the client’s struggles, and your concerns during the project, including mistakes you've made if they contribute to the narrative. The solution wasn't immediately clear, but through perseverance, you discovered it and gained valuable insights along the way.
Here’s how we approached the Modeso case study on their partnership with Aumico, a thriving startup in financial reporting. The goal was to develop a financial reporting tool for accountants and SMEs, but the journey was filled with ups and downs. Some features, like the cash flow statement, took longer to develop and turned out to be less critical for most users. Other features that proved essential weren't included in the initial product version.
This approach transformed the case study into a genuine journey, rather than just a polished list of achievements, making the narrative relatable and compelling for readers. It showcased Modeso's "skin in the game" building startups––increasing the credibility of their offerings.
Highlight your unique expertise
A case study needs to be focused. While you offer a diverse range of services across multiple industries and possess expertise in various technologies and platforms, it’s important to zero in on one area where you truly excel. Highlighting this in your case study will serve as compelling evidence of your value proposition.
Here are some examples of how we showcased the expertise of our clients.
The already mentioned Yaana Technologies case study is about helping the client solve a crucial business problem by rebuilding a legacy platform. But the unique value proposition that Flyaps brings to the table is formulated in the client's testimonial published on Clutch:
"I'm particularly impressed by their web design and the UX they create. Both are better than the work we've seen from other companies. Their math skills are also exemplary, which is particularly beneficial for us in this type of solution."
The client told us what we needed to highlight in this case! All we needed to do was put this in a noticeable spot.
Here is another example from the same company. Flyaps has a unique expertise in telecom. They worked with the largest mobile operators and data clearing houses. Here is a very straightforward way to highlight this:
In software development, some providers must have ISO 27001 certification to be considered by enterprise buyers. Implementing ISO 27001 is a demanding process, so these vendors often seek teams with experience in achieving this compliance on other projects.
If your company has this experience, make sure to highlight it in the title of your case study and dedicate a significant portion to detailing this challenge. For example, in UpLab's case study titled, "Turning a Buggy MVP into an ISO-Compliant Enterprise-Ready Business Management System for Strategic Alliances," we did exactly that.
Template of a case study
When not simply copy-pasted, templates can be of great benefit, showcasing your experience in a structured way. Based on multiple case studies we wrote for software development companies, we created a template for case studies that will help you reveal all essential aspects of your projects. Use the questions in blocks as a starting point but enrich your case study with details that make your experience unique and valuable.
Bottom line
An effective case study has to:
- Convey the client’s problem in a way readers can relate to.
- Clearly describe the solution explaining its value.
- Showcase the result achieved, creating the right expectations in readers about what they can achieve with your help.
If you need help rewriting your case studies, contact us. We’ll be happy to help.
