SEO fieldnotes

Case-study construction

25 checkable notes for case-study construction.

1. Choose a case-study questionA customer story lacks a decision for the reader.
2. Establish a baselineA result has no meaningful starting point.
3. Separate intervention from contextSeveral changes happened at once.
4. Choose a measurement windowA short successful period is presented as a lasting trend.
5. Describe a failed attemptThe story jumps directly from problem to success.
6. Use a customer quote with evidenceA testimonial carries an objective claim.
7. Build a process diagramA case study needs a readable sequence.
8. Explain case selectionA featured example may not be representative.
9. Handle confidential outcomesThe customer cannot share precise figures.
10. Write a limitation boxThe outcome depends on conditions other teams may lack.
11. Show the actual artifactA story is abstract without an example.
12. Avoid a hero narrativeThe story credits one person for distributed work.
13. Structure a short case studyA small format cannot carry a long company history.
14. Review a customer approvalApproval of a quote is treated as approval of every use.
15. Explain an unsuccessful resultThe evidence does not support the intended success story.
16. Build a case-study timelineEvents are reordered to make the story cleaner.
17. Describe qualitative evidenceNot every useful result has a metric.
18. Compare two customer approachesDifferent organizations solve different constraints.
19. Write a case-study takeawayA closing lesson overgeneralizes from one example.
20. Prepare a case-study updateThe customer's process has changed since publication.
21. Create an anonymized caseRemoving a name does not remove identifying detail.
22. Use a comparison chart in a caseA visual simplifies a complex process.
23. Build a case-study source appendixReviewers need evidence without cluttering the story.
24. Turn a case into a workshopParticipants need a decision rather than a success recap.
25. Retire an outdated case-study CTAThe story links to an unavailable product path.