create a case study of pov

How To Write Viewpoint in Case Study (With Examples)

Your goal in writing a case study is to analyze and provide solutions to a problem that a business or organization tackles.

To achieve this, your analysis must be framed from the perspective of someone who can solve your case study’s problem, such as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer, a department director, or a shop manager. The Viewpoint of a Case Study is the portion where you put yourself in the shoes of that handpicked individual. 

In this article, we will present and elaborate on the steps in writing the viewpoint of the case study so you can select whose perspective best suits your case study’s problem.

Table of Contents

What is viewpoint in a case study, what is the importance of the viewpoint of the case study, 1. start by reviewing your case study’s problem, 2. identify the person(s) that you think has the ability and authority to decide and solve your case study’s problem, 3. justify why you have selected that person(s) as your case study’s point of view (optional), tips and warnings, 1. what point of view should a case study be written in.

The Viewpoint or Point of View in a case study indicates the person who has the authority, ability, and expertise to recommend and decide how to solve your case study’s problem. Once you have identified this person, you will assume his/her role in analyzing the problem. Basically, this portion tells the readers that you are viewing the given case in the eyes of your selected person. 

Suppose that your case study involves recruitment issues in a firm. In this case, you can use the HR manager’s perspective as your case study’s viewpoint. The HR manager has the appropriate skill sets and knowledge about the firm’s recruitment process, making him/her qualified to decide regarding this issue.

Most case studies state the individual’s name whose perspective serves as the Viewpoint of the Case Study (e.g., Mr. Juan Dela Cruz ). However, there are also those that just indicate this specific person’s title or position in the company (e.g., Chief Executive Officer ). 

Some case studies use the term “Point of View” or “Protagonist of Case Study 1 ” instead of Viewpoint. 

The Viewpoint is located at the beginning of the case study, usually after the “Statement of the Facts” portion.

People have different perspectives about a particular issue of an organization. For this reason, it is challenging to concentrate or focus our analysis since it can be viewed from multiple points of view. 

For instance, a finance officer may attribute the decline in sales to insufficient funds disbursed to the marketing department. Meanwhile, a sales officer may attribute the same problem to the increasing market competition. This variation in perspectives makes it more challenging to develop the most appropriate approach to analyze the problem.

Limiting the perspective of your case study to the most suitable person makes your analysis more concise and straightforward. There is no need to capture everyone’s perspective since the viewpoint of your selected individual is the only relevant and valuable one.

How To Write a Viewpoint in Case Study?

Writing your case study’s viewpoint is pretty straightforward. All you have to do is to follow the given steps below:

Review and identify in which “field” or “category” your case study’s problem belongs. Say your case study’s issue is about the declining satisfaction level of the firm’s customer service department, as reflected by their recent survey. The category which this problem falls under is apparently “customer service”.

Another example: if your case study’s problem is rooted in how a firm drew flak from the public for its waste disposal mechanisms that have degraded the natural environment around a certain community, then this problem falls under “environment and waste disposal”

Shortlist people who you think can qualify as the viewpoint. Ensure the candidates are involved in the “category” or “field” where your problem belongs. Afterward, determine who is the most qualified to decide for your case. 

Using our previous example, you may select from the following individuals the viewpoint for the problem of the declining satisfaction level of the firm’s customer service:

• The firm’s CEO
• The Director of the firm’s customer service department
• A customer service employee 

All of them can be a suitable viewpoint since they are all involved in the particular category where the problem belongs. However, you should only select one person. If we analyze each individual:

• The firm’s CEO – Although he/she has the highest authority in the firm, he/she might have no specialized knowledge about customer service. Thus, we cannot select him/her as a viewpoint.
• The Director of the firm’s customer service department – This person supervises the entire customer service arm of the company so he/she knows everything about it, including its nitty-gritty processes. This person is the best viewpoint for our problem.
• A customer service employee – Although this person has skill and experience in handling customers’ concerns and queries, he/she has no authority to change something in the firm’s current customer service system. Thus, we cannot select him/her as a viewpoint.

Upon analysis, the most suitable perspective to use for this case study’s problem is that of the Director of the customer service department. 

Once you have figured out the Viewpoint of your case study, you may now explicitly state in your manuscript his/her name and title or position in the firm. 

Explain why you have selected this person by stating his/her role, experiences, and contributions to the firm or organization. 

Some published case studies do not put justification for their selected viewpoint since it is optional. However, it is advised to include one to make this portion more detailed.

Examples of Viewpoint of Case Study

To help you further understand how to create the viewpoint of a case study, we have provided you with some examples that you may use as a reference.

Case Study Problem : The popularity and momentum of Netflix Inc. start to wane as it loses around 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, resulting in lower investor confidence in the firm. 

Viewpoint: Reed Hastings, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of Netflix. 

The CEO has the highest authority to decide how to solve Netflix’s problem. He also oversees the entire operation, making him qualified to deal with the problem.

The straightforward example above simply states the name of the selected viewpoint and then his position or title in the company. However, although the example above already satisfies what a viewpoint is, the format used in this example lacks justification. Let’s look at the next example which includes reasons or justification for the selected viewpoint.

Case Study problem: The marketing and publicity department of Solstice Clothing Line decided to concentrate their marketing efforts in the digital realm during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which drove their reach and engagement upward in the early quarters of 2019. However, in the last quarter of the same year, the business experienced a gradual decline in its overall engagement levels on its social media handles. 

Viewpoint: The problem needs the expertise of Celine Garcia, the Marketing and Publicity Director of Solstice Clothing Line. She is in charge of assessing the performance of the clothing line’s marketing officers, approving digital marketing content, and evaluating the level of engagement with digital publicity materials. 

This example mentions the name of the chosen person together with her position in the firm. It also explains the reason why she was selected as a viewpoint by stating her role in the business .

Case Study Problem: Paws Corner is one of the largest pet shops in the National Capital Region. It serves as a haven for different types of pet animals until a willing person adopts them. In 2017, the Paws Corner experienced a continuous decline in profit due to the increasing rental and operating costs. For this reason, the business is faced with the dilemma of whether to continue its operations or to close it indefinitely.

Viewpoint: Mr. Lito Cruz, the manager, and owner of Paws Corner, has led the operations of Paws Corner since 2015. He manages the day-to-day transactions of Paws Corner and keeps track of its revenues and expenses. He is a certified animal lover and an entrepreneur at heart. 

The example above stated the most appropriate perspective that must be used for the case study (which is its manager and owner). There’s also an explanation to justify why he was selected as the viewpoint.

• Narrow down your case study’s viewpoint to a single individual . Although a case study can be approached through multiple perspectives, it’s better to limit your case study’s Viewpoint to a single person who can best decide on the problem. This will also make your analysis of the case easier and less complex. 
• If the case being analyzed involves a certain department of an organization, the best viewpoint of the case study is the department head. For example, if your case involves the financial management of an organization, you can select the Director of Finance of that organization as your viewpoint.

Frequently Asked Questions

Since a case study is a form of formal writing, it is usually written in the third-person perspective. Hence, pronouns such as “He”, “She”, “They”, and “It” are generally used in case studies.

• Schweitzer, K. (2019). Writing Business Case Studies for Class. Retrieved 23 May 2022, from https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-write-and-format-a-business-case-study-466324

Written by Jewel Kyle Fabula

in Career and Education , Juander How

Last Updated May 25, 2022 09:19 PM

Jewel Kyle Fabula

Jewel Kyle Fabula is a Bachelor of Science in Economics student at the University of the Philippines Diliman. His passion for learning mathematics developed as he competed in some mathematics competitions during his Junior High School years. He loves cats, playing video games, and listening to music.

Browse all articles written by Jewel Kyle Fabula

Copyright Notice

All materials contained on this site are protected by the Republic of the Philippines copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published, or broadcast without the prior written permission of filipiknow.net or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright, or other notice from copies of the content. Be warned that we have already reported and helped terminate several websites and YouTube channels for blatantly stealing our content. If you wish to use filipiknow.net content for commercial purposes, such as for content syndication, etc., please contact us at legal(at)filipiknow(dot)net

• Reviews / Why join our community?
• For companies
• Frequently asked questions

Stage 2 in the Design Thinking Process: Define the Problem and Interpret the Results

An integral part of the Design Thinking process is the definition of a meaningful and actionable problem statement, which the design thinker will focus on solving. This is perhaps the most challenging part of the Design Thinking process, as the definition of a problem (also called a design challenge) will require you to synthesise your observations about your users from the first stage in the Design Thinking process, which is called the Empathise stage.

When you learn how to master the definition of your problem, problem statement, or design challenge, it will greatly improve your Design Thinking process and result. Why? A great definition of your problem statement will guide you and your team’s work and kick start the ideation process in the right direction. It will bring about clarity and focus to the design space. On the contrary, if you don’t pay enough attention to defining your problem, you will work like a person stumbling in the dark.

In the Define stage you synthesise your observations about your users from the first stage, the Empathise stage. A great definition of your problem statement will guide you and your team’s work and kick start the ideation process (third stage) in the right direction. The five stages are not always sequential — they do not have to follow any specific order and they can often occur in parallel and be repeated iteratively. As such, the stages should be understood as different modes that contribute to a project, rather than sequential steps.

Analysis and Synthesis

Before we go into what makes a great problem statement, it’s useful to first gain an understanding of the relationship between analysis and synthesis that many design thinkers will go through in their projects. Tim Brown, CEO of the international design consultancy firm IDEO, wrote in his book Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation , that analysis and synthesis are “equally important, and each plays an essential role in the process of creating options and making choices.”

Analysis is about breaking down complex concepts and problems into smaller, easier-to-understand constituents. We do that, for instance, during the first stage of the Design Thinking process, the Empathise stage, when we observe and document details that relate to our users. Synthesis , on the other hand, involves creatively piecing the puzzle together to form whole ideas. This happens during the Define stage when we organise, interpret, and make sense of the data we have gathered to create a problem statement.

Although analysis takes place during the Empathise stage and synthesis takes place during the Define stage, they do not only happen in the distinct stages of Design Thinking. In fact, analysis and synthesis often happen consecutively throughout all stages of the Design Thinking process. Design thinkers often analyse a situation before synthesising new insights, and then analyse their synthesised findings once more to create more detailed syntheses.

What Makes a Good Problem Statement?

A problem statement is important to a Design Thinking project, because it will guide you and your team and provides a focus on the specific needs that you have uncovered. It also creates a sense of possibility and optimism that allows team members to spark off ideas in the Ideation stage, which is the third and following stage in the Design Thinking process. A good problem statement should thus have the following traits. It should be:

Human-centered. This requires you to frame your problem statement according to specific users, their needs and the insights that your team has gained in the Empathise phase. The problem statement should be about the people the team is trying to help, rather than focusing on technology, monetary returns or product specifications.

Broad enough for creative freedom. This means that the problem statement should not focus too narrowly on a specific method regarding the implementation of the solution. The problem statement should also not list technical requirements, as this would unnecessarily restrict the team and prevent them from exploring areas that might bring unexpected value and insight to the project.

Narrow enough to make it manageable. On the other hand, a problem statement such as , “Improve the human condition,” is too broad and will likely cause team members to easily feel daunted. Problem statements should have sufficient constraints to make the project manageable.

As well as the three traits mentioned above, it also helps to begin the problem statement with a verb, such as “Create”, “Define”, and “Adapt”, to make the problem become more action-oriented.

How to Define a Problem Statement

Methods of interpreting results and findings from the observation oriented Empathise phase include:

Space Saturate and Group and Affinity Diagrams – Clustering and Bundling Ideas and Facts

In space saturate and group, designers collate their observations and findings into one place, to create a collage of experiences, thoughts, insights, and stories. The term 'saturate' describes the way in which the entire team covers or saturates the display with their collective images, notes, observations, data, experiences, interviews, thoughts, insights, and stories in order to create a wall of information to inform the problem-defining process. It will then be possible to draw connections between these individual elements, or nodes, to connect the dots, and to develop new and deeper insights, which help define the problem(s) and develop potential solutions. In other words: go from analysis to synthesis.

Empathy Mapping

An empathy map consists of four quadrants laid out on a board, paper or table, which reflect the four key traits that the users demonstrated/possessed during the observation stage. The four quadrants refer to what the users: Said , Did , Thought , and Felt . Determining what the users said and did are relatively easy; however, determining what they thought and felt is based on careful observation of how they behaved and responded to certain activities, suggestions, conversations etc. (including subtle cues such as body language displayed and the tone of voice used).

Point Of View – Problem Statement

A Point Of view (POV) is a meaningful and actionable problem statement, which will allow you to ideate in a goal-oriented manner. Your POV captures your design vision by defining the RIGHT challenge to address in the ideation sessions. A POV involves reframing a design challenge into an actionable problem statement. You articulate a POV by combining your knowledge about the user you are designing for, his or her needs and the insights which you’ve come to know in your research or Empathise mode. Your POV should be an actionable problem statement that will drive the rest of your design work.

You articulate a POV by combining these three elements – user, need, and insight. You can articulate your POV by inserting your information about your user, the needs and your insights in the following sentence:

[ User . . . (descriptive)] needs [ need . . . (verb)] because [ insight. . . (compelling)]

“How Might We” Questions

When you’ve defined your design challenge in a POV, you can start to generate ideas to solve your design challenge. You can start using your POV by asking a specific question starting with: “ How Might We ” or “in what ways might we”. How Might We ( HMW ) questions are questions that have the potential to spark ideation sessions such as brainstorms. They should be broad enough for a wide range of solutions, but narrow enough that specific solutions can be created for them. “How Might We” questions should be based on the observations you’ve gathered in the Empathise stage of the Design Thinking process.

For example, you have observed that youths tend not to watch TV programs on the TV at home, some questions which can guide and spark your ideation session could be:

How might we make TV more social, so youths feel more engaged?

How might we enable TV programs to be watched anywhere, at anytime?

How might we make watching TV at home more exciting?

The HMW questions open up to Ideation sessions where you explore ideas, which can help you solve your design challenge in an innovative way.

Why-How Laddering

"As a general rule, asking 'why’ yields more abstract statements and asking 'how’yields specific statements. Often times abstract statements are more meaningful but not as directly actionable, and the opposite is true of more specific statements." – d.school, Method Card, Why-How Laddering

For this reason, during the Define stage designers seek to define the problem, and will generally ask why . Designers will use why to progress to the top of the so-called Why-How Ladder where the ultimate aim is to find out how you can solve one or more problems. Your How Might We questions will help you move from the Define stage and into the next stage in Design Thinking, the Ideation stage, where you start looking for specific innovative solutions. In other words you could say that the Why-How Laddering starts with asking Why to work out How they can solve the specific problem or design challenge.

The Take Away

The second stage in a typical Design Thinking process is called the Define phase. It involves collating data from the observation stage (first stage called Empathise ) to define the design problems and challenges. By using methods for synthesising raw data into a meaningful and usable body of knowledge — such as empathy mapping and space saturate and group — we will be able to create an actionable design problem statement or Point of View that inspire the generation of ideas to solve it. The How Might We questions open up to Ideation sessions where you explore ideas, which can help you solve your design challenge in an innovative way.

References & Where to Learn More

Course: “Design Thinking - The Ultimate Guide” .

d.school: Space Saturation and Group .

d.school: Empathy Map .

d.school: “How might we” questions .

Hero Image: Author/Copyright holder: gdsteam. Copyright terms and licence: CC BY 2.0

Design Thinking: The Ultimate Guide

Get Weekly Design Insights

Topics in this article, what you should read next, the 5 stages in the design thinking process.

• 1.8k shares

What is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular?

• 1.6k shares

Personas – A Simple Introduction

• 1.5k shares

What is Ideation – and How to Prepare for Ideation Sessions

• 1.2k shares

Stage 3 in the Design Thinking Process: Ideate

• 4 years ago

Stage 4 in the Design Thinking Process: Prototype

• 3 years ago

Affinity Diagrams: How to Cluster Your Ideas and Reveal Insights

Stage 1 in the Design Thinking Process: Empathise with Your Users

Empathy Map – Why and How to Use It

What Is Empathy and Why Is It So Important in Design Thinking?

Open Access—Link to us!

We believe in Open Access and the  democratization of knowledge . Unfortunately, world-class educational materials such as this page are normally hidden behind paywalls or in expensive textbooks.

If you want this to change , cite this article , link to us, or join us to help us democratize design knowledge !

Privacy Settings

Our digital services use necessary tracking technologies, including third-party cookies, for security, functionality, and to uphold user rights. Optional cookies offer enhanced features, and analytics.

Experience the full potential of our site that remembers your preferences and supports secure sign-in.

Governs the storage of data necessary for maintaining website security, user authentication, and fraud prevention mechanisms.

Enhanced Functionality

Saves your settings and preferences, like your location, for a more personalized experience.

Referral Program

We use cookies to enable our referral program, giving you and your friends discounts.

Error Reporting

We share user ID with Bugsnag and NewRelic to help us track errors and fix issues.

Optimize your experience by allowing us to monitor site usage. You’ll enjoy a smoother, more personalized journey without compromising your privacy.

Analytics Storage

Collects anonymous data on how you navigate and interact, helping us make informed improvements.

Differentiates real visitors from automated bots, ensuring accurate usage data and improving your website experience.

Lets us tailor your digital ads to match your interests, making them more relevant and useful to you.

Advertising Storage

Stores information for better-targeted advertising, enhancing your online ad experience.

Personalization Storage

Permits storing data to personalize content and ads across Google services based on user behavior, enhancing overall user experience.

Advertising Personalization

Allows for content and ad personalization across Google services based on user behavior. This consent enhances user experiences.

Enables personalizing ads based on user data and interactions, allowing for more relevant advertising experiences across Google services.

Receive more relevant advertisements by sharing your interests and behavior with our trusted advertising partners.

Enables better ad targeting and measurement on Meta platforms, making ads you see more relevant.

Allows for improved ad effectiveness and measurement through Meta’s Conversions API, ensuring privacy-compliant data sharing.

LinkedIn Insights

Tracks conversions, retargeting, and web analytics for LinkedIn ad campaigns, enhancing ad relevance and performance.

LinkedIn CAPI

Enhances LinkedIn advertising through server-side event tracking, offering more accurate measurement and personalization.

Google Ads Tag

Tracks ad performance and user engagement, helping deliver ads that are most useful to you.

Share the knowledge!

Share this content on:

or copy link

Cite according to academic standards

Simply copy and paste the text below into your bibliographic reference list, onto your blog, or anywhere else. You can also just hyperlink to this article.

New to UX Design? We’re giving you a free ebook!

Download our free ebook The Basics of User Experience Design to learn about core concepts of UX design.

In 9 chapters, we’ll cover: conducting user interviews, design thinking, interaction design, mobile UX design, usability, UX research, and many more!

New to UX Design? We’re Giving You a Free ebook!

Point of view (POV) - Problem statement & How might we (HMW) questions

UX DESIGN PROCESS: 12 OUT OF 21

This is one of the main stages of Design thinking, which will indicate the problems that your users want you to solve with your design. To write the problem statement, use the Point of View (POV) structure, which will help you write all your design problems correctly, which will subsequently be preformulated into How might we (HMW) questions so that you can start brainstorming solutions at the Ideation stage for using certain methodologies.

Table of contents

A problem statement (POV) is a brief description of the problem (or need) that needs to be solved. How might we (HMW) are short questions that start the process of generating ideas and solutions.

An example of a point of view (POV) and how might we (HMW) for an online e-learning platform

The purpose of the POV

Define, and formulate the right tasks so that you can solve them purposefully, where you will focus solely on the target audience, their needs, and your insights.

The purpose of the HMW questions

Encourage the team to brainstorm or another Ideation session where the team will ask questions (based on the POV) and look for innovative solutions to these design challenges.

Value for the team

Formulating POV and HMW questions will allow the team to understand what the problems are in the user and how to solve these problems with innovative solutions.

Value for business

The team will discover a large number of problems (needs), and generate innovative solutions that can later be prioritized and implemented into the product.

• Preparation:   up to 30 minutes
• Main activity:   from 8 to 16 hours

Creating process:

Step 1. unlock all artifacts from previous explorations.

Refresh your memories and ask the whole team to do the same before you start the POV process.

If you have not conducted interviews with real users, have not compiled empathy maps (have not identified insights and needs), then this is very bad since all your further work will be the result of the subjective opinion of the team and stakeholders, which may not reflect the real picture and take you into the wrong direction.

Step 2. Go back to your empathy maps that you were doing

We looked for INSIGHTS in them, and based on them we found NEEDS.

[INSIGHT]  Users often look for ways to assess their performance in learning a foreign language themselves, since teachers do not always pay attention to this, and sometimes even skip such conversations, and this greatly affects their motivation >  [NEED]  Users should be able to receive reports on the work in a foreign language lesson, as well as on success over a certain period.

Step 3. Write down your POVs according to the formula

[User . . . (descriptive)] needs [Need . . . (verb)] because [Insight . . . (compelling)]

[Nina]   [NEEDS]  to be able to receive feedback on her work in a foreign language class, as well as a progress report for a certain period  [BECAUSE]  she often looks for ways to evaluate herself since teachers do not always give her feedback on her progress.

[USER]  is our empirical persona (not a proto-persona a.k.a. non-empirical persona) that we create based on previous research.

Step 4. Reformulate the POV problem in the HMW question

In this way, you will prepare HMW questions that will help you find innovative solutions at the Ideation stage, where you can use different techniques with your team: Six thinking hats, Brainstorming, or The Walt Disney Creativity strategy.

Example:  How might we help Nina get feedback on her class and progress over some time?

OTAKOYI UX design program:

Stage 1. business research:.

• Step 1. Preparatory & Secondary research (Desk research)
• Step 2. Kick-off meeting & Stakeholder interviews
• Step 3. Business model canvas (BMC)
• Step 4. Competitive analysis
• Step 5. SWOT analysis
• Step 6. Business process model and notation 2.0+ (BPMN)

Stage 2. User research:

• Step 7. User interviews (based on proto-persona) & Hypothesis
• Step 8. Focus groups
• Step 9. Surveys
• Step 10. Empathy mapping (uncovering insights & identifying needs)
• Step 11. User personas
• Step 12. Point of view (POV) — Problem statement & How might we (HMW) questions

Stage 3. Strategy phase:

• Step 13. Business & User Goals
• Step 14. Value proposition canvas (VPC) — additional POVs and value descriptions
• Step 15. Customer journey map (CJM)
• Step 16. Service blueprint

Stage 4. Ideation phase:

• Step 17. Ideation (Six thinking hats, Brainstorming & The Walt Disney creativity strategy)

Stage 5. Design:

• Step 18. Prioritization
• Step 19. User flows & Task flow
• Step 20. Information architecture
• Step 21. Wireframing

Stage 6. Test:

• Step 22. UX testing methods

How about to rate this article?

Related articles.

UX DESIGN PROCESS: 10 OUT OF 21

Empathy mapping (uncovering insights & identifying needs)

The empathy map allows us to summarize the results of the research after interviews with users, as well as to identify common patterns that allow us to identify insights and determine the needs of our users.

Stage 1: Business Research

Business model canvas (bmc).

A strategic tool for describing the business model of a new or existing offline business.

let`s get in touch!

By submitting this form I consent to processing my personal data as described in the Privacy Policy

Success! Thanks for your message.

While we are processing your request, don’t hesitate and follow us on social networks! Send more letter

CEO, ASKWHO

Co-CEO, Work-Wide Group

Executive, ACARiS

Marketing Director, Coto World

CEO, LES Automotive

CTO, PeteHealth

CEO, Fervent

Product Manager, Kadabra

Co-Founder & Owner at uBranded

Co-Founder at Escape Room

Founder in a Castles.today

CEO at PettersonApps

Brand Manager – Intersono IVF clinic

Managing Director, Foxtrapp

CEO & Founder, Panem

Point of View (POV)

✅ Define phase

A Point of View framework helps outline your design challenge into an actionable problem statement so that you can begin brainstorming solutions. Most importantly, your POV anchors your design thinking project and helps you to articulate your challenge meaningfully. 

How to write a Point of View (POV) statement

After you’ve interpreted your user empathy interviews , try different ways of stating the problem.

POV framework

Start by describing your user in colorful language, including pertinent details. Then, choose your favorite surprise/insight that represents the most powerful shift in your own perspective. Last, articulate what would be game-changing for your user, assuming your insight is correct.

• Make sure your POV flows sensically (so a stranger could comprehend it).
• Specifies an insight that’s focused on a specific user (rather than a demographic)
• Articulates a game-changing direction, without dictating a particular solution. 

design thinking bootleg by d.school at Stanford University 

Privacy Overview

Creating An Effective Point Of View – What Distinguishes A Great Leader From A Good One

A leader is one who isn’t afraid to push boundaries, who doesn’t stop learning and growing, and who knows how to translate their vision into reality. Great leaders are made, not born; it’s an evolutionary process. In an environment of increasing uncertainty and complexity, leaders’ effectiveness plays a vital role in the growth of organizations. However clichéd, it’s the survival of the fittest. Or more aptly, it’s the survival of those who are open to change their mindsets and transform themselves.

Good vs Great – Leaders Who Blaze a Trail

‘Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.’ – Warren Bennis

To survive in the unpredictable, dynamic business environment and steer an organization towards growth, a fundamentally different kind of leadership is necessary. This type of leadership requires leaders to transform themselves and evolve in fundamentally different ways, acquire new capabilities, and become ecosystem influencers, rather than followers.

A recent study that we did at Zinnov focuses on the three kinds of country managers currently active in Indian Global In-house Centers (GICs) – Governor, Techie, Intrapreneur. Intrapreneurs are the key to driving future growth and evolution of GICs into transformational hubs. The study revealed that, at present, there are only 6% Intrapreneur country managers in the industry, while there is a need for 15%. How can this chasm be bridged?

One way is to nurture leaders – not just good ones, but great ones, across the organization. And what sets apart a great leader from a good one, is their unique point of view; their ability to build a business case that is not just effective, but compelling.

But what is a Point of View (POV)?

A ‘point of view’ is an attitude or a way of considering a matter. But why is a POV even important? Leaders need to have a unique point of view. And what distinguishes a great leader from a good one is a well-structured opinion. History shows that people who have created an impact are the ones who have unique perspectives and opinions, with the ability to set the course for the future. A compelling point of view can be created from the ground up using Zinnov’s Leadership Framework that has 5 As – Awareness, Architect, Assemble, Assess, and Articulate.

Vincent Van Gogh. Pablo Picasso. Banksy.

All three artists have left indelible marks on the Art world through their distinctive artworks.

Aristotle. Galileo Galilei. Isaac Newton.

Three scientists, three heavyweights whose discoveries and inventions shape the field of Science even today, centuries after their deaths.

John Locke. Abraham Lincoln. Martin Luther King Jr.

Visionaries in their own right, who liberalized the thinking during their time and beyond, to become global influencers.

Henry Ford. Alfred Sloan. Taiichi Ohno.

Three pioneers who revolutionized the American and Japanese automobile industry respectively at various points in time, to make it a juggernaut and a world dominant for a long time.

What sets these pioneers and visionaries apart from the rest in their respective fields is their unique points of view. While having a compelling point of view is half the battle won for leaders, the other half constitutes on presenting it in a meaningful and convincing manner.

In a world where opinions are freely available, why does having a PoV matter?

Apart from having an effective point of view, what puts a great leader a notch above a good leader, is their ability to fluidly adapt to change. With the technology industry in a constant state of flux, it pays to have a leader who can adapt to these changes and evolve, to steer their organization onward and forward.

Some of the factors that have put the industry into a state of flux include –

• Software has become ubiquitous, blurring the lines between technology organizations and every other kind of company. Software is no longer the sole property of technology organizations, but every other company – regardless of vertical/horizontal – has transformed into a software entity. Thus, traditional organizations need to be wary of disruptors from all directions.
• At Zinnov, we define the five tech giants – Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft – as the tech mafia. These big five are disrupting every other company and vertical, time and again. In essence, they have their hand in every technology pie they can find.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous – a part of our everyday lives. With the investment on this technology only set to increase in the next few years, organizations can’t afford to miss the AI train.
• Faster innovation cycles is the name of the game, and if an organization doesn’t keep up with this accelerated pace, it will lose out on potential business. As simple and as complicated as that.

How to Create a Compelling Point of View?

While having a point of view is critical for leaders, building a business case with a unique point of view and presenting it to the concerned stakeholders in an organization is equally important, if not more so. A POV could be defined as a validated business case, idea, or an opinion that aligns with the business outcomes and objectives. With multiple and multi-functional stakeholders in play in any large R&D organization, obtaining their buy-in for your point of view will go a long way in translating the draft point of view into reality.

We, at Zinnov, have outlined a framework to create a compelling point of view that has the potential to impact business outcomes. It consists of the 5 A’s, each of which helps answer pertinent questions such as –

• Awareness: What are the issues concerning the organization and its ecosystem that one needs to be aware of?
• Architect: How can one formulate a problem statement that defines the end objectives of the POV?
• Assemble: What are the resources needed? How does one synthesize the information to build a POV?
• Assess: How can one get their point of view validated? What are the different ways to refine it?
• Articulate: How can one articulate their POV in the best possible manner?

Creating an Effective POV with the 5 A’s

• Awareness: This is the first step of the process, which involves identifying the goal and contextualizing it to the organization’s focus areas. These focus areas can be broadly classified as revenue opportunities, operating efficiency, and organization capability.
• Architect: In this step, it becomes important to clearly define the problem statement, who to get the buy-in from, and what is the need for the point of view. Identify the key stakeholders who are decision makers and influencers in the organization.
• Assemble: This is where the basic ingredients of the solution roadmap must be defined. There is gathering of pertinent information, which is then synthesized to identify and address key budgetary aspects, along with the solution roadmap.
• Assess: This is a crucial step, where feedback is sought to refine the point of view. This step needs to be revisited multiple times to hone the solution roadmap. Steps (a) through (d) are iterative in nature, helping hone the point of view, to make the maximum impact on the stakeholders to whom the POV will be presented.
• Articulate: This step is where the point of view is presented to the decision makers and the stakeholders. To effectively deliver a point of view, learning the art of storytelling and identifying different ways to pitch right are imperative.

While having a point of view for a leader is imperative, creating an effective one is an evolutionary process.

Ready to talk?

• Creating a point of view
• Leaders and laggards
• point of view
• Point of View framework

Speak With Our Consultants

Marisa Valotta

How to Create Point of View Statements During the Design Process

Image by Republica on Pixabay

In order to solve a problem, it’s important that you are able to clearly and accurately define what exactly the problem is. Otherwise, how can you come up with an effective solution if you aren’t even certain what it is you’re trying to solve? 

This is why designers come up with a problem statement. Problem statements are centered around user needs while also remaining broad enough for creative freedom and narrow enough that the project is still manageable. 

Problem statements are typically formatted like this:  _______is a challenge for______because______.

For example, “Keeping plants alive is a challenge for Marisa because she owns so many and forgets when and how much they need watered.”

In the problem statement, you’ll define what the challenge is, who it’s a challenge for, and why it’s a challenge. A good problem statement will guide you through the ideation process and point you in the right direction. 

What are POV statements?

Once you have a problem statement, you can take it a step further by creating a point of view (POV) statement. This is a type of problem statement that is a little more actionable and you can even use them to compare competing solutions you might have. 

The three elements in a POV statement are:

• User- Defines the user the POV is about
• Need- Identifies the user’s needs 
• Insight- Synthesizes the information you know about the user and their problem into a key takeaway

 A POV statement is typically formatted something like this: [User] needs _______ because [insight].

For example, “People who own lots of plants need a way to organize their plant’s care schedule because it’s difficult to keep track of them all.” 

Creating POV statements from app reviews

To get a better idea of how POV statements can be used during the design process, I evaluated three different apps and created statements based off of user’s reviews. For each app, I found three positive reviews, three negative reviews, and three reviews that offered constructive criticism. I then synthesized the information from the reviews and created two POV statements for each app that define the users, their needs, and further insights. 

One of the apps I chose to create POV statements for is the language learning app Duolingo. This app has over 100 language courses available in 40 languages.

The average rating for the app is 4.7–not too bad overall. As seen in the positive reviews below, many users enjoy how Duolingo makes learning a language fun and engaging. 

However, some of the more negative reviews raised concerns about the app’s pricing model and teaching methods. 

In this review, the user offers more constructive criticism. They acknowledge how fun and innovative the app is while raising similar concerns about the pricing model and quality of lessons as the negative reviewers did. 

Based on the information I gathered from these reviews, I created two POV statements to help define the problems users are having and what they need to solve them:

• Users who want to learn a new language need an app that doesn’t penalize them for making mistakes because this inhibits the learning process and feels discouraging. 
• Users who want to learn a new language need an app offering lessons that have been thoroughly reviewed by native speakers because otherwise they might not be learning how to speak the language correctly. 

With these POV statements, a design team could move forward with actionable insights that would aid them in creating a better experience for these users. 

To see more examples of POV statements I created, view the document below:

References:

Benjamin, A. (2016, April 20). Design: How to define the problem . Medium. https://blog.prototypr.io/design-how-to-define-the-problem-5361cccb2fcb

Perficient. (2019, February 8). Design thinking: How to create your POV (part 4) . Perficient Blogs. https://blogs.perficient.com/2019/02/08/design-thinking-how-to-create-your-pov-part-4/

Rikke Dam, & Teo Siang. (2019, September 18). Stage 2 in the design thinking process: Define the problem and interpret the results . The Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/stage-2-in-the-design-thinking-process-define-the-problem-and-interpret-the-results

Tapia, E. (2016, April 11). UX for beginners: Defining the design problem . Studio by UXPin. https://www.uxpin.com/studio/blog/ux-for-beginners-defining-the-design-problem/

Share this:

Leave a comment cancel reply.

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

SAMPLE TECHNIQUE

< Use the navigation on the left to learn more about the process.

5 Steps to Create a Spectacular Point of View

October 15, 2019

Design thinking is a new, hot topic in the marketing industry that is an excellent tool for stirring creativity and innovation. In a nutshell, design thinking is a human-centered approach to problem solving and innovation. To learn more about the entire design thinking process, you can read our article d.Signing My Way Through San Francisco .

For a human-centered approach, one of the key components requires you to understand the people for whom you are trying to solve a problem. In order to do so, the process starts with “empathy interviews” to learn about your target audience, which includes uncovering their feelings and experiences. These interviews start with a loose topic. The interviewer looks for stories from their subject(s) that relate to the problem, being sure to ask questions regarding their emotions and motivations. To learn more about this process, read our article How to Conduct Empathy Interviews .

Once you’ve collected notes from your interviews, you’ll need to dissect the information and focus on one individual in order to develop your point of view (POV). Your POV will serve as a touchpoint throughout the rest of the process and help frame the problem you are trying to solve for.

In this article, we will analyze the key elements of a POV as outlined by Stanford’s d.school using an example from a recent design thinking project.

Our design thinking challenge

The restaurant industry is suffering from less foot traffic in-store, which is affecting profit margins. There has been a fundamental shift in the way people consume restaurant food, so we want to dig into this and see what we can uncover. For the purposes of this article, we will focus on this specific design challenge: Why are less people dining in at restaurants?

What is a POV?

A point of view is similar in some ways to a persona in that it focuses on an individual and their pain points for a particular situation. However, unlike a persona, the POV is based on information gathered from a real subject. That is not to say that a POV will be 100% true because part of the process involves making leaps or speculation to achieve an insight, but these leaps are grounded in reality.

The key criteria of the POV includes information of the person such as: a description, an unusual observance made in the interview, an insight inferred from that observation, and finally, what could turn that insight on its head to become a positive for the individual.

To begin outlining your POV, you want to paint a vivid picture of the person you interviewed. Jot down all relevant details that tie back to your problem. Start with a name. Even if you forgot to write down their name, give them one as it grounds you and makes the subject more realistic.

Write down physical characteristics such as gender, age, attire and even a personality trait or two, it will help paint a clearer picture. Sometimes it may be relevant to note where you interviewed the person or what they were doing when you approached them. Be specific but concise.

Let’s look at some examples from a recent empathy interview we conducted about eating out at restaurants. We’ll start with some common mistakes.

We met …a woman at the mall who was shopping with her mom.

This doesn’t paint a very good picture of the woman that we interviewed. There is no name and no detail. Is it relevant to our topic that she was shopping with her mom? Let’s try again.

We met … Sarah, a young mom, who doesn’t eat out very often.

This version is better. She now has a name and we know that she is a mom. The fact that she doesn’t eat out very often is tied back to our challenge; however, the description could be better.

We met …Sarah, a frazzled young mom in yoga pants who very rarely goes to a restaurant to eat anymore but used to go a lot.

While still a short statement, it paints a more vivid image in your mind of Sarah, and you can picture her. This gives us a good starting place to really dive in and get to know Sarah and her habits.

2. We were surprised to notice…

For this section we want to focus on something that you heard or observed from your interview that was surprising or unusual. Look at the contradictions in what you heard versus observed, or tensions in an answer that they gave. These are the things that are going to provide the best fodder for a leap to an insight later.

We were surprised to notice … now that she is a mom, she doesn’t go out to eat anymore.

Let’s be honest, this statement is not very surprising. Many new parents stop doing a lot of the activities they used to once enjoy, whether it is because of time or money. If this was something you could have known or guessed fairly easily prior to the interview, then it isn’t a surprise. Need a Litmus test? Ask a friend or co-worker if this statement would surprise them.

We were surprised to notice … when she does eat out, she feels rushed.

Here we talk a little about why she doesn’t go out to eat anymore but this is scratching the surface. Why does she feel rushed? What is the significance of feeling rushed? Think back to what she said during the interview.

We were surprised to notice …when she does eat out, she rushes through dinner to avoid potential child meltdowns, so the experience no longer feels special.

Now we have a better sense of what is happening in Sarah’s head based on what she said during the interview. The surprise should peak your interest in the subject. As we move to the next section, we leave behind the facts and instead turn to hunches and assumptions.

3. We wonder if this means…

Making a leap to an insight is often the most challenging part of crafting a POV. In this next section, we need to take the observation we made in the previous step and make an inference. While it should be grounded in your interview, it is a hunch and not something you heard or saw in your interview. This is the one time that you have free rein to make an assumption about someone. Push the envelope and look for that extreme possibility versus the safe or broad assumptions.

Based on our statement, we know that Sarah stopped going to restaurants after she became a mom. While it wasn’t time or money that changed her behavior, it was her reaction to the experience that changed. Instead of relaxing and enjoying someone waiting on you and cooking you a delicious meal, she instead felt like she had to get through the meal quickly in case her child had a meltdown at the restaurant.

We wonder if this means … she is worried people will be annoyed if her child misbehaves.

Sure, this is possible and probably plays a small part in why she feels rushed. Nobody wants to be that parent in a restaurant or on a plane with a child who is having a temper tantrum or won’t stop crying. Again, this is very surface level, we need to dig deeper.

We wonder if this means … she is worried people will judge her as a parent if her child has a meltdown.

This does give us some insight and a possible reason she doesn’t eat out, but is it extreme enough? Could you say this about a lot of parents? I think so. Sometimes you need to go back and revisit the surprise to come up with a better insight. Instead of focusing on the concern over the meltdowns, would it be more interesting to focus on the loss of fun for the event? That seems less expected.

We wonder if this means …to Sarah, restaurants were an indulgence where she got to be pampered and now dining out has lost that joy.

We get a feeling of emotion from Sarah in this statement that will allow us to come up with an idea that will be a “game changer” for Sarah.

4. It would be game changing to…

With a solid inference in place, it is time to figure out exactly what our “game changer” or design challenge will be. What can change things for Sarah?

It would be game changing to …have restaurants provide Sarah with a babysitter so she can enjoy her meal.

A common issue with setting up a game changer is jumping straight to a solution. That isn’t the point of this exercise. When you move into ideation, which is the next step in the design thinking process, you will look at solutions. But for now, it needs to be open enough that you can come up with a lot of possibilities. Ask yourself what is good about the idea? How could you turn that into something else? Is this something that already exists?

It would be game changing to …allow Sarah to revisit a time when she wasn’t a parent.

Time travel would be fun, but it isn’t truly realistic, and you need to make sure this doesn’t seem impossible. Plus, we want to make sure that our game changer relates back to the challenge.

It would be game changing to …have Sarah experience pure bliss while dining out with her baby.

This statement relates back her to dining experience and allows for a wide variety of options when it comes time to ideate. Let’s look at our final POV.

5. Evaluate your POV

With your POV written it is always best to spend a few minutes evaluating it. Sometimes you need to go back and re-word something, add more description, shorten it, or start over completely. Below are some simple criteria for best practices that you can check against your POV.

A spectacular POV:

• Focuses on an individual
• Uses sensical and strong language
• Contains a surprising observation and thought-provoking interpretation
• Generates possibilities
• Relates to the project challenge/question

If your POV checks off all these boxes, then you are ready to move onto the next stage—ideation. If not, go back and make changes until you feel confident that your POV is on target.

When working on a design thinking project, it is important to have a solid POV since design thinking is driven by human-centered innovation. In the above example, we created a clear description of our user, detailed a surprise that came out of the interview, developed a true insight based on what we heard in our interview, and finally, came up with a solid game changer that we can now use to develop our idea for a solution.

Now it’s your turn.

Share this article

Next: 12 Ways to Make Sure You Run a Successful User Test

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

• Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

• Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

• Google Tag Manager

Free Online Case Study Generator

Captivate your clients by highlighting your company's solutions, and get valuable insights to improve your business strategy with Venngage's case study templates.

Create a case study report that looks compelling and converts leads without any design experience. Showcase real success stories and challenges that your products and services helped to solve. Join over 40,000 businesses in using Venngage as a marketing solution.

Design from one of our case study templates

Choose from hundreds of case study templates. see all case study templates, design professional case studies for meetings, and negotiations.

Create your own case studies to share compelling success stories. Showcase products, strategies, and tactics that had made your clients grow. You don't need any design experience! All of our case study template designs are created in-house by professional designers.

You don't need to be a designer to create a professional-looking case study infographic, or in-depth, multi-page reports. Pick from our library of easy-to-edit case study templates.

Get access to high-quality stock photos and choose from over 40,000+ icons and illustrations to use. Venngage also offers a wide variety of chart and data visualization widgets that you can customize.

Want to incorporate your brand's identity? We've got you. My Brand Kit feature lets you upload your company logos, fonts, and colors. Perfect to stand out in your presentation!

Get your team involved when creating case studies. Real-time collaboration allows you to provide feedback and apply changes creating a great design in minutes.

How to create a case study in 5 easy steps:

Showcase your challenges to elevate your brand with ease

Customizable Templates

No design experience? No problem! Our stunning template designs will make your data analysis look great without even trying.

User-Friendly Editor

Easily visualize and present complex case study examples with Venngage editor. Use our Smart features to quickly add or remove shapes, lines, and branches with a single click.

Access Stunning Photography

A case study report is more engaging and impressive when you use Venngage's library of 3 million stock photos. Professional and royalty-free.

Data Visualization

With Venngage's free case study creator, you can add data collected from a Google Sheet or CSV, and the chart automatically populates the data.

24/7 Customer Support

Experiencing issues? Have questions about using a feature or need advice? Our support team is available around the clock.

My Brand Kit

Build your brand through consistency. My Brand Kit lets you incorporate your branding into every asset you design in Venngage.

Customize Venngage's Case Study Templates

• Choose your favorite design from the templates library. We have an extended gallery of layouts you can work on. Just organize your qualitative and quantitative data, add customizable graphs, icons and images, set your brand identity, and start creating a comprehensive case study report.
• Use illustrations, icons and photos: Case studies ought to be visually engaging and inviting. That's why Venngage lets you access 40K+ icons and beautiful illustrations, impressive stock photos, and customizable charts and graphs.
• Create branded content without any design help: Branded case studies help your brand really stand out. They're an excellent form of lead generation and branding building. Showcase your expertise and real-life success stories that will win over your readers.

Collaborate with team members and stakeholders in real-time

• Replace online meetings, email threads, chats, or messages by simply clicking "Share" from the editor to send a private link to your peers.
• Share your designs, so people can work together and make adjustments to achieve the perfect showcase for your strategies.
• Work better together. Provide feedback, share expertise, and have insights for a perfect process mapping design.

Download and share your case study design with a click

• Download your document as a PDF or Interactive PDF (to use hyperlinking).
• To print your document, apply print bleeds in the editor and then download it as a PDF.
• Share your completed design using a share link - no need to download a single thing.

Great features that make your report stand out

• My Brand Kit lets you instantly apply your branding to any template design, saving you hours of time and effort.
• Access Pixabay, Pexels, and other libraries for impressive stock photos from around the world - for free.
• Hundreds of font options and styles to suit your design preferences. You can also request fonts we don't have to maintain your brand look.

How do I sign up for Venngage's case study creator?

To start using Venngage's free case study creator, sign up for free using your email, Facebook or Gmail account. Once you create an account you can choose which template to get started with and start editing in the online editor.

How do I write a case study?

The easiest way to write a case study is to get started with a template. This provides you with a pre-set cover page and table of contents; a variety of page layouts to work with; and a picture of how to organize content, add designs and break up text. A case study is not a technical document that needs to be structured in a specific and formal way. You can get creative but focus on making your content clear and easy to understand.

What's an example of a case study?

Case studies, in business and marketing, are stories of success achieved through a product or service. The product can even be a strategy or framework that was pioneered by an industry thought leader. Many brands publish case studies on their website to share how their clients see tremendous value in using their products. The case study essentially chronicles the entire client journey from having a problem, to finding the solution, and the outcome of that solution.

Try Venngage's Case Study Creator today. Sign up for free!

Get started with our case study templates:

Business case study, content marketing case study, lead generation business case study, social media case study.

How to write a case study — examples, templates, and tools

It’s a marketer’s job to communicate the effectiveness of a product or service to potential and current customers to convince them to buy and keep business moving. One of the best methods for doing this is to share success stories that are relatable to prospects and customers based on their pain points, experiences, and overall needs.

That’s where case studies come in. Case studies are an essential part of a content marketing plan. These in-depth stories of customer experiences are some of the most effective at demonstrating the value of a product or service. Yet many marketers don’t use them, whether because of their regimented formats or the process of customer involvement and approval.

A case study is a powerful tool for showcasing your hard work and the success your customer achieved. But writing a great case study can be difficult if you’ve never done it before or if it’s been a while. This guide will show you how to write an effective case study and provide real-world examples and templates that will keep readers engaged and support your business.

In this article, you’ll learn:

What is a case study?

How to write a case study, case study templates, case study examples, case study tools.

A case study is the detailed story of a customer’s experience with a product or service that demonstrates their success and often includes measurable outcomes. Case studies are used in a range of fields and for various reasons, from business to academic research. They’re especially impactful in marketing as brands work to convince and convert consumers with relatable, real-world stories of actual customer experiences.

The best case studies tell the story of a customer’s success, including the steps they took, the results they achieved, and the support they received from a brand along the way. To write a great case study, you need to:

• Celebrate the customer and make them — not a product or service — the star of the story.
• Craft the story with specific audiences or target segments in mind so that the story of one customer will be viewed as relatable and actionable for another customer.
• Write copy that is easy to read and engaging so that readers will gain the insights and messages intended.
• Follow a standardized format that includes all of the essentials a potential customer would find interesting and useful.
• Support all of the claims for success made in the story with data in the forms of hard numbers and customer statements.

Case studies are a type of review but more in depth, aiming to show — rather than just tell — the positive experiences that customers have with a brand. Notably, 89% of consumers read reviews before deciding to buy, and 79% view case study content as part of their purchasing process. When it comes to B2B sales, 52% of buyers rank case studies as an important part of their evaluation process.

Telling a brand story through the experience of a tried-and-true customer matters. The story is relatable to potential new customers as they imagine themselves in the shoes of the company or individual featured in the case study. Showcasing previous customers can help new ones see themselves engaging with your brand in the ways that are most meaningful to them.

Besides sharing the perspective of another customer, case studies stand out from other content marketing forms because they are based on evidence. Whether pulling from client testimonials or data-driven results, case studies tend to have more impact on new business because the story contains information that is both objective (data) and subjective (customer experience) — and the brand doesn’t sound too self-promotional.

Case studies are unique in that there’s a fairly standardized format for telling a customer’s story. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for creativity. It’s all about making sure that teams are clear on the goals for the case study — along with strategies for supporting content and channels — and understanding how the story fits within the framework of the company’s overall marketing goals.

Here are the basic steps to writing a good case study.

1. Identify your goal

Start by defining exactly who your case study will be designed to help. Case studies are about specific instances where a company works with a customer to achieve a goal. Identify which customers are likely to have these goals, as well as other needs the story should cover to appeal to them.

The answer is often found in one of the buyer personas that have been constructed as part of your larger marketing strategy. This can include anything from new leads generated by the marketing team to long-term customers that are being pressed for cross-sell opportunities. In all of these cases, demonstrating value through a relatable customer success story can be part of the solution to conversion.

2. Choose your client or subject

Who you highlight matters. Case studies tie brands together that might otherwise not cross paths. A writer will want to ensure that the highlighted customer aligns with their own company’s brand identity and offerings. Look for a customer with positive name recognition who has had great success with a product or service and is willing to be an advocate.

The client should also match up with the identified target audience. Whichever company or individual is selected should be a reflection of other potential customers who can see themselves in similar circumstances, having the same problems and possible solutions.

Some of the most compelling case studies feature customers who:

• Switch from one product or service to another while naming competitors that missed the mark.
• Experience measurable results that are relatable to others in a specific industry.
• Represent well-known brands and recognizable names that are likely to compel action.
• Advocate for a product or service as a champion and are well-versed in its advantages.

Whoever or whatever customer is selected, marketers must ensure they have the permission of the company involved before getting started. Some brands have strict review and approval procedures for any official marketing or promotional materials that include their name. Acquiring those approvals in advance will prevent any miscommunication or wasted effort if there is an issue with their legal or compliance teams.

3. Conduct research and compile data

Substantiating the claims made in a case study — either by the marketing team or customers themselves — adds validity to the story. To do this, include data and feedback from the client that defines what success looks like. This can be anything from demonstrating return on investment (ROI) to a specific metric the customer was striving to improve. Case studies should prove how an outcome was achieved and show tangible results that indicate to the customer that your solution is the right one.

This step could also include customer interviews. Make sure that the people being interviewed are key stakeholders in the purchase decision or deployment and use of the product or service that is being highlighted. Content writers should work off a set list of questions prepared in advance. It can be helpful to share these with the interviewees beforehand so they have time to consider and craft their responses. One of the best interview tactics to keep in mind is to ask questions where yes and no are not natural answers. This way, your subject will provide more open-ended responses that produce more meaningful content.

4. Choose the right format

There are a number of different ways to format a case study. Depending on what you hope to achieve, one style will be better than another. However, there are some common elements to include, such as:

• An engaging headline
• A subject and customer introduction
• The unique challenge or challenges the customer faced
• The solution the customer used to solve the problem
• The results achieved
• Data and statistics to back up claims of success
• A strong call to action (CTA) to engage with the vendor

It’s also important to note that while case studies are traditionally written as stories, they don’t have to be in a written format. Some companies choose to get more creative with their case studies and produce multimedia content, depending on their audience and objectives. Case study formats can include traditional print stories, interactive web or social content, data-heavy infographics, professionally shot videos, podcasts, and more.

5. Write your case study

We’ll go into more detail later about how exactly to write a case study, including templates and examples. Generally speaking, though, there are a few things to keep in mind when writing your case study.

• Be clear and concise. Readers want to get to the point of the story quickly and easily, and they’ll be looking to see themselves reflected in the story right from the start.
• Provide a big picture. Always make sure to explain who the client is, their goals, and how they achieved success in a short introduction to engage the reader.
• Construct a clear narrative. Stick to the story from the perspective of the customer and what they needed to solve instead of just listing product features or benefits.
• Leverage graphics. Incorporating infographics, charts, and sidebars can be a more engaging and eye-catching way to share key statistics and data in readable ways.
• Offer the right amount of detail. Most case studies are one or two pages with clear sections that a reader can skim to find the information most important to them.
• Include data to support claims. Show real results — both facts and figures and customer quotes — to demonstrate credibility and prove the solution works.

6. Promote your story

Marketers have a number of options for distribution of a freshly minted case study. Many brands choose to publish case studies on their website and post them on social media. This can help support SEO and organic content strategies while also boosting company credibility and trust as visitors see that other businesses have used the product or service.

Marketers are always looking for quality content they can use for lead generation. Consider offering a case study as gated content behind a form on a landing page or as an offer in an email message. One great way to do this is to summarize the content and tease the full story available for download after the user takes an action.

Sales teams can also leverage case studies, so be sure they are aware that the assets exist once they’re published. Especially when it comes to larger B2B sales, companies often ask for examples of similar customer challenges that have been solved.

Now that you’ve learned a bit about case studies and what they should include, you may be wondering how to start creating great customer story content. Here are a couple of templates you can use to structure your case study.

Template 1 — Challenge-solution-result format

• Start with an engaging title. This should be fewer than 70 characters long for SEO best practices. One of the best ways to approach the title is to include the customer’s name and a hint at the challenge they overcame in the end.
• Create an introduction. Lead with an explanation as to who the customer is, the need they had, and the opportunity they found with a specific product or solution. Writers can also suggest the success the customer experienced with the solution they chose.
• Present the challenge. This should be several paragraphs long and explain the problem the customer faced and the issues they were trying to solve. Details should tie into the company’s products and services naturally. This section needs to be the most relatable to the reader so they can picture themselves in a similar situation.
• Share the solution. Explain which product or service offered was the ideal fit for the customer and why. Feel free to delve into their experience setting up, purchasing, and onboarding the solution.
• Explain the results. Demonstrate the impact of the solution they chose by backing up their positive experience with data. Fill in with customer quotes and tangible, measurable results that show the effect of their choice.
• Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that invites readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to nurture them further in the marketing pipeline. What you ask of the reader should tie directly into the goals that were established for the case study in the first place.

Template 2 — Data-driven format

• Start with an engaging title. Be sure to include a statistic or data point in the first 70 characters. Again, it’s best to include the customer’s name as part of the title.
• Create an overview. Share the customer’s background and a short version of the challenge they faced. Present the reason a particular product or service was chosen, and feel free to include quotes from the customer about their selection process.
• Present data point 1. Isolate the first metric that the customer used to define success and explain how the product or solution helped to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Present data point 2. Isolate the second metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Present data point 3. Isolate the final metric that the customer used to define success and explain what the product or solution did to achieve this goal. Provide data points and quotes to substantiate the claim that success was achieved.
• Summarize the results. Reiterate the fact that the customer was able to achieve success thanks to a specific product or service. Include quotes and statements that reflect customer satisfaction and suggest they plan to continue using the solution.
• Ask for action. Include a CTA at the end of the case study that asks readers to reach out for more information, try a demo, or learn more — to further nurture them in the marketing pipeline. Again, remember that this is where marketers can look to convert their content into action with the customer.

While templates are helpful, seeing a case study in action can also be a great way to learn. Here are some examples of how Adobe customers have experienced success.

Juniper Networks

One example is the Adobe and Juniper Networks case study , which puts the reader in the customer’s shoes. The beginning of the story quickly orients the reader so that they know exactly who the article is about and what they were trying to achieve. Solutions are outlined in a way that shows Adobe Experience Manager is the best choice and a natural fit for the customer. Along the way, quotes from the client are incorporated to help add validity to the statements. The results in the case study are conveyed with clear evidence of scale and volume using tangible data.

The story of Lenovo’s journey with Adobe is one that spans years of planning, implementation, and rollout. The Lenovo case study does a great job of consolidating all of this into a relatable journey that other enterprise organizations can see themselves taking, despite the project size. This case study also features descriptive headers and compelling visual elements that engage the reader and strengthen the content.

Tata Consulting

When it comes to using data to show customer results, this case study does an excellent job of conveying details and numbers in an easy-to-digest manner. Bullet points at the start break up the content while also helping the reader understand exactly what the case study will be about. Tata Consulting used Adobe to deliver elevated, engaging content experiences for a large telecommunications client of its own — an objective that’s relatable for a lot of companies.

Case studies are a vital tool for any marketing team as they enable you to demonstrate the value of your company’s products and services to others. They help marketers do their job and add credibility to a brand trying to promote its solutions by using the experiences and stories of real customers.

When you’re ready to get started with a case study:

• Think about a few goals you’d like to accomplish with your content.
• Make a list of successful clients that would be strong candidates for a case study.
• Reach out to the client to get their approval and conduct an interview.
• Gather the data to present an engaging and effective customer story.

Adobe can help

There are several Adobe products that can help you craft compelling case studies. Adobe Experience Platform helps you collect data and deliver great customer experiences across every channel. Once you’ve created your case studies, Experience Platform will help you deliver the right information to the right customer at the right time for maximum impact.

To learn more, watch the Adobe Experience Platform story .

Keep in mind that the best case studies are backed by data. That’s where Adobe Real-Time Customer Data Platform and Adobe Analytics come into play. With Real-Time CDP, you can gather the data you need to build a great case study and target specific customers to deliver the content to the right audience at the perfect moment.

Watch the Real-Time CDP overview video to learn more.

Finally, Adobe Analytics turns real-time data into real-time insights. It helps your business collect and synthesize data from multiple platforms to make more informed decisions and create the best case study possible.

Request a demo to learn more about Adobe Analytics.

https://business.adobe.com/blog/perspectives/b2b-ecommerce-10-case-studies-inspire-you

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/business-case

https://business.adobe.com/blog/basics/what-is-real-time-analytics

Leveraging Research to Develop a Compelling POV

By Jason Mlicki   |   January 6, 2022   |   Content Marketing

Growing a firm or a practice starts with having a distinct perspective on clients’ challenges. Often, that perspective starts with research. Here’s how.

Articulating a clear, compelling, distinct point-of-view is critical to the success of any firm growth strategy or thought leadership endeavor. While your expertise is the backbone of your positioning (it describes the problems you solve and the types of organizations you solve them for), your POV presents a better way to solve them. It is the perspective that sits on top of your expertise like that top layer of rich buttercream icing on a chocolate cake. It attracts some people — ooh; I love icing. And it repels others — yuck, buttercream!

Often your POV derives from the hard-earned wisdom of your subject matter experts. It emerges over decades of working with clients and seeing the patterns that emerge repeatedly.

But that is also frequently not the case. Often marketing leaders find that their most important practices don’t have anything compelling or different to say. There are several reasons why:

• Most firms don’t create the time and space necessary in their culture for consultants to reflect on what they learn from their client work. People just aren’t given, and don’t take, the time necessary to step back and synthesize what they’re learning along the way.
• For many consultants, 4-5 years serving a handful of clients is more like a discrete collection of 15-20 disparate projects strung together over time. Yes, they’ve been working in a narrow band of companies or problem sets, but the way the work is being delivered in such a way that they’re not really building any meaningful accretive insight.
• Often the sample size is just too small. As a successful consultant, how many clients do you really work with over the course of a decade in a deep, meaningful way? 2 or 3? Maybe 5 or 10? The patterns consultants are seeing are deriving from a woefully small set of companies. What if you’re not working with ANY high performing organizations and you don’t even know it?

As it turns out, most compelling POVs are discovered through research. The Challenger Sale, Built to Last, Good to Great, Net Promoter Score, Reengineering the Corporation . Many of the most influential management insights — the POVs that shaped or redefined markets — started as tightly bound research inquiries.

If you’re struggling to derive a POV for one of your practices one of the best places to start is with research.

Start with a Foundational Quantitative Study

To do this type of research we recommend starting with a tightly bound leaders/laggards research inquiry. Focus on one mission critical problem that your ideal clients face and develop a study that explores how they’re currently solving it.

For instance, maybe you want to understand how manufacturers are navigating today’s supply chain disruptions and working to avoid them in the future. Maybe you want to study how Fortune 500 companies launch, nurture, and grow new ventures. Or maybe you want to understand how mid-market B2C advertisers are leveraging data to drive revenue growth.

Regardless of what your topic is, the quantitative study is designed to help you identify and characterize companies that are already solving the problem with remarkable success. What processes are they using? What structures do they have in place? How are they staffing and organizing teams? What behaviors do they bring to the task?

An effective study is usually 30-35 questions, and it includes a leaders/laggards identifier. This is a question you can use to identify top performers. You can identify them objectively — companies with the fastest revenue growth or the lowest employee turnover, for instance. Or you can identify them subjectively — let executives self-identify by indicating how they feel their company is performing on a given dimension relative to their peers (usually they’re right).

Regardless of how you do it, make sure you can make a comparison in your research of top performers and the general population. This enables you to find those characteristics, processes, and behaviors that the leaders apply to solve the problem that others simply do not. In a sense, it becomes the base ingredients of your POV — the sugar in that icing!

Leverage Qualitative Case Study Research

The next step is to spend 1:1 time with the executives from the identified leader organizations. Schedule structured qualitative sessions to perform deep case study research. Get underneath the data set. What are they really doing to solve this problem? What mindsets are they bringing to the task? What motivations? What is unique about their company culture relative to other companies you’ve worked with?

Your qualitative case study research is where you will identify novel ways to solve the problem you’ve not thought of before. It’s where Hedgehogs, BHAGs, and Challenger selling methodologies are really discovered. It’s the secret ingredient in that icing that makes it the best thing your clients ever tasted.

Synthesize What You’ve Learned

Your research findings will never be obvious. We all hope that the answer will just jump out of the data and the interviews — oh, solving this supply chain quagmire is a cinch! The reality is it takes some work.

The last step in the process is to make sense of what you’ve discovered. The key here is engage as many perspectives as you can. Work with your subject matter experts to see how the findings jive with their experience. Share your conclusions with some of your most trusted clients. Do they agree with what you’ve uncovered?

Your goal is to deliver a solution to the problem that is not only a better one, but also a more elegant one. A POV that can be easily understood if not readily applied.

Where to Start?

The best place to start is to look at the POVs for each of your firm’s collective practices. Which ones are clear? Which ones are compelling? Which ones pass the 7 tests of an effective POV ? Pick the practice that has the most growth potential, needs the most work, and start a conversation with the practice leader.

Effective Differentiation Comes Through a Compelling Point-of-View

7 sources of primary research topics for a/e firm content marketing, taking research to market: learn and unlearn from the business media.

Jason Mlicki is Principal of Rattleback. He helps clients envision their desired future state and aligns our agency resources to enable them to realize it.

• My Storyboards

Narrator's Point of View

In this activity, activity overview, template and class instructions, more storyboard that activities.

• This Activity is Part of Many Teacher Guides

Understanding a book's point of view is something that helps students better understand the story, and how the POV can differ from the narrator . Point of View (POV) refers to who is telling or narrating a story. A story can be told from the first person, second person, or third person point of view. First person is when “I” am telling the story. The character relates their experiences directly. Second person is when story is told to “you.” Third person limited is about “he”, “she", or "they". The narrator is outside of the story and relating the experiences of a character. Third person omniscient is when the narrator is “he”, "she", or "they", but the narrator has full access to the thoughts and experiences of all characters in the story.

After reading the book and discussing the point of view, students can create a storyboard that describes what type of narrator(s) the story has and the perspective(s) in the story. They should give evidence from the text to support their claims.

To scaffold or tailor this activity, teachers may choose to fill in text or illustrations and have students fill in the blanks. They may also have students define what each point of view is in addition to describing what it is. Be sure to update the student instructions as necessary!

(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)

Objective: Create a storyboard analyzing the narrator's point of view in the story.

Student Instructions:

• Click "Start Assignment".
• Identify the point of view of the Narrator or narrators and write it in the heading.
• Add appropriate characters, scenes and items to illustrate the point of view using examples from the book.
• Write a description for each cell using evidence from the text to describe the narrator's point of view.

Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level --- N/A ---

Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)

Type of Assignment Individual

Type of Activity: Understanding Point of View vs. Perspective in Literature

• [ELA-Literacy/RH/9-10/3] Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
• [ELA-Literacy/W/6/6] Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of three pages in a single sitting.
• [ELA-LITERACY/CCRA/R/1] Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
• [ELA-LITERACY/CCRA/R/7] Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
• [ELA-LITERACY/CCRA/R/9] Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

(You can also create your own on Quick Rubric .)

How To Help Students Create Different Point of Views for the Same Story

Explain the concept, select a narrative, brainstorm and foster creativity, talk about the reader's experience, encourage reflection and discussion, frequently asked questions about identifying and analyzing the narrator's point of view, which point of views are commonly used in literature, how does the pov used in the narrative relate to the narrator's credibility, novel study.

Try 1 Month For

30 Day Money Back Guarantee New Customers Only Full Price After Introductory Offer

Learn more about our Department, School, and District packages

• Thousands of images
• Custom layouts, scenes, characters
• And so much more!!

Create a Storyboard

Case Study: DBS Bank’s Billion-Dollar AI Banking Dream

How dbs bank uses ai to deliver unparalleled business and customer value.

After years of development and experimentation, DBS Bank in Singapore has successfully deployed advanced data analytics, AI, and ML alongside real-time customer interactions to unlock significant value, enhancing decision-making and customer experiences. This case study shows digital business leaders how one of Asia’s leading banks has deployed these capabilities to fuel next best experiences for banking and investment customers — which has already generated an estimated S$370 million (US$278 million) of economic value by increasing revenue, reducing costs, and avoiding risks.

Want to read the full report?

This report is available for individual purchase ($1495). Forrester helps business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. That means empowering you to put the customer at the center of everything you do: your leadership strategy, and operations. Becoming a customer-obsessed organization requires change — it requires being bold. We give business and technology leaders the confidence to put bold into action, shaping and guiding how to navigate today's unprecedented change in order to succeed.

Advertisement

New Englanders, with their love of seafood, may be at higher risk for PFAS exposure

• Sujata Srinivasan, Connecticut Public

A study from Dartmouth found that higher consumption of seafood is linked to a higher risk of  per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)  exposure. While the study looked specifically at people in New Hampshire, New Englanders are likely at higher risk because a legacy of PFAS pollution exists alongside a cultural preference for fish.

Researchers analyzed PFAS concentrations in fresh seafood with a statewide survey of eating habits in New Hampshire.  National nutrition surveys  have found that New Hampshire and all of New England are among the top consumers of seafood nationally, making New Hampshire ideal for researchers to learn more about the extent of people’s exposure to PFAS through fish and shellfish in saltwater.

“Basically, New Hampshire is a kind of case study that quantifies seafood consumption, particularly in a New England state, in order to estimate the potential risk of PFAS exposure that may come from very frequently consuming marine seafood,” Megan Romano, corresponding author and associate professor of epidemiology at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, said.

She said the findings,  published in the journal Exposure and Health , make a case for setting PFAS limits on seafood, not to stop eating seafood.

"Understanding this risk-benefit trade-off for seafood consumption is important for people making decisions about diet, especially for vulnerable populations such as pregnant people and children," Romano said.

“New Hampshire was among the first states to identify PFAS in drinking water, according to Jonathan Petali, the study’s co-author and a toxicologist with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

“We're a data-rich state due to years spent investigating the impacts of PFAS and trying to mitigate exposure,” he said.

The researchers measured the levels of 26 varieties of PFAS in samples of the most consumed marine species: cod, haddock, lobster, salmon, scallop, shrimp, and tuna. The seafood studied was purchased fresh from a market in coastal New Hampshire and originated from various regions.

They found shrimp and lobster to contain the highest concentrations of PFAS with averages ranging as high as 1.74 and 3.30 nanograms per gram of flesh for certain PFAS compounds. Concentrations of individual PFAS in other fish and seafood measured less than one nanogram per gram.

The Environmental Protection Agency set the nation’s first limits on PFAS in drinking water Thursday.

“Drinking water contaminated with PFAS has plagued communities across this country for too long,” Michael S. Regan, administrator of the EPA, said in a statement. “ Our PFAS Strategic Roadmap marshals the full breadth of EPA’s authority and resources to protect people from these harmful forever chemicals.”

Studies have shown that women with exposure to PFAS may be at  higher risk of higher blood pressure , and  people with PFAS exposure  may have increases in cholesterol levels, decreases in birth weight, lower antibody response to vaccines, kidney and testicular cancer, pregnancy-induced hypertension, preeclampsia and changes in liver enzymes.

This story is part of the New England News Collaborative. It was originally published by Connecticut Public .

• EPA sets first national limits on PFAS in drinking water
• What are PFAS chemicals, and should I be freaking out about them?

More from WBUR