5 tips to ace your Content Design case study interview
How to stand out from other candidates by showing that you’re a designer - not a writer.
You are heading to the case study interview, you’re almost done with the recruiting process! Here are a few tips and tricks to maximize your chances to let your case study shine.
Sidenote: in this article, I will refer to both Content Designers and UX writers with 1 term only: Content Designers. Here is why this term is way better.
Aim for a mouth-watering case, not for an over-detailed one
Here are 3 reasons why:
- You’ll have a whole interview to present it: your case study has to give a glitch of what you’re capable of. Share the main axes of your process of thought and showcase your strengths. You’ll have a whole interview to accompany your audience through it.
- It’s unpaid work: in the podcast “Believe in content design with Jonathon Colman @ HubSpot” by Writers in Tech, Jonathon Colman underlines that home assignments are discriminatory, because some people may not have the privilege to have some extra time off to consecrate to them.
- Once it’s sent, it’s in their hands: you don’t know how your shared insights may be used. For copyright reasons, put your name and surname in the title of the document and at the end of every slide — just in case.
Get inspired before and during the case study
It’s tempting to start to work straight away. But take your sweet time to study the brand, the product, and the competitors. Focus on the big picture: is there any other company already offering a similar service? What makes this company different or special?
Also, don’t forget the usual suspects. Airbnb, Spotify, Google, Uber, you name it. Reinventing the wheel is the last thing you need to do.
Example: Before working on the 404-page of the e-health platform Doctolib, I started by benchmarking existing 404-pages for similar products and a usual suspect (here, Airbnb).
Don’t tell, show!
Don’t just say “I would write X” or “I would replace X with Y”. As a Content designer, you need to test your copy on a screen: where will this copy be displayed? Is there going to be enough space? Do you want to challenge information architecture? Are you adding an illustration? Which law of User Experience are you applying? What happened before? What happens next? If you don’t do it in a case study, it means you don’t think you should do it in your day-to-day job.
I hear you coming: “But I’m not a Product Designer!”. You’re being interviewed for a Content Design role, so no one will expect from you amazing Figma/Sketch skills. But if you want to stand out from other candidates and let the interviewer see you’re a designer, you have to get your hand dirty.
Storytime: for my very first interview as a UX Writer, I worked on a screen directly on Canva. It was patched up, but at least I tried to let them see what I had in mind.
“One take” is a myth
In the end, nobody cares about the final version of your screen. Even if you hit the jackpot with the most “perfect” (whatever it means) screen, it all means nothing without sharing the story behind it.
The interviewer wants to see how you went from a problem to a solution. Show all the possible pathways you considered, and why and how you decided to leave all but one aside. Even if it may seem counterproductive, show all the dead ends, your iterations, and your errors. In real life, it’s impossible to have it right the first time.
Bonus point: as you’re working with words, everyone has an opinion on your output. Be the one in charge and justify your choices with benchmarks, user tests, and design systems. Show that you didn’t randomly choose a word rather than another, but that you’re a designer — not a writer.
Rate their way of working
Remember: the interviewer is evaluating you as much as you should evaluate them. Did you like the preview of your next job?
Just after the interviews, take a moment to reassemble what they asked you and try to understand if you’re okay with their way of working. What did they ask you? How did they challenge you?
For example, if they just asked you to replace Lorem Ipsum and were not interested in the UX pain points you tackled and solved, then run. Fast.
Resources:
- Site https://lawsofux.com/
- Podcast “Believe in content design with Jonathon Colman @ HubSpot” by Writers in Tech
- Article “So long “UX Writing”, hello “Content Design”” by
Morgane Constant - Article “How to write a case study for your design portfolio” by Robert Mayer
- Article “The content design interview-getter” by Jason Fox
- Article “How to write a UX writing case study” by
Daley Wilhelm - Article “The Fall of Lorem Ipsum” by Krittr
