Website Case Study Pages: Show the Decisions and Evidence

Choose what the project can teach a prospective client

A website case study explains a real project through evidence and decisions. It is different from a portfolio thumbnail and different from a testimonial. Decide what another client can learn: how course information was organised, how a catalogue was structured or how an enquiry route was implemented. Choose a project with relevant records and permission to publish. Visual drama alone is not a sufficient reason to feature it. This guide covers the case-study narrative and evidence; a general portfolio or image-strategy article addresses broader presentation decisions.

Prepare a factual project record before writing. Identify the approved client context, requirement, constraints, agency contribution and completed scope. Distinguish work handled by the client or another supplier. A team that designed the interface should not imply it also developed every integration unless that is accurate. Where client details cannot be shared, describe the permitted context carefully without pretending an anonymous invented project is a real delivery. Keep illustrative examples visibly separate from published client cases.

Connect the requirement to the design decision

Structure the story as a useful progression: what the client needed, what choices were made, what was delivered and what evidence supports the account. Explain the reason for a decision, not only its visual appearance. A revised navigation can be described in relation to the content categories it needed to expose. A contact flow can be described through its fields and destinations. Readers should be able to connect the original requirement with the implementation instead of seeing disconnected claims about quality.

Choose a limited number of approved screenshots that demonstrate those choices. Place each near its explanation and add a caption with substantive context. Avoid a gallery of nearly identical views or tiny full-page captures that nobody can read on a phone. Keep the important reasoning in text, with an optional larger image view where useful. Verify that the screenshot represents the agency’s actual work; a live client website may have changed after delivery. Attribute collaborators and photography accurately.

Separate intentions, deliverables and observed outcomes

Designing clearer navigation is an intention and implementation decision. An observed improvement requires evidence and an appropriate comparison. If measurement is unavailable, explain the delivered scope honestly rather than inventing percentages. If a measured figure is available and approved, record its definition, comparison period and relevant limitations. Do not turn a contact-button click into a completed sale. Likewise, do not write client praise as a quotation unless it was supplied and approved. A substantive account of work can be useful without a dramatic outcome claim.

Worked example: an education website without conversion data

Imagine an authorised case study about an institution’s website. The records show course-page templates, a reorganised menu and separate call and chat routes, but no dependable pre-project enquiry baseline. Describe the communication challenge and those delivered decisions. Show approved examples of the course structure and contact flow. Do not add a fictional increase in admissions or a fabricated testimonial to make the story persuasive. This is an illustrative scenario, not a claim about a particular institution. It demonstrates that delivery evidence and commercial measurement are different forms of information.

Review claims and preserve the approved version

Check every name, image, quotation, external link and statement against the approved record. Ask an unfamiliar reader whether the requirement and contribution are clear. Review captions and image crops on mobile. Keep the approved text and screenshots available so later updates do not silently enlarge the agency’s claimed role. If the external site changes, update the link context or use an appropriately identified approved delivery view. A maintained case study remains a credible explanation of actual work rather than a continually embellished success story.

Practical checklist

• Prepare an approved project evidence record.
• Explain why each implementation choice was made.
• Keep intentions separate from measured outcomes.
• Review screenshot attribution and later site changes.

Frequently asked questions

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