PORTFOLIO CASE STUDY TEMPLATE
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IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE YOU START:
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Results beat aesthetics. $30K in revenue driven beats a pretty screenshot
every time. Clients hire you because they believe you can solve their problem —
your job is to prove it before they sign anything.

A good case study isn't a summary of what you did.
It's proof that you can do it again for someone else.


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THE BLANK TEMPLATE
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--- CASE STUDY START ---

CLIENT / PROJECT TITLE:
[Company name or project title. If confidential: "E-commerce brand (name withheld)" is fine.]


THE PROBLEM:
[2-3 sentences. What was broken, missing, or painful before you arrived?
What was the client trying to solve? What was at stake if it didn't get fixed?]

Example of a weak problem statement:
"The client needed a website redesign."

Example of a strong problem statement:
"Their existing website had a 78% bounce rate on mobile and was costing them
an estimated 40-50 qualified leads per month. Three previous designers had
started the project and abandoned it."


MY ROLE:
[Be specific about what YOU did — not what the agency or team did.
Use "I" not "we." Clients are hiring you, not a team.]

Example: "I led the full UX audit, wrote all interface copy, and designed
the checkout flow from scratch. Development was handled by a separate developer."


MY APPROACH:
[List your process steps. Keep it to 3-5 bullet points. This shows HOW you think,
not just what you delivered.]

• [Step 1 — discovery, research, audit, kickoff, etc.]
• [Step 2 — what you created, tested, or developed]
• [Step 3 — revisions, refinement, feedback incorporation]
• [Step 4 — delivery or launch]
• [Step 5 — follow-up, iteration, or optimization if relevant]


THE RESULT:
[Quantify if at all possible. "It looked better" is not a result.
"Bounce rate dropped from 78% to 41% within 30 days" is a result.]

Primary result: [Metric + timeframe]
Secondary result: [Additional outcome if applicable]
Qualitative note: [Optional — client reaction, team feedback, unexpected win]


TOOLS / SKILLS USED:
[Figma | Webflow | Google Analytics | Copywriting | Notion | etc.]


TESTIMONIAL (optional but highly recommended):
"[Direct quote from the client — ideally mentioning a specific result or
outcome, not just 'great to work with.']"
— [First Name Last Name], [Title] at [Company]

--- CASE STUDY END ---


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FILLED-IN EXAMPLE
(Copywriter — Email Sequence Project)
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--- EXAMPLE CASE STUDY START ---

CLIENT / PROJECT TITLE:
Onboarding Email Sequence Rewrite — SaaS Project Management Tool (name withheld)


THE PROBLEM:
A Series A SaaS company had a 7-day trial that converted at 4.2% — well below
the 8-12% industry benchmark. Their existing onboarding emails were generic,
feature-focused, and averaged a 14% open rate. They had tried A/B testing
subject lines but hadn't addressed the underlying copy or email logic.


MY ROLE:
I rewrote the full 9-email onboarding sequence: subject lines, body copy,
CTAs, and behavioral trigger logic. I worked directly with the founder and
their growth lead. I did not handle the email platform setup — that stayed
with their developer.


MY APPROACH:

• Audited the existing sequence: tracked open rates, click rates, and churn
  points by email position
• Interviewed 6 recently converted users to understand what clicked for them
• Mapped the new sequence to a jobs-to-be-done framework: each email addressed
  one specific activation moment
• Wrote all 9 emails with 2 subject line variants per email for A/B testing
• Delivered a strategy doc explaining the logic behind each email's timing


THE RESULT:

Primary result: Trial-to-paid conversion rate rose from 4.2% to 9.1% within
60 days of the new sequence going live.

Secondary result: Average open rate across the sequence increased from 14% to 31%.

Qualitative note: The founder later told me the sequence had become "the single
biggest revenue lever we've touched in the last 12 months."

Estimated revenue impact: The 4.9-percentage-point conversion lift on ~800
monthly trials × $99/month plan = approximately $30K+ in additional MRR
attributed to the sequence in the first 6 months.


TOOLS / SKILLS USED:
Email copywriting | Customer research | Jobs-to-be-done framework |
Intercom | Google Sheets | Notion


TESTIMONIAL:
"We'd been stuck at 4% conversion for over a year and tried everything.
[Freelancer] interviewed our customers, identified exactly where we were losing
people, and wrote a sequence that nearly doubled our trial conversion in 60 days.
Genuinely one of the best ROI decisions we've made."
— Marcus T., Co-founder, [SaaS Company]

--- EXAMPLE CASE STUDY END ---


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TIPS FOR WRITING YOUR OWN
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If you don't have exact metrics:
→ Estimate and label it as an estimate ("approximately 30% fewer support tickets")
→ Use qualitative results ("the client renewed for a second project immediately")
→ Ask your client for a testimonial and quote it — their words are evidence

If the project was internal (agency or employer work):
→ Credit clearly: "I led the UX redesign as an in-house designer at Acme Co."
→ This is fine — work is work, regardless of employment status

If it was a personal project:
→ Treat it the same way — what was the challenge, what did you build, what happened?
→ "Built a portfolio site that led to 3 inbound inquiries in the first month"
   is a result. Use it.


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