Five Impressive UX Design Case Studies for Creative Inspiration

Case studies are a great resource for learning and understanding UI/UX design. Good designs start from understanding users, what they like, how they behave, and how we can nudge them in the right direction. UX research plays a huge role here, but case studies can act as a shortcut or a jumping point. By reading and understanding how others have done similar projects, designers can avoid common mistakes and adopt proven approaches and processes.

At LunarLab, we regularly publish case studies to showcase our work and to help other designers with similar projects. We are also on the lookout for interesting case studies that help us better understand user perspectives. In this article, we want to showcase six interesting case studies that inspired us. 

What makes an inspiring UX design case study?

The best UX case studies offer insights for designers and help design better products. The goal of a case study is to understand the processes that went into a product and it doesn’t have to be a completely new product. Even redesigning a simple mobile app can be a good UI UX case study, if it produced tangible results for the product owners. 

For instance, if a change in the check-out process reduced abandoned carts by 50%, it would make a great case study. Even if the changes appear minor visually, if they produce great results, other designers will have a lot to learn from them. Designers would want to emulate not just the final result or the design, but the process that helped them achieve their goals. 

At LunarLab, we try to write comprehensive case studies on projects we believe will help other product designers and development teams. We try to showcase our processes, how we made different decisions, the techniques we used, and of course the end results. We also regularly study UX design case studies from other designers and teams who have made successful products or are breaking new ground with design. 

Organizations and teams around the world are coming up with new interfaces and technologies and case studies help designers best utilize them in their designs. Just 17 years ago the iPhone made touchscreens a common interface for smartphones, but now, we are moving on towards voice commands and spatial computing. 

6 best UX design case study for product designers

1. FounderHer web app by LunarLab

FoundHer was built to help women-owned businesses grow. It was made to help businesses connect with customers, investors, vendors, and others that they may need to run it. The platform uses AI and geo mapping technologies to promote local businesses and enhance connectivity among them. 

LunarLab was tasked with building a responsive web app for the app. 

The team started with a product design and strategy workshop. They realized they needed to create a bold and empowering visual identity and design a comprehensive MVP. The app should help businesses get what they want and others to find businesses of interest. 

The team built filters like location, industry, NAIC codes, and keywords to help people find profiles of new businesses. They also added a “What we’re looking for” section on the profile to help businesses attract potential vendors, investors, and others. 

Key Highlights

• The design uses bold colors and fonts for a business-like-but-approachable feel
• The product offers value for all users. Customers can easily find businesses near them, and investors can easily learn more about companies, what stage they are, and what they need. Businesses can showcase their products and services. 

2. A different type of language-learning app 

UX designer Christina Sa came across a 2020 study at Michigan State University found that the proficiency of students in a language was correlated to how long they used it but that 36% of users quit halfway. Christina decided to make a different type of app and it got her first UX job. 

Christina has described her design process in extensive detail in her case study. They started with an analysis of competitor apps and compared their features. Then she conducted a survey of a diverse group of language learners and got insights into how they used these apps. They further conducted interviews with users and defined a detailed user persona. 

Christina built a customer journey map and further detailed the problem statement and started building. 

They came up with an app that helped users learn Korean in context, through songs, comic books, and drama. They designed the app to help users build a routine and included an AR translation feature. 

They went through sketches followed by mid-fidelity wireframes and conducted usability testing. After further iterations based on the testing, they built a UI kit and a prototype. 

Key highlights

• The designer took user feedback at every stage, before building the app and in between after mid-fidelity prototypes. 
• The solution was new, but the existing apps were studied before building something better. 

3. TV guide for the video-on-demand era

When there are too many shows and movies to pick from, how would you choose one to watch? How do you make sure you don’t miss out on shows or movies that you would find interesting? That’s the question designer Abdus Salam wanted to answer. His solution was to build a TV guide for the streaming era. 

Abdus used two methods to understand user problems and to study the competition. They conducted in-person interviews and surveys to learn existing user behavior, device usage, and preferences for managing shows. The second method was to study the reviews and comments users had left on app stores. 

Through surveys, they understood that most people watched shows based on recommendations from friends and family. 

The result was an app with four views: watchlist, explore, TV listings, and settings. Surveys had shown that most people use streaming services around nighttime, so they deviated from the traditional light theme of TV guides and used a dark theme instead. 

Key highlights: 

• The app brought together selections from multiple streaming apps. 
• During the onboarding process, users can set their preferences by swiping on TV shows and series. Swipe up for shows they liked and down for the ones they didn’t. The TV guide would give recommendations based on this data. 

4. Website for boot camps on data analysis

Become a Data Analyst, a startup helping people become data analysts and land high-paying jobs wanted a website that better explained their value proposition. They wanted a website that would attract students who wanted to be data analysts as well as companies who wanted to hire them. 

LunarLab started the project with a discovery workshop to understand exactly what they needed to do. 

They built the home page for people who wanted to be data analysts. The page showed what a career as a data analyst would be like, what they can expect from the boot camp, and testimonials from previous students about their experiences. The page helped educate potential students about being a data analyst and increased their interest in joining the program. 

The team added a business page for companies that wanted to hire data analysts. The page showcased how a data analyst can help their business and how they can hire one. 

They built a separate learning center with some of the materials from the boot camp to give potential students a taste. 

Key Highlights

• In this UX design case study, separate pages were made for separate user personas. Very often designs try to sell everything to everyone, and nobody ends up buying. This approach helped different types of visitors get a clear picture of the value they’re getting. 

5. A fun new banking app

Rebank is a new take on banking apps and a very interesting UX design case study. By conducting user interviews, the team behind the app learned that 75% of users found going to the bank a lot of stress and uncertainty and that 80% of them never received any financial education. Sixty percent of the users also said they rarely track their finances. 

The team designed the apps to be a playful and relaxed experience. To enhance financial literacy among its audience, the team provided explanations for different processes and concepts related to money in clear and simple language. They also made different animated characters as avatars which users can pick while signing up. 

Key highlights: 

• The case study highlights the importance of UX copy which is often the last thing designers think of. In this design, the team has put a lot of effort into explaining everything clearly. 
• The design is completely out of the box. Banking apps generally tend to be complex and have little focus on design. They’re not usually designed to be fun. But with this approach, the team has made banking a lot less complicated. 

Good design begins with research first and aesthetics second

A layperson would imagine design to be all about sketches, wireframes, and prototypes. But good design starts with research and understanding the user before putting pen to paper (or an iPad). Creativity plays a role in good designs, but processes make them good every time. 

Looking for a UI/UX design team that delivers great results? Reach out to us and let’s talk design.