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Portfolio piece · Competent · Lesson 41 of 99 · 4 min video, then about 2 hours of practice
Choosing a problem worth a case study
After this you can select a project that demonstrates judgement rather than decoration, and say why you chose it.
Why it matters
The choice matters more than the execution. Strong choices: a problem you have genuine access to users for; a niche or unglamorous domain (logistics, healthcare admin, local government, an internal tool) where constraints are visible; a real organisation that needs help, such as a charity or a small business. Weak choices: unsolicited redesigns of Spotify, Netflix or Instagram. Reviewers have seen thousands, you have no access to their constraints or data, and the exercise mostly demonstrates restyling. Choose a domain from your own background if you have one; that is an advantage almost no other applicant has. Trap: choosing something so large you cannot finish it.
How to use this resource
What reviewers are scanning for, from the research organisation rather than an influencer. Published 2019 and the substance holds; the market context around it has hardened since, so read it alongside the orientation phase.