All about Project Case Study

Before interview, check if computer helper (AI tools) can be used to process interview materials. If they said no, you should not use tools listed in this page to help you process the article drafts. More details in next learning material.

Before and after interview, ask the interviewee if names of the project, team and organization can be mentioned in the article. Ask if they prefer to remove some identifiable information to protect their privacy and not being bothered by the unsuccessful experiences.

If you need to De-identification (remove all personal information)
This means replacing names, places, and other details that could identify real people or groups. Here's what to do:

• NAMES OF PEOPLE
  Replace with: A job title or general role
  Example: Instead of "John Smith, the manager" write "The project manager"
• COMPANY OR ORGANIZATION NAMES
  Replace with: What type of company it is and how big
  Example: Instead of "TechCorp Inc." write "A mid-size tech company" or "A leading regional startup"
• PROJECT NAMES
  Replace with: What the project does
  Example: Instead of "Project Falcon" write "The data collection project" or "The internal system upgrade"
• SPECIFIC BUSINESS INFORMATION
  Replace with: A simple description of what it does
  Example: Instead of "A contract with the Taiwan Department of Commerce" write "A contract with a government agency"
• EXACT DATES AND LOCATIONS
  Replace with: A time period or general area
  Example: Instead of "June 15, 2024, in Taipei" write "Mid-2024" or "In Southeast Asia"

Read through your article and check every paragraph. Whenever you see a real name, company name, or specific place, replace it with a general description. If you're not sure if something is too specific, replace it anyway to be safe.

The Computer Helper

Involved computer helper (AI) is a tool that can read and organize stories very fast. It helps us put the information in a simple order.

EXAMPLE: Imagine you have many notes about a project. The computer helper can look at all the notes and put the starting parts together, the middle parts together, and the ending parts together.

The Consent:

1. Before you start the interview, you must tell the project leader about the computer helper.
2. Say this: "We might use a computer helper (AI) to organize this story. Is that okay?"
3. If they say 'Yes,' you can continue the interview.
4. If they say 'No,' you must promise that only real people will organize their story and you cannot use the AI tools listed in this page to help you review the article (do it yourself). And mark it down at the first line of your article before submission. Also mention this in the submission if possible.

📝 PRACTICE CHALLENGE: Write down the exact words you will say to the project leader about the computer helper.

At this stage we need to capture all key activities (Events) in the full story of a project.

EXAMPLE: The project leader says, "We ran out of money." Running out of money is a big moment, an Event.

Capturing all event we see the overview of a project story, we look at it like A Long Journey.

A journey is all the walking and actions someone does from the start of a project until people benefit from it. Keeping project running is a journey complicated enough to be a project itself. A journey is not just a straight road; sometimes, you stop, or you have to turn back.

The Story: You want to cook a big family meal.

• Starting: Why did you decide to cook? (Motivation)
• Packing: What food and tools did you need to get? (Resources)
• The Path: What did you do next? (Working & Activities)
• Keep following the path until you reach the Arrival: Did everyone eat the food? Did they say it tasted good? (Delivery & User Success)

The Interview:

We need to make sure we learn all four parts of the project's journey.

1. Ask about the Start: Why did they begin this project? What was the big problem they saw?
2. Ask about the Packing: What resources did they gather? Resources are people, money, or materials.
3. Ask about The Path: What were the main actions they took? What did they do every day or week? What happened next?

📝 PRACTICE CHALLENGE: You are planning to fix a broken roof. For this project, what is the 'Packing' part of the journey? (Think about the tools and materials you need.)

Now we have listed out all key activities (Events) of the project.

An Event is one big thing that happened in the project. It is a moment when they made an important choice or when something surprising happened.

EXAMPLE: The project leader says, "We ran out of money." Running out of money is a big moment, an Event.

The Interview:

For every Event, you must ask four specific questions about it. Think of this as Opening a Box for that Event.

The Four Questions to Open The Box:

1. The Choice vs. The Weather
   In every moment, some things you chose to do, and some things just happened around you. We need to know both.
   •　Choice (Action): What the person decided to do.
   •　Weather (Environment): Things the person could not control.
   
   ASK: "In this moment, what did you choose to do? And what happened that you could not control?"
   
   EXAMPLE: You are going outside.
   •　Choice: "I chose to put on a coat."
   •　Weather: "It just started raining very hard."
   
2. The Reason
   The Reason is why they made that Choice. What did they think would be the result? Allow readers to check if it is lucky, a trap of false beliefs or a wise move.
   
   ASK: "Why did you make that choice? What did you think would happen?"
   
   EXAMPLE: "I wore the coat because I thought the rain would make me cold."
   
3. The Result
   The Result is what actually happened after they made the Choice.
   
   ASK: "What happened after you made that choice? Did it work?"
   
   EXAMPLE: "I was warm, but the coat got wet, and now it is heavy to walk fast."
   
4. The Proof
   The Proof is how they know the Result is true. How did they check?
   
   ASK: "How do you know it worked? Did you see it? Did someone tell you?"
   
   EXAMPLE: "I know I was warm because I did not shiver, and my hands felt fine."

📝 PRACTICE CHALLENGE: Pretend a project leader just told you: "We ran out of money in the middle of the project." Try to ask the four questions from above, starting with the Choice vs. The Weather.

• Starting Point: Why did the team or person start this project? What was the motivation?
• Understanding the Problem: Did the team or person research the market? What issue was the project trying to solve?
• Getting Things Going: How did the team or person kick off the project? What were the first steps?
• Gathering Resources: What materials and support did the project need, and how did the team or person get them?
• Building a Team: Who helped the team or person, and how did the person find them?
• Working on the Project: Describe the day-to-day work. How did the team or person make decisions? What activities were involved?
• Delivery: How did the team or person share results with the end users? Did the team or person work with other stakeholders?
• User Engagement: How did users find out about the project? How did they use it?
• Sustainability: Did anyone keep the project running for users? And how to keep it running?
• User Feedback and Impact: Did users find the project helpful? How do you know?

In real project, there can be ups and downs, multiple starting points, deliveries, breaks and restarts may be available. The above high level roadmap is just for your reference, your job is to dig and mine all moments that decides if the project can keep running and share with other readers.

• What did they know and the reasons behind their decision at that step?
• What were they really facing at the moment, even if they didn't know?
• What was the expect result of the decision? And what actually happened?
• When should reader copy this decision?
• How did the team measure the outcome of the decision?