Case study template
This page is for businesses that want to tell the story of their own Exponential project, and for partners or agencies who write one about a customer. It gives a template with placeholders, a fact sheet and an approval record. The full process (choosing a candidate, consent, interview, checking, approval, publishing and withdrawal) is on Case studies and content marketing; follow it.
Warning
Write only real, approved facts. Never invent a customer, a figure, a result or a quote. Name a customer, a person, a logo or a screenshot only with the customer's written consent, obtained before the interview, and publish only after their written approval of the final text. If a fact cannot be checked, leave it out.
Contents
Rules before you start
- To do: Written consent for the case study, and for each item: name, logo, quotes, screenshots (Step 2: ask for consent).
- To do: People quoted have agreed to be named, or are quoted by role only.
- To do: Results come only from the customer's own measurements, with source and period.
- To do: Claims about Exponential match its documentation; comparisons with named products only as Comparing Exponential factually allows.
- To do: Product name written "Exponential"; the old name only as history, in the past tense (Brand and naming rules).
- To do: Consent and personal data stored where only the responsible people can read them.
The template
TITLE: <Organization> <does what> with Exponential
(example form: "<Organization> runs its <store | intranet | member site> on Exponential")
SUMMARY (2-3 sentences)
<Who the organization is>. <What they needed>. <What they built, and the one verified result>.
AT A GLANCE
Organization: <name, only with consent | "a <sector> organization in <region>">
Sector: <sector>
Site or application:<store | intranet | extranet | member site | newsletter | multisite | API backend>
Live since: <month year>
Built by: <in-house team | partner name, with consent>
Hosting: <model, engine, database - e.g. "VPS, Exponential Velocity, SQLite 3">
Main features used: <shop | multisite | languages | workflows | newsletter | REST API | layouts | ...>
THE SITUATION BEFORE
<What did not work, in the customer's words or a faithful summary. No figures without a source.>
WHY EXPONENTIAL
<The customer's reasons. Facts about the product only as stated in its documentation, e.g. GPL license with
no license fee (README "License"), SQLite needs no database server (README "Requirements").>
WHAT WAS BUILT
<Content model, integrations, designs, languages, number of sites - facts the customer approved.>
<Features with a link to the help page that describes each.>
HOW THE PROJECT WENT
<Phases, timeline, what was hard and how it was solved.>
RESULTS
<Result 1> - source: <system or document>, period: <from-to>
<Result 2> - source: <system or document>, period: <from-to>
(Leave this section short or out if no measured results exist. Do not estimate.)
IN THEIR WORDS
"<Approved quote>" - <Name, role | role only>, <organization | sector>
WHAT IS NEXT
<Plans the customer is happy to make public.>
ABOUT
<One paragraph about the organization, approved by them.>
<One paragraph about the partner, if any.>
Published <date>. Approved by <name, role> on <date>. Withdrawal: <contact>.The fact sheet
Keep it with the draft; it is not published.
FACT SHEET - <case study title>
# | Fact | Source (document, system, person) | Period | Approved to publish?
---|------------------------------|------------------------------------|-----------|---------------------
1 | <fact> | <source> | <period> | yes / no / ask
2 | <fact> | <source> | <period> | yes / no / ask
3 | <product fact> | <help page or README section> | - | yesThe approval record
APPROVAL RECORD - <case study title>
Consent to write requested: <date> Granted by: <name, role> Form: <e-mail | signed>
Items consented: name [ ] logo [ ] quotes [ ] screenshots [ ] people named [ ]
Draft sent: <date> Changes requested: <summary>
Final text approved: <date> By: <name, role> Stored at: <location, restricted>
Published at: <URL or document> On: <date>
Review due: <date> Withdrawn on: <date, if ever>Good and weak sentences
| Weak | Why | Better |
|---|---|---|
| "Sales doubled thanks to Exponential." | unsourced, causal claim | "Online orders rose from <x> to <y> between <period> and <period>, according to <system>." |
| "The fastest CMS on the market." | unverifiable comparison | "Cached pages are served by Velocity without a worker, as the project documents (README)." |
| "Everyone loves it." | invented sentiment | an approved quote with name or role |
| "Zero downtime." | absolute claim | "<n> hours of planned maintenance in <period>, recorded in <monitoring system>." |
More examples: Case study template for partners.
Related pages
- Case study interview guide
- Case studies and content marketing
- Writing a case study (partners)
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
Become an Exponential Partner
Partners share their information, provide funding, contribute back and develop the products with us, and that is how Exponential grows. A partner website and dashboard are planned for mid-2027: please become a partner today to speed up our growth rate and land new features faster.