Case study template in Markdown: one story, one file

Write about one finished piece of work in a plain .md file. With this case study template, you can describe who did the work, the problem, the actions, and what changed. Beneath that account, you can put someone's words with their name on a separate line.

The scope here is small: a title, short paragraphs under named headings, and an attributed quotation. You can copy the blank form, replace the placeholders, and use the filled-in sample to see the shape of the account. Keep the file in your own folder for someone to read later.

Story rationale

A case study file here means a factual account of one completed piece of work. You describe the situation before the work, name what people did, and state what they observed afterward. Someone reading later finds the problem, the actions and the change in one file.

Here you write about the work as a finished story. Under Who, you identify the people or team involved; under The problem, you describe the starting difficulty. You then move to the work itself and the observations afterward, before the quotation at the end.

The postmortem template covers an incident once people have found and fixed the problem, including causes and actions with owners and dates. In this case study template, you describe completed work, with the starting problem and the change in paragraphs.

Template anatomy

Copy this post's blank form into a .md file, then write the account in place of the prompts. Choose a few words for the title that name the work. Under the five headings, keep the paragraphs about that same piece of work so the account stays within one story.

# Short name of the work

## Who

Name the team and describe the work in a sentence.

## The problem

Describe the difficulty before the work began.

## What we did

Name who did the work and describe the actions.

## What changed

State what you counted or observed afterward, with figures inside sentences.

## In their words

> Words from the person named beneath the quotation.
>
> -- Name

The parts in this form have these roles:

• Title. Name the work in a short phrase after the # mark. Keep the title about the work described under the headings.
• Who. Identify the team and the piece of work in a sentence. You can name the people involved here before describing their actions further down.
• The problem. Describe the difficulty before anyone began the work. Keep this paragraph about the starting situation, leaving the actions to What we did.
• What we did. Put the actions and the people responsible in this paragraph. Name what people did in terms someone can compare with the starting difficulty.
• What changed. Put the counts or observations from after the work here. Keep figures within the sentences alongside the things counted.
• In their words. Put the quotation beneath this heading, followed by the person's name inside the quote block. In the quote attribution post, you can find a name line beginning with a pair of hyphens.

The title names the work; Who supplies the people and context. That leaves room under The problem for the difficulty itself. You can describe the actions under What we did without repeating the introduction, then use What changed for the observations afterward.

Doe scenario

Doe Holdings is invented for this sample. Jane Doe is invented too, as is John Doe. The account concerns a cupboard of spare folders: a small office change described as completed work, with a short quotation at the end.

# Spare folder cupboard arrangement

## Who

I arranged the spare folder cupboard at Doe Holdings with John Doe.

## The problem

We kept empty folders mixed with folders holding old pages.
We opened folders to find out which ones were empty.

## What we did

I separated the empty folders from the folders holding old pages.
John Doe put the empty folders on the upper shelf.
I put the folders holding old pages on the lower shelf.

## What changed

We counted 18 empty folders on the upper shelf and 12 folders on the lower shelf.
We counted 30 folders across the two shelves.

## In their words

> I can take an empty folder from the upper shelf without opening it first.
>
> -- Jane Doe

Jane Doe speaks as I in this account, and John Doe is named under Who and What we did. Under The problem, the difficulty is finding an empty folder among folders holding old pages. Under What we did, Jane Doe describes the separation and where she and John Doe put the folders.

Under What changed, the figures concern the folders on the shelves: 18 empty folders above and 12 folders below, for 30 in total. Jane Doe's quotation concerns taking an empty folder from the upper shelf. Read the quantities in the paragraph before her words, then her own description beneath In their words.

Length choices

Brief paragraphs and one attributed quotation are aims of this form. These tips concern the blank form and sample:

• One work phrase for the title. In the sample, the title names the cupboard arrangement. The people and the shelf details sit beneath the headings instead of extending that phrase.
• Actions together. The sample's What we did paragraph covers separating the folders and putting them on the shelves. Keep those actions together under that heading rather than repeating them beneath What changed.
• Figures beside their objects. Under What changed, the sample has sentences about the folders counted on the shelves. Keep the quantities beside those objects within the paragraph.
• A quotation about the work. Jane Doe's words concern the cupboard arrangement described above them. Keep this form's quotation tied to the same story, with the name beneath the words.

For wording across several case study files, the style guide template has sections on voice and word choices, plus number, date, heading, and list conventions. You can use that separate file for those writing choices while keeping this account about the work.

Story filenames

Keep the story in one .md file. For the sample, one possible name is spare-folder-cupboard.md. Those words correspond to the work in the title, while the team, actions, and counted folders stay inside the account.

This naming choice is for this template's example. You can choose words for the piece of work you describe and keep that story in one folder beside any other .md files you keep. In the sample, spare-folder-cupboard.md holds the problem, the work and the quotation for the cupboard arrangement in one place.

Where Sashmark fits

For people who keep Markdown work from AI agents, Sashmark is planned as both reader and editor on the desktop. None of it is out, since the whole app is in development. A folder for one project, with case study files next to other Markdown work, is the sort of folder it is planned for.

See the planned features, the help pages and the roadmap for where each part stands.

Visit sashmark.com.