Portfolio Case Study Template: Document Your Seven-Day Micro App Build for Employers

Hook: Turn a week of hacking into a job-winning story

Searching for work and struggling to show impact? You’re not alone. Hiring teams in 2026 want concise proof that you can ship something real, learn fast, and measure results. That’s the exact gap a seven-day micro app case study fills. This guide gives you a step-by-step template — copy-and-paste ready — to document a one-week build in a way that recruiters, LinkedIn viewers, and interviewers can instantly understand and value.

Why employers care about micro app case studies in 2026

In late 2025 and early 2026, the rise of AI-assisted development, low‑code tooling, and “vibe coding” accelerated the creation of micro apps — personal, fast-to-build utilities that demonstrate practical engineering, product sense, and ownership. TechCrunch and community posts highlighted examples like Rebecca Yu’s Where2Eat, a dining decision app built in seven days using AI pair-programming. Employers now expect candidates to show the entire lifecycle: problem, approach, code, and measurable outcomes.

What a good case study proves

• Problem framing: You can identify a real user pain.
• Execution: You can scope, ship, and iterate fast.
• Technical competence: You choose sensible tools and trade-offs.
• Outcome orientation: You measure success with data, not just screenshots.
• Reflection: You learn and can explain what you’d do next.

The 7-day micro app case study template — copy, paste, fill

Below is a practical template you can paste into a README, Google Doc, or Notion page. It’s optimized for recruiters (quick skim), hiring managers (depth + metrics), and interviewers (talking points).

  PROJECT NAME: [Your micro app name]
  ONE-LINER: [Problem you solved in one sentence]

  DAY RANGE: Day 1 – Day 7 (or dates)

  1) Context & Problem
     - Target user(s): [e.g., college students juggling schedules]
     - Problem statement: [clear, measurable pain point]
     - Why it matters: [brief impact on users or workflows]

  2) Goal & Success Metrics
     - Primary goal: [e.g., reduce decision time by 50%]
     - Success metrics: [e.g., time-to-decision, DAU, retention after 1 week, crash rate]

  3) Constraints & Scope
     - Timebox: 7 days
     - Resources: [tools, APIs, AI assistants used]
     - Minimum viable feature set (MVP): [list]

  4) Approach & High-level design
     - User flow (1-2 sentences)
     - Key screens/components
     - Architecture summary: [Frontend, backend, storage, CI/CD]

  5) Tech stack
     - Frontend: [e.g., React + Vite, SvelteKit]
     - Backend: [e.g., serverless functions, Supabase]
     - Dev tooling: [GitHub, CI, Playwright tests]
     - AI & helpers: [e.g., ChatGPT-4o, Claude, Copilot, Bard]

  6) Implementation log (day-by-day)
     - Day 1: [ideation, wireframes, repo init]
     - Day 2: [auth, basic UI]
     - ...
     - Day 7: [polish, analytics, deploy, demo video]

  7) Results & Metrics
     - Key numbers: [e.g., 120 minutes saved, 75% weekly retention]
     - Bugs & reliability: [crash rate, major incidents]
     - User feedback: [one-liners or quotes if available]

  8) Lessons learned & next steps
     - What worked
     - What I’d change
     - Future features or experiments

  9) Artifacts & links
     - Live demo: [URL]
     - Repo: [GitHub link]
     - Screenshots & video walkthrough: [embed or links]
     - Tests & CI: [link to pipeline]

  10) Elevator pitch for interviews
     - 30-second summary
     - STAR-style bullets for behavioral questions
  

Seven-day sprint plan (detailed checklist)

Use this daily checklist to keep the build focused and to generate material you’ll later use in the case study. Track times and short notes — that record itself becomes evidence of discipline.

1. Day 1 — Define & Design
   • Write the problem statement and 3 user personas
   • Sketch 4 core screens (paper or Figma)
   • Decide metrics and analytics hooks
   • Initialize a repo and README
2. Day 2 — Core UI & Routing
   • Implement base layout, navigation
   • Wire up mock data and component library
3. Day 3 — Backend & Data
   • Implement storage (e.g., Supabase, DynamoDB, Fauna)
   • Create API endpoints or serverless functions
4. Day 4 — Core Feature
   • Ship the main interaction (recommendation, form, scheduler)
   • Instrument primary metric events
5. Day 5 — AI/Automation or Polishing
   • Integrate any AI assistant (optional)
   • Add validations, error handling
6. Day 6 — Tests & Deployment
   • Write 3–5 end-to-end or integration tests
   • Configure CI/CD and deploy (Vercel, Netlify, or Firebase)
7. Day 7 — Demo, Metrics, & Write-up
   • Record 2–3 minute demo video
   • Collect initial metrics and screenshots
   • Fill the case study template and prepare resume bullets

How to present the case study on resume, LinkedIn, and interviews

Each platform needs a slightly different framing. Keep the core facts the same but reformat to the medium:

Resume (two-line bullet + metrics)

On resumes, recruiters skim. Use one punchy title line and one metric-driven result line. Use action verbs and numbers.

  Where2Eat (7-day micro app) — Personal dining recommender
  • Built and shipped a React + Supabase web app in 7 days; reduced group decision time by ~60% in small user tests (n=12) and achieved 45% 1-week retention. Implemented serverless APIs and CI/CD using Vercel.
  

LinkedIn (project + media)

LinkedIn allows longer descriptions and media. Use a short problem statement, 2–3 key metrics, a 1–2 minute demo video, and link to the repo. Add 3–5 hashtags: #portfolio #microapp #productdesign

Interview talking points (STAR-ready)

Prepare 3 STAR stories from the case study: one technical challenge, one product decision, and one learning. Keep the structure short and data-led.

Example STAR: Situation — a 2-hour decision paralysis in group chats; Task — build a lightweight recommender in one week; Action — implemented a collaborative preference input and ranking algorithm using cosine similarity and serverless endpoints; Result — cut decision duration by ~60% in initial user tests and kept weekly retention at 45%.

Metrics you should collect (and how to get them quickly)

Recruiters look for measurable impact. Even with a tiny test group, meaningful numbers beat vague adjectives.

• Time-to-complete: How long does it take a user to get a result? Instrument client-side timers.
• Task completion rate: Percentage of users who finish the core flow.
• Retention: DAU/WAU or percent returning after 7 days.
• Performance: TTFB and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) using web-vitals.
• Error rate/crash free: Sentry or similar for crashes and exceptions.
• Qualitative feedback: 1–2 short quotes from testers.

Quick tools to collect metrics

• Analytics: Plausible, Vercel Analytics, or Google Analytics 4
• Session replay: LogRocket or Replay (for small demos only)
• Error tracking: Sentry or Bugsnag
• Basic A/B: Flags via LaunchDarkly or a simple cookie switch

Advanced 2026 strategies to make your micro app stand out

These are higher-effort moves but they pay off in interviews and on GitHub.

• Automated demo generation: Use AI tools to generate a 60–90 second demo video and an animated GIF for your README (micro-documentaries are a useful reference).
• Reproducible environment: Provide a Dockerfile or GitHub Codespaces devcontainer so reviewers can run your app locally in one command.
• Mini telemetry dashboard: Include a simple dashboard that shows live metrics from a small user study (use low-cost BI like Metabase) — this ties into edge observability and lightweight telemetry patterns.
• Edge-ready deploy: Showcase edge functions or server-side rendering to prove modern deployment skills.
• Privacy & security note: Add a short section about data handling and consent — employers notice this now (see best practices for architecting consent flows: architect consent flows).

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Too many features: Focus on the one core problem and measure that. Cut everything else.
• No metrics: Don’t ship without at least one measurable success indicator.
• Unreadable repo: Add a clear README, runbook, and a short start guide for reviewers.
• No demo: Recruiters prefer a 90-second video over more code. Record your screen and narrate the flow.

Real-world mini example: Where2Eat (inspired by 2025 stories)

Rebecca Yu’s Where2Eat is a classic micro app example: built for a personal need, shipped quickly, used AI and modern tooling, and served a small group. In interviews, that kind of story demonstrates product intuition and execution speed. You don’t need to build the next unicorn — you need to show that you solve a real problem and measure the result.

Fillable resume & interview copy you can use now

Copy these lines into your resume or LinkedIn and replace placeholders.

  Resume bullet:
  • Built [APP NAME], a 7-day micro app (React + Supabase) to solve [PROBLEM]; achieved [METRIC] (e.g., 60% faster decision time) during initial user testing (n=[#]).

  LinkedIn project blurb:
  [1-2 sentence problem + approach]. Live demo: [link]. Tech: [stack]. Key result: [metric]. Video walkthrough in media.

  Interview 30s pitch:
  I built [APP NAME] in 7 days to solve [problem]. I scoped an MVP, shipped with [tech], and validated with [metric]. The biggest challenge was [X], and I addressed it by [Y], which resulted in [Z].
  

How to use this template in hiring conversations (scripted prompts)

When an interviewer asks “Show me a project,” follow this scaffold:

1. 30-second hook: Problem + your role
2. 60–90 second technical summary: architecture & key decisions
3. 30–60 second metrics and impact summary
4. 30–60 second lessons and next steps

Final checklist before you publish

• Live link works and is stable for demo
• Repo README has quick start and tech choices
• Video walkthrough is < 3 minutes
• At least one measurable metric is present
• Interview STAR stories prepared from the case study

Why this matters now (2026 perspective)

By 2026, hiring teams have less patience for vague projects and more tools to evaluate impact quickly. AI tools make it easier to build, but that also raises the baseline. The differentiator is clear documentation and data. A polished seven-day micro app with a strong case study shows you can lead an end-to-end project, iterate quickly, and learn — exactly the traits that employers value when hiring for fast-moving teams.

Actionable takeaways

• Ship a focused MVP in 7 days: pick one problem and measure one metric.
• Document along the way: the daily log is your evidence of momentum and thought process.
• Publish a concise case study: use the template above for README, LinkedIn, and resume bullets.
• Prepare STAR stories: pull three anecdotes from your seven-day log.
• Include a demo video: recruiters watch a 90-second walkthrough before reading code.

Downloadable template (copy & paste)

Use this exact text for your README or portfolio page. Copy it into your editor, replace placeholders, and you’re done.

  # [PROJECT NAME]
  One-liner: [Problem you solved]

  ## Context
  - Target user: [who]
  - Problem: [what]

  ## Goal
  - Primary metric: [metric]

  ## Tech
  - Frontend: []
  - Backend: []
  - Deployed: [URL]

  ## 7-day log
  - Day 1: ...
  - Day 2: ...
  - ...

  ## Results
  - [metric summary]

  ## Lessons
  - ...

  ## Links
  - Repo: ...
  - Demo: ...
  - Video: ...
  

Closing: start today, ship in seven days

Micro apps are your fast path to a stronger portfolio in 2026. Use this template to move from idea to a polished, measurable case study that employers can quickly evaluate. The secret is not how flashy the app is — it’s that you can define a problem, ship a solution, and prove it worked. Start your seven-day sprint now, document every step, and bring measurable results to your next application or interview.

Call to action

Ready to build? Copy the template above and commit your Day 1 notes to a repo today. When you finish, publish your case study and drop the link in your resume and LinkedIn. Want feedback before you submit to employers? Share your case study link in the jobless.cloud community or request a quick review — small fixes can make a big difference.

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