Media Solutions Project

[Calendar][Syllabus]

(i) = individual

Now that you have learned several strategies for writing in the business world, you will be given the opportunity to practice what you have learned by working with a real client. For this project you will work with a team of your peers to help a real client from Purdue University and/or the Greater Lafayette Area develop their media presence. Your team will serve as consultants for this particular client by conducting research on their targeted audience and developing a recommendation report which presents a viable solution to the client's needs. For this project, the classroom will simulate a small corporation that oversees the consultation of media solutions; therefore use your instructor and your peers as resources for this project.

Project Goals

The purpose of the Media Solution Project (MSP) is to give you some real world experience at working with a client, negotiating between cultures, and developing an informed report that recommends a viable course of action. For more context and resources for this assignment, see the PWOnline (Corporate Web Project).

Rationale

• Gain experience of working with real world clients to create a real world product.
• Gain experience negotiating cultural expectations with your client.
• Gain an understanding of writing as a social action.
• Gain an understanding of how to analyze and present your findings using multiple medias.

Goals

• Learn how to understand audiences beyond those of the academy.
• Learn how to do research in a business context that convincingly informs your recommendations.
• Write a recommendation report that can be implemented to further a client's needs.
• Successfully negotiate between your client's needs and their customers'/audiences' needs.

client This is the business, organization, or program that you are working with. (Spring 2002 Clients)

audience/customer This is the targeted group of people that the business or organization (your client) offers their service to.

service/product This is the service or material product that your client offers to the public.

competitor This is a business or organization that provides the same service or product as your client. You may want to analyze the competitors' business practices to get ideas for your own client. Remember 1) the competitor does not have to be a company or organization that is local to your client, 2) the competitor does not have to compete for the same audience. Instead the competitor can be a business or organization that serves a demographically similar audience.

need/problem For the purpose of this assignment need and problem are synonymous. These terms both represent the reason why your client has requested a media solution. Therefore, this is the starting point of the assignment. This is not tangible, like a brochure or a web page; rather it is more abstract like the need for more exposure or the need to raise revenue.

research questions Once you have established your client's needs or problem, you will have to determine what you need to learn about the client, their service/product, their audience/customers, and various media solutions in order to develop a viable recommendation. Your recommendation will be the answer to your research questions. Your research questions are not what you ask during an interview or survey, but your interview questions or your survey questions will be influenced by your research questions.

Planning Memo

The purposes of the group planning memo is to articulate the issues that will be addressed throughout this project, assign tasks and roles, and draft a time table for producing the necessary documents.

• Before you start writing this memo, you need to have one or two members from your group meet with the client to learn more about the context that you will be writing within. Therefore, you should learn...
  • about the history of the client and the service provided.
  • the specific details about the service the client provides.
  • The client's current business/media needs
  • what the client's goals for you and your team are by the end of this project.
    
• Understand that some clients may not share sensitive information with college students. If such is true for your situation, 1) do not harass the client for the information, and 2) work under the assumption that your client is looking for the most inexpensive, yet highly effective solution available.
  
• Write a collaborative memo that includes the following information:
  • A professional name for your team. Just place this in the "From:" line with the individual team members names in parenthesis afterwards.
  • An Overview that introduces the project to the supervisor. This is a starting point for working on this project; your methodology and your recommendation should respond to these needs/problems. Give a detailed description of what the client does.
  • A detailed description of the client's problem/need. Your group should be asking:
    • What does the client want?
    • Why are we doing this project? Rationalize why extending one's media contact would benefit the client.
    • What will our client get out of us doing this work for them?
  • A plan of research which lists the research questions that you have. It is recommended that you set this section up as a table.
    • You will want to start with general research questions based upon the client's need (i.e., what media can my customer support? what media will most effectively reach the target audience? what audience concerns must be taken into account?) Modify these questions for your client's context.
    • Develop research questions that will specifically address your client's needs/problems.
    • Finally explain the type of resources you will use to answer these questions, such as the client or the library. Include specific journals or articles that you are looking at or questions that you will ask the client.
    • Example:

  Research Question	Possible Sources To Answer Questions
  Is the target audience actually exposed to my client's current media?	Talk to targeted audience, do observations
  How does my client compare to similar services?	library research, web research, talk to similar services

  • An explanation of the roles that each group member will have throughout the project. Each group member should articulate both her/his goals and her/his expertise for this project. Based upon what you learn from your group members and the work that needs to be accomplished (read over entire assignment carefully); tentatively assign roles and tasks for each individual that will fairly divide the labor.
  • A time line presented as a Gantt Chart that will illustrate your group's time table for doing the Media Solutions Project. You will want to show all of the work that needs to be accomplished (see entire assignment)––including the work that will answer the research questions. Code the chart to indicate which person or persons will be doing each task.

Grading Criteria

• This memo will be evaluated upon...
  • a clear explanation the client's needs
  • how well you develop research questions that demonstrate the complexity of your client's needs
  • how well you plan to use different resources for finding answers to your questions
  • how well you construct your plan so that the instructor/supervisor clearly understands what your team will do for the project
  • a clear explanation of each groups member's role
  • the group's ability to strategize and problem-solve
  • the correct formatting and grammar of the memo.
• Send the Planning Memo (PLA) to the instructor as a MS Word attachment at the beginning of class on .
• 50 points

Status Emails

The purposes of the Status Emails is to give each individual the opportunity to converse with the instructor about your personal and your group's progress during the week(s), as well as pose concerns and problems that your group may be experiencing.

• Write an individual email describing the status of the group during the given time period (Think about the Buddy McCormick memos) Include...
  • A detailed description of the group's accomplishments. Only summarize in a few sentences what the group has already reported in collaboratively written documents.
  • Your personal contribution to these accomplishments.
  • Questions that your group is thinking through or preliminary thoughts about your recommendation: what choices does your group have to make, what options have group members presented, and what is the rationale for each option? As you think through these options consider the rhetorical implications for each one.
  • Anything else you want feedback about.

Grading Criteria

• You will be evaluated upon your ability to
  • reconstruct your accomplishments during the week
  • think through the progress that you have made and the challenges ahead using the rhetorical principles
  • interact effectively with your supervisor.
• You will submit four Status Emails. One each by 5pm on the Fridays listed below. Do not send the email before class on Thursday, so that you can record what you did during that class. Late emails that arrive before noon on Sunday will receive no more than 15 points, while emails that arrive later than noon on Sunday will be read, but will not receive any credit.
• Due dates:
  • March 22, 2002
  • March 29, 2002
  • April 12, 2002
  • April 19, 2002
    
• Send each Status Emails in the body of an email to the instructor on the listed days.
• 25 points each

Methodology Memo

A methodology is an examination of the methods one uses; in the context of this project, it refers to the methods of research. Therefore, the purpose of this memo is to explain the research methods that you will use to determine the viability of your recommendation. Although your client will mostly focus on the bottom line––the recommendation–– your client will want to know how you arrived at the recommendation. The more satisfied the client is with the research strategies, the more satisfied the client will be with the recommendation. Therefore, as a means of convincing your client of the viability of the recommendation, it is important to articulate what decisions informed your methodology .

In this collaborative memo, your group will explain the group research strategies for collecting data and information that will ultimately inform your recommendation.

Research for the MSP

The research strategy that your group uses will depend upon the context of your client. Therefore your group will need to begin your research with the research questions that you developed for the Planning Memo. Reread your research questions and develop strategies for answering these questions. So you will need to determine where the best place to find the answers to these questions will be.

More specifically, most of your research will take place in the library, on the web, with the target audience, and with the client. For answering questions about your client, their customers, and their products you may want to...

• Interview your client and learn more about the product and how they currently distribute it,
• Observe how customers use this product,
• Conduct usability tests to determine how your customers interacts with the current media,
• Look through consumer magazines or trade magazines about the client's product,
• Look through journals and web sites that describe possible medias; use this information to determine the audience/customer's accessibility to the proposed media,
• Look through resources that provide information about the new customers that the client is trying to reach.
  

The Memo

• You will draft a collaborative memo that will include...
  • an explanation of the specific resource or method that will be employed to gather information for each major research question.
  • you will want to justify why you are using each of the resources that you plan to use,
    
  • you will want to include samples of each tool that you will use to collect data for observations, surveys, and interviews; you will want to get feedback about your proposed questions before you collect this data. Use PWOnline's discussion about Methodology and Design, especially Field Research as a resource.
    

Grading Criteria

• You will be evaluated upon...
  • Your ability to strategize and problem-solve
  • your ability to construct a research plan that is applicable to your client and will yield the information necessary to make a viable recommendation
  • your ability to justify the choices that you the decisions that your group has made.
  • your ability to design appropriate research tools (i.e., interviews questions, observation plans, usability tests).
  • the correct formatting and grammar of the memo.
• Give a hard copy of the Methodology Memo to the instructor at the beginning of class on
• 75 points

Analysis Report

The purpose of this report is to synthesize data and work towards using this data to develop viable recommendations.

• You will want to start this phase of the project by returning to the research questions that you developed for the Planning Memo. As the group reexamines these questions, ask yourselves whether your current set of questions sufficiently cover all of the information that you needed to learn to develop an argument; most likely as your understanding of your client's context matures, you will see questions that you did not ask. Include these questions in your list of research questions.
• Develop strategies for answering the questions that you have added to your list, and any remaining questions that you have had.
• Construct a grid using the following format:

Research Question	Answer	Evidence Collected	Conclusions	Preliminary Recommendations	Notes
What knowledge does my client have about web authoring?	Client is only proficient at MS Word; mostly writing standard documents.	Interview: Client said that he uses the computer mostly to write emails, spreadsheets, and flyers. Observation: While watching client use MS Word, noticed that he did not know how to insert image, even clip art, into doc.	The client will probably not be able to develop his own web page. This is probably not a viable option. If the client does develop his own web page, may need courses about how to do so. May need someone to develop webpage for him.	A web page does not seem viable at this time.	Research the cost and times for local courses about web authoring. Research the cost of having someone develop the client's web page.

• Study the grid and see which conclusions match with each other and which conclusions contradict each other. Summarize your conclusions being prepared to explain why certain conclusions should be given more weight when developing your recommendation, and why others should be de-emphasized.

Reporting Information

• Despite the name of the assignment, you are reporting your summary rather than writing a report. Your group needs to choose an appropriate media/format for conveying this information to the instructor. Suggested media/format includes a memo, a short report, and a PowerPoint presentation (or a combination). You will need to inform the instructor at least one week before you submit the Analysis Report about the media/format that your group will use.
• Using this media/format you will report
  • the client's needs/problems
  • a summary of your conclusions
  • some preliminary recommendation
  • what further data collection and analysis your group will be doing to complete the project
  • any questions that you have of the instructor.
  • Although it is not required, you can submit you report by having a meeting with the supervisor/instructor. This meeting will be outside of class time. You will need to do this if you are going to compose and present a PowerPoint Presentation. If you are writing a memo or a short report, you may want to arrange a meeting with the supervisor/instructor to get extensive feedback and advise. You should prepare for this meeting accordingly. However, submitting documents by hardcopy or as an attachment are legitimate means for submitting this deliverable.

Grading Criteria

• The report will be evaluated upon...
• how well you explain your research
• how well you develop possible conclusions from the data
• how well you stay focused on your clients need
• how well you explain your plan for finishing this project
• You will receive comments about the format that you use.
  
• These presentations can be done anytime between the return of your Methodology Memo and April 14, 2002.

Recommendation Report

The Recommendation Report is the goal of this assignment; with this document you will develop an argument that will try to convince your client to enact the plan that you have created to address their needs or problems.

The following table provides an overview about what each section contains.

Report Section & PWOnline link	Purpose	Audience
Letter of Transmittal Rhetoric of a Letter (cover letter)	* Initiates communication * Explains the purpose of the transmittal * Briefly summarizes your service for the client and the conclusions your developed * Expresses goodwill * Do not bind letter within the report * For your return address on the letter use: <Your Group Name> c/o Kevin Eric De Pew 1356 Heavilon Hall Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907-1356	Primary: Head of company or organization (person the letter is addressed to) Secondary: secretary to head
Executive Summary Abstracts and Summaries	Provides overview and explains findings * in a paragraph or two, (1) identify the client's problem or need that your project is addressing; (2) identify how your team got involved in the project; and (3) say what this report is doing. * in a paragraph or two (or in a formatted list), summarize the main findings of your report and your main recommendations.	Primary: persons making decisions whether to implement recommendation Secondary: persons who will be implementing the plan.
Introduction: Client Description/Needs Opening Statement The Problem-Solving Paradigm The Needs/Goal Paradigm	* Provides a clear but brief description of the client. Then, provide a more detailed description of the client's need or problem, along with documentation of that need or problem and its severity. * Forecasts what this document does to address those needs	Primary: persons making decisions whether to implement recommendation Secondary: persons who will be implementing the plan.
Data Findings Methodology and Design Library and Web Field Research Building Arguments	* The methodology convinces the audience that you used sound data collection methods. Provide a brief overview of the methodology you used in conducting the study (you might provide a more detailed discussion of methodology in an Appendix) * The report of the data provides the audience with the relevant data that you will use to develop an argument (other data should be reported in the Appendix) * An analysis summarizes what you have learned from your data collection; it is also (1) used to develop your recommendations, and (2) the answers to your research questions	Primary: persons making decisions whether to implement recommendation Secondary: persons who will be implementing the plan; persons who may be replicating similar data collection
Recommendation Building Arguments Standards	* The recommendation is the ultimate argument of the report; the recommendation needs to be supported by the data that you collected, and your analysis of that data. Be willing to admit that "further research is needed" or that "the results are inconclusive" rather than recommend something hastily. * An example of what each recommendation should like. You are creating mockups that display certain principles rather than professional and pristine examples. These principles would be discussed in the recommendation sections and the examples should be placed in the appendix. * The implementation of the recommendation provides the client with the logistics for implementing the recommendations.	Primary: persons making decisions whether to implement recommendation, persons who will be implementing the plan
Appendix Content and Organization (main body of proposal vs. appendix) Constructing Visuals: Graphics Designing with Color	* Provides access to data that slows down the efficiency of the report. Include material that provides additional detail and documentation in support of your project, material that shows the thoroughness of your research, but that is not per se important enough to be in the main part of the report (such as tables of data, charts, detailed descriptions of products, surveys or survey results, descriptions of research methodology, references). * Label each appendix separately by letter (A, B, C) and with a clear and descriptive title and paginate appendixes continuously as part of the report.	Primary: persons making decisions whether to implement recommendation Secondary: persons who will be implementing the plan; persons who may be replicating similar data collection

You should structure your report using the format of a long formal report. As you draft this report you also need to...

• use descriptive headings/subheadings relevant to your client
• make the report look professional professional; consider designing your own stationary to print the report on
• number all pages; must correspond with the table of contents
• label all graphics
• title and number all figures and tables
• refer to graphics in text
• refer to relevant appendices in the body of the report
• develop the following parts:

Cover

• Placed on top, before the Executive Summary
• Lists the report title, the client's name, your names, date report submitted
• Should be visually appealing and bound to the report
• Should comply to sound document design principles.

Table of Contents

• Placed after the Executive Summary
• Lists all the sections of the report: the headings and subheadings, the bibliography, and each appendix
• Lists the page numbers on which each section begins
• Connects the names of the sections to the page numbers using tab leaders

Table of Figures

• Placed after the Table of contents
• Lists each table/figure with the figure number, title, and page on which it appears

References and Acknowledgments

• Placed before your Appendix or included within the Appendix
• Include references to the textual resources that you used.
• Use APA format

Logistics

• The report will be due as a hard copy to the instructor on Friday, April 26, 2002 by 5pm in Heavilon 302.
• You need to provide two copies of the report one for the instructor and another copy should be placed in an unsealed envelope addressed to the client
• Both copies of the final product should be professionally bound, not just stapled. Some of the cheaper options available at the Boiler Copy Maker and Mail-N-More are acceptable.

Grading Criteria

Purpose

• Do the writers establish the client's needs? Does the research and data collection methods address the the client's needs? Does the analysis demonstrate how the data responds to the client's needs? Does the recommendation address the client in a viable way and is informed by the data collection? Does the client have a clear sense about how to implement the recommendation?
• Do the writers provide relevant, useful, and accurate information?
• Do the writers make a clear connections between the client's needs, the researched data and the recommendations.

Product

• Has the writers followed the format of a report?
• Has the writers followed the content and format guidelines listed above? Or made logical deviations from this format keeping the audience in mind.

Production

• Does the presentation of the report demonstrate a process of composing this document (quality of planning, collaboration, research & invention, drafting, editing, proofreading)?

Presentation

The purposes of the presentation is to give you an opportunity to practice presenting your recommendation to your real client and allow you to design strategies for a given situation.

• You will have twenty minutes to present an oral and visual version of the recommendation report. Therefore, you will be using this opportunity to convince your client why they should adopt your recommendation.
• Your client will be invited to your presentation. Even if your client does not attend, address your classmates and your instructor--the "real" audience--as the client to practice how you would present the recommendation to the actual client.
  
• The presentation should have a similar structure to the recommendation report; therefore, the presentation should include...
  • An overview of the presentation.
  • A statement of the client's needs. Remember you are presenting this to your client, so you are presenting this as a way to show your client you are on the "same page" with them.
  • A presentation of the significant research methods and your findings.
  • An analysis of the data
  • Your recommendations that address the client's needs and are informed by your data analysis
  • A presentation of the recommended media solution. This can be done by
    • placing examples in the PowerPoint presentation
    • or presenting the actual media solution
  • Brief references to guide assist your client with enacting this recommendation
  • A summary of your conclusions with an opportunity for your audience to ask questions.
    
• You will also need to:
  • demonstrate of a sense of preparation.
  • Anticipate technology problems, make arrangements for backing up your presentation.
  • create a Power Point Presentation that is appropriate for the subject discussed, but is also visually appealing. See example.
  • consider the tips PWOnline gives for Oral Presentations.
  • share the presenting responsibility evenly between all team members.
  • present yourselves in an appropriate and uniform manner.
    
• The presentation will occur on the following days, with the order TBA:
  • April 23, 2002 (2)
  • April 25, 2002 (2)

Grading Criteria .

Purpose

• Do the presenters establish the client's needs? Does the research and data collection methods address the the client's needs? Does the analysis demonstrate how the data responds to the client's needs? Does the recommendation address the client in a viable way and is informed by the data collection? Does the client have a clear sense about how to implement the recommendation?
• Do the presenters provide relevant, useful, and accurate information?
• Do the presenters make a clear connections between the client's needs, the researched data and the recommendations.

Product

• Do the presenters follow the format of PowerPoint presentation?
• Do the presenters follow the content and format guidelines listed above? Or made logical deviations from this format keeping the audience in mind.

Production

• Does the presentation of the recommendation demonstrate a process of composing this document (quality of planning, collaboration, research & invention, drafting, editing, proofreading)?

Rhetorical Analysis Email

The Rhetorical Analysis Email gives each individual an opportunity to explain what s/he learned about working with a real client with real exigencies--or influencing factors--while working on the MSP project. The Rhetorical Analysis Email is your comparable to a final exam in content, but not in value; therefore, you are being asked to demonstrate your knowledge of what you have learned during the semester and discuss how it applied to the your group's execution of the MSP project.

Some of the topics you will want to discuss in this email are...

• what real problems––related to writing and research––did you experience working with your client? how did you rhetorically solve these problems?
• what real problems––related to writing and research––did you have working collaboratively with your group? how did you rhetorically solve these problems?
• what are some final rhetorical issues that the instructor should consider while evaluating the final recommendation? use this opportunity to guide your instructor through the rhetorical decisions of the final report; you may want to respond to feedback on previous parts (i.e., Methodology Memo, Analysis Report).

In the body of a formal email addressed to the instructor, use the principles of rhetoric to guide a detailed account of the researching and drafting process, as well as development and design of the final recommendation.

You will have 500 words to articulate this rhetorical analysis; therefore, you will need to choose the most important evidence to support your arguments.

Grading Criteria

• The email will be evaluated upon...
• your ability to demonstrate your understanding of the rhetorical principles
• your ability to apply those rhetorical principles to many significant aspects of the your experience with the MSP.
• your ability to develop an argument about your knowledge and support it with evidence.
• Your ability to use the format of a formal email.

Last Updated 2.24.02