Situation

You are working for a local company in Houston. After a recent website redesign, your company has received a number of complaints from its customers who were dissatisfied with the way your website functioned. It was hard to find information they search for, the forms were not working properly, and some information was missing. As a result, the volume of calls to your customer service line has doubled.

Your manager, Mrs. Cassy Vonn, has assembled a team of professionals from different departments to address this issue. She has asked you and two other employees to work on a research proposal to determine the nature and severity of the customers’ complaints in order to find a feasible solution to the problem.

NOTE: The description of the situation is a scenario. You can recreate parts of the context as needed.

Group Tasks

Develop a comprehensive research proposal with primary research tools (a survey) to explore and better understand the severity of the problem the company is faced with. Conduct secondary research using library databases and online resources to establish the effect of good web design on a company’s bottom line and customer satisfaction and to identify ways to better address customers’ concerns.

Task 1. Conduct secondary research using a variety of relevant keywords. Using library databases, government websites, and/or the sites of reputable professional organizations (Nielsen Norman Group (https://www.nngroup.com/); the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (https://www.w3.org/); Usability.gov (https://www.usability.gov/); and others) find 8-10 relevant sources that will support your proposal and identify some ways to address the problem.

Task 2. Create a customer survey with questions that could help identify issues with the existing website. See examples in Chapter 12. Also, see sample usability questions (post-test survey) in 3306_SurveyQuestions_WAISiteUsabilityTestingQ in PPPs and Supplemental Reading Materials.

Task 3. Write a formal proposal addressed to your manager and propose a clear solution (your research project) and a plan of actions.

Task 4. Submit an individual group evaluation with your final draft of A2. See the form below. Do not share your completed form with your group members.

Organization of Your Proposal

Before you start writing your proposal, review examples in Sample Documents and in Chapter 13. They offer sample projects and ideas as far as how you can organize your proposal. Your formal proposal has to have front and back matter documents. Here is a possible outline for your document:

Front Matter

• Title Page
  • Include the title of your project, your addressees’ name, their job title and company, your names and your job titles, and a submission date.
• Letter or Memo of Transmittal
  • Describe the document that you are sending. Talk about its purpose.
  • Provide a short overview of your plan.
• Table of Contents (TOC)
  • This table must be automatically generated using the guidelines in the following tutorials in PPPs and Supplemental Reading Materials:
• 3306_AddReadings_PageNumbers
• 3306_AddReadings_TOC
• Executive Summary (Write this section only after you have written other parts of the proposal.)  Summarize major parts of the proposal:
  • recent events within the company that led to the current problems
  • your plan of actions
  • schedule, budget, and credentials
  • documents that you will submit in the process, if any

Core Sections

• Introduction
  • State the purpose of the project and ask for approval.
  • Describe recent changes within the company that led to the problem.
  • Describe the problem in detail (current situation).
  • Talk about the effect of good web design on a company’s bottom line and customer satisfaction. Cite your sources using the APA citation style. See videos and other resources listed in the schedule.
  • Talk about the needs of the company and propose potential ways to better address customers’ concerns. Cite your sources using the APA citation style. See videos and other resources listed in the schedule.
  • Propose your plan of actions and forecast the rest of the document.
• Proposed Tasks (Name each task. Start each task with a verb.)
• Discuss your Task 1.
• Discuss your Task 2.
• Discuss your Task 3.
• Discuss your Task 4. (etc.)
• Timeline
• Create a task schedule for the next month. Include your tasks and explain when each task will be completed. See examples in the textbook and Sample Documents and my explanations in Tips below.
• Qualifications
  • Provide a brief overview of your qualifications (education and relevant work experience). You can recreate details as needed.
• Project Budget
• Create a budget table. See examples in Sample Documents and my explanations in Tips below.
• Conclusion
  • Discuss potential benefits of the project.

Back Matter

• References
  • Include a formal References page using the APA citation style.
• Appendix
  • Include your customer survey. See sample usability questions (post-test survey) in 3306_SurveyQuestions_WAISiteUsabilityTestingQ in PPPs and Supplemental Reading Materials.

Your Audience

The primary audience for your proposal will be the manager of the company who can accept or reject your proposal.