Report Writing

1. Report Writing TECM 3200 Dr. Lam

2. Importance of the Report as a Deliverable • All the actual work you’ve done (website design and development OR primary and secondary research) doesn’t actually exist without the report • Remember, you are what you write

3. General Conventions • Formal writing style – e.g., “the client has requested that we explore opportunities to grow their social media strategy” vs. “you asked for us to help you”. • “We” is appropriate, however • Headings and sub-headings are required • Results often reported in tables and graphs

4. Website Report is Tricky • Writing a report to the client about your website is tricky because you’ve completed the project (which speaks for itself) • Important to consider audience needs • Important to consider rhetorical situation

5. Audience, audience, audience • The key to every genre of writing (including creative writing) • Think about how he’ll read it (he’ll likely be more attentive than you think) • He’ll likely read an executive summary • Read carefully the recommendations • Use the report as (kind of) a manual

6. Rhetorical Situation • It’s a competition • Website report is used to convey information, teach the user, but also to convince the user your site is the best

7. Required Elements • Front Matter • Cover Page – This is a tech comm class. Use this as a chance to impress. • Table of Contents • Table of Figures and Tables • Executive Summary: 1,000 words or less summarizing all of the high points in the report. Focus on recommendations in the executive summary • Introduction • Audience Report • Design, Content, Development Sections (sub-team memos) • Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations • Back Matter • Appendices (audits, site mock-ups, style guide, content strategy, site map) • References

8. Introduction • Project Background and Overview – Remind the client what the project is. Generally state what you did. • E.g., “Our team audited, designed, and developed a fully functional website for Cashmere and Coco’s store and blog.”

9. Introduction (cont.) • Scope of Project – Tell the client what you’re delivering and what you’re NOT delivering • E.g., “This project provides the owners of Cashmere and Coco with a fully functional website delivered on the Wordpress content management system. All deliverables including site maps, mock ups, and audits will be made available to Cashmere and Coco. In regards to the website, page content is already implemented in to the site. However, the site only contains one product per product category.”

10. Introduction (cont.) • Project Objectives – Provide the client with the exact objectives you met • Document Overview – Tell the client how to use the document. • E.g., “This report contains three major sections outlining the design, content, and development of the site. Each of the three sections will first explain the team decisions and rationale. Then, we will provide you with detailed instructions regarding how to manage each section. We will close the report outlining recommendations for the future of the site.”

11. Sub-Team Memos • Mini IMRaD reports • Introduction • Methods • Results • Discussion

12. Each Sub-Team Section • Introduction (brief, but specific to your sub-team) • Method – Walk the client through your process • The design team conducted a 4-phase process that included: 1) Auditing the current site; 2) Auditing comparable sites; 3) Identifying needs; 4) Mocking up and editing the site. • Results – Walk the client through your major decisions • We made three major decisions that we’ll discuss in this report: 1) Layout; 2) Architecture; and 3) fonts and colors. • Conclusions and Recommendations – Walk the client through FUTURE implications and why your project is best • We recommend you select our design because it reaches your target audience based on the audience research we conducted. • While we recommend that you use our color scheme, all colors are fully customizable in the future. Therefore, you can easily change the colors in the header and footer to suit your needs.

13. Remember • You are corresponding with your client. Make the hard work you completed apparent and easy for him. • There are dozens of ways of presenting your content. I don’t care which you choose, just that you have thought it through • Rely heavily on graphics (especially for results).