Feasibility Report

Feasibility
Report



 


Title:
How
to
Write
the
Introduction
of
a
White
Paper


Testing
Plan


I
interviewed
a
group
of
colleagues
and
friends
via
phone
and
IM
about
their
 understanding
and
use
of
white
papers
to
determine
their
suitability
for
 participation
in
the
test.

Those
who
were
selected
were
asked
to
read
5
statements
 and
rate
the
degree
to
which
they
agree
or
disagree
with
them.

Participants
could
 select
one
of
four
choices—Strongly
Disagree,
Disagree,
Agree
or
Strongly
Agree.

I
 chose
not
to
include
“Neither”
or
“Neutral”
because
I
do
not
believe
these
answer
 choices
elicit
constructive
information.
 
 I
emailed
each
test
participant
a
copy
of
the
latest
draft
of
my
How‐To
article
and
a
 list
of
the
5
test
questions.

The
draft
included
the
following
sections:
Table
of
 Contents,
Introduction,
Sections
1‐2
and
summaries
of
the
information
to
be
 covered
in
the
remaining
sections.

The
email
also
included
instructions
for
 answering
the
test
questions
and
returning
them
to
me
via
email.

The
text
of
the
 email
is
shown
below.
 
 [Participant’s
Name],

 
 Thanks
for
agreeing
to
participate
in
this
usability
test.

Your
feedback
will
 help
me
to
improve
my
article
and,
hopefully
get
an
“A”.

I
have
attached
a
 draft
of
my
article,
How
to
Write
the
Introduction
of
a
White
Paper.

Please
 read
the
article
and
follow
the
directions
provided
to
answer
the
questions
 below.


 
 Directions:
Read
each
statement
and
select
the
answer
that
most
closely
 reflects
your
opinion.

Use
the
following
scale
to
answer
questions
#1­#4.
The
 answer
choices
for
question
#5
are
listed
beneath
that
question.

Feel
free
to
 add
additional
comments.


 
 Strongly
 Disagree





Disagree





Agree


Strongly
 Agree





Neither
Agree
 Nor
Disagree









 1. The
article
is
easy
to
read
and
understand.
 2. The
examples
were
helpful
to
me.
 3. The
article’s
beginning,
or
introduction,
made
me
want
to
read
further.
 4. Using
only
the
information
in
the
article,
I
feel
confident
I
could
 write/revise
the
Introduction
of
a
white
paper.
 5. This
draft
can
be
improved
by…(Select
up
to
3).





    

Organize
sections
 differently
(Please
 explain)
 Making
the
article
 shorter,
more
concise
 Adding
more
detail
 Adding
more/better
 examples
 Using
more
statistics
 or
quotes
from
experts


     

Using
fewer
statistics
 or
quotes
from
experts
 Including
more
“tips”
 Including
fewer
“tips”
 Deleting
section
__
 (insert
section
#)
 More
clearly
defining
 terminology
 Other:

_________________





Testing
Subjects
and
Process
 I
initially
targeted
colleagues
with
whom
I’d
either
previously
discussed
white
 papers
or
whom
I
assumed
wrote
or
used
white
papers
to
market
their
 products/services.

I
contacted
them
via
Facebook’s
instant
messenger
and
phone.

 I
interviewed
7
colleagues,
but
selected
only
5
to
participate
in
the
test.

The
five
I
 selected
had
each
read
at
least
one
white
paper
in
the
past
12
months.

Two
were
 regular
white
papers
readers
whose
organizations
regularly
published
white
 papers.

Two
had
attempted,
or
were
now
attempting,
to
write
a
white
paper
and
 one
was
new
to
white
papers
but
interested
in
using
them
to
market
her
services.
 
 Test
Subjects:
 • Cynthia
M.
–
Small
business
owner
and
B2B
marketer;
new
to
white
papers,
 has
read
a
couple,
thought
they
were
persuasive
and
wanted
to
learn
how
to
 produce
them
to
sell
her
companies
products
online
 
 • Marita
S.
–
CEO
of
an
interactive
advertising
firm;
regularly
reads
white
 papers
to
discover
new
products/services,
keep
current
on
thought
leaders,
 firm
publishes
white
papers
to
sell
services
and
position
them
as
thought
 leaders
 
 • Shawn
B.
–
Sales/marketing
consultant;
uses
newsletters
to
sell
products
and
 services
via
mail
and
online,
reads
white
papers,
considering
writing
white
 papers
to
sell
new
business
services
to
companies
as
team‐building
 
 • Tameka
J.
–
B2B
marketer,
software
as
a
service
(saas);
markets
technology
 products/services
online
and
directly,
works
with
sales
and
writers
to
create
 white
papers,
interested
in
improving
white
papers

 
 • Yvonne
W.
–
Talent
management
executive;
regularly
reads
white
papers
to
 discover
latest
trends
in
human
resources,
talent
and
performance
 management
techniques,
products
and
services,
attempting
to
write
one
now
 for
publication
 





Test
Questions


Test
participants
were
emailed
the
questions
listed
below
and
asked
to
return
their
 answers
via
email.
 
 1. The
article
is
easy
to
read
and
understand.
 Strongly
 Disagree





Disagree


Agree








Strongly
 Agree





Neither
Agree
 Nor
Disagree






 2. The
examples
were
helpful
to
me.
 Strongly
 Disagree





Disagree


Agree








Strongly
 Agree





Neither
Agree
 Nor
Disagree






 3. The
article’s
beginning,
or
introduction,
made
me
want
to
read
further.
 Strongly
 Disagree





Disagree


Agree








Strongly
 Agree





Neither
Agree
 Nor
Disagree






 4. Using
only
the
information
in
the
article,
I
feel
confident
I
could
 write/revise
the
Introduction
of
a
white
paper.
 Strongly
 Disagree





Disagree


Agree








Strongly
 Agree





Neither
Agree
 Nor
Disagree






 5. This
draft
can
be
improved
by…(Select
up
to
3).


    

Organizing
sections
 differently
(Please
 explain)
 Making
the
article
shorter,
 more
concise
 Adding
more
detail
 Adding
more/better
 examples
 Using
fewer
stats
or
 quotes
from
experts


     

Using
more
stats
or
quotes
 from
experts
 Including
more
“tips”
 Including
fewer
“tips”
 Deleting
section
___
(insert
 section
#)
 More
clearly
defining
 terminology
 Other
_____________________




Conclusions
Based
on
Test
Results
 1. The
article
was
easy
to
read
and
understand.
 2. Some
terms
need
further
definition,
i.e.
difference
between
white
papers
 and
articles.


3. The
examples
were
helpful,
but
test
participants
believe
a
few
more
 examples
may
be
needed
before
they
could
write
an
introduction
of
their
 own.
 4. The
introduction
of
the
How‐To
article
was
strong,
though
one
 participant
thought
I
should
“play
up
the
recession‐white
paper
 connection
more”.
 5. Most
(3
of
5)
participants
believed
they
could
write
a
white
paper
 introduction
after
reading
the
article.

The
two
who
thought
they
could
 not
faulted
their
writing
ability
versus
the
article
content.
 6. Participants
requested
more
instruction
on
writing
a
complete
white
 paper,
but
that
is
beyond
the
scope
of
my
article
 7. Participants
most
wanted
more/better
examples
and
more
detail
on
how
 to
“tell
a
good
introduction
from
a
bad
one”.



 Agree


Strongly
Agree


Strongly
Agree


Disagree
 I
would
need
a
lot
 more
practice,
 lessons.


The
article
is
easy
to
read
 and
understand.


The
examples
were
helpful
 to
me.


The
article’s
beginning,
or
 introduction,
made
me
 want
to
read
further.


Using
only
the
information
 in
the
article,
I
believe
I
 could
write/revise
the
 introduction
of
a
white
 paper.


Disagree
 I’m
not
a
writer.


Agree


Agree


Strongly
Agree


Marita
S.


This
draft
can
be
improved
 Adding
more
detail
–
 Adding
more
detail
 by…(Select
up
to
3)
 “about
white
papers
 Adding
more/
 and
the
way
they
 better
examples
 should
be
written”
 “Would
need
a
lot
 Adding
more/
better
 more
examples
if
 examples
 I’m
going
to
write
 More
clearly
defining
 anything.

I’m
a
 terminology
 finance
person”.
 


Cynthia
M.


Subject


QUESTIONS


Adding
more/
 better
examples
–
 “More
examples,
 the
better”

 Including
more
 tips
–
“I
like
quick
 tips
I
can
use
to
 tweak
my
 writing“


Agree


Agree


Agree


Strongly
Agree


Shawn
B.


RESPONSES


Including
more
 tips



Strongly
Agree


Strongly
Agree


Strongly
Agree


Strongly
Agree


Tameka
J.


Other:
“Play
up
 the
fact
that
 white
papers
 are
better
in
a
 recession”


Strongly
Agree


Strongly
Agree


Strongly
Agree


Strongly
Agree


Yvonne
W.


Summary
of
Results
 


Action
Steps


1. Insert
additional
sample
introduction
paragraphs
(examples
of
bad
and
good
 introductions).
 2. Add
an
additional
sample
of
a
complete
white
paper
to
the
appendix
 3. Ensure
introduction
is
clear—this
is
not
an
article
on
writing
white
papers
 but
on
writing
the
introduction
section.
 4. Add
links
to
writing
resources
to
“tips”
sidebar.
 5. Review
introduction
and
sections
to
ensure
that
I
“play
up”
the
timeliness
of
 the
article—how
white
papers
are
perfect
for
a
recession
because
they
are
 cheaply,
quickly
produced
and
credible,
providing
solutions,
not
just
sales
 pitches.
 6. Strike
balance
between
giving
a
writing
lesson
and
a
lesson
on
writing
a
 white
paper
introduction.


Action
Plan
for
Completing
the
How­To
 


How­To
Doc
Action
Plan
 Task
 Conduct
usability
testing
(12
hours)
 Write
feasibility
report
(4
hours)
 Create
How‐To
index
(3
hours)
 Post
feasibility
report.

 Incorporate
feedback
from
usability
testing
 into
current
draft
(16‐24
hours)
 Research
and
write
section
3
of
the
How‐To
 article
(8
hours)
 Research
and
write
section
4
of
the
How‐To
 article
(8
hours)
 Submit
current
draft
for
peer
coaching.
 Write
tips
for
optimizing
the
Introduction
(2
 hours)
 Edit
a
complete
draft
of
the
How‐To
article
 (12
hours)
 Finalize
TOC,
graphics
and
layout
of
article
 (8
hours)
 Incorporate
coaching
feedback,
make
last‐ minute
changes,
correct
issues
and
discuss
 final
questions
with
Kalo.
 Post
final
How‐To
article.



 


Complete
Date
 4/17/09
 4/19/09
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 5/16/09
 5/18/09
 5/19/09