Instructions Project Postmortem
Thoroughly fill out each section below. In the professional world, you often will have to provide documentation of this kind. Treat this as a document that will be read by professional superiors/overseers. Make certain that it is complete and professional.
Creating Your Statement of Purpose
Describe how you chose the item or process your instruction sets cover, how you selected the sets’ two separate audiences, and how you identified the sets’ specific contexts. What other possibilities did you entertain?
Making Your Production Choices
How did you decide upon the production choices (strategies, medium, arrangement) that you made in your instruction sets? What other possibilities did you entertain?
Research
What research did you do for this project, including both topic research about your subject and production research about how to construct your instruction sets? List and document the specific resources you used and what purpose they served.
Tools
What tools did you use in your design process, including computer hardware and software? List and describe the specific tools you used and what purpose they served.
Collaboration
What was one concrete way that working with others (through usability testing, peer review, group work, etc.) helped you improve your documents?
Timeline
Construct a timeline of your design process using specific dates. Identify the stages in your personal workflow; do not just reproduce the turn-in dates on the calendar.
What Went Right
Explain what was successful in your project and why it was successful. Be specific and thorough.
What Went Wrong
Explain what in your project could have been better. Give details why these elements were problematic. Be specific and thorough.
Lessons Learned
Given what you have said about what went right and what went wrong, what have you learned that you can apply in the future? What are you going to be sure to do, and what are you going to be sure to avoid?