Apologetically Idiosyncratic E-Commerce Website Project Workbook

Transcription

1 Apologetically Idiosyncratic E-Commerce Website Project Workbook Project Manager: Project Team: Nancy Bogaard Nancy Mark Shelly Prepared by: Nancy Bogaard MSD March 15, 2014

2 Apologetically Idiosyncratic Website Project Definition Project Need Statement Since the business has no brick and mortar store, Apologetically Idiosyncratic needs to build an ecommerce website to sell its apparel 24/7, to foster brand loyalty, and to build a sense of community for its customers. Project Description The team will build a website that will feature an online store, a blog, the story of the company, and let everyone know when where and when they will have booths at events. Website training will cover order processing and content management. Project Objectives 1) To have employees trained in managing content and processing orders by March 19, ) To have a fully-functional ecommerce website up and running by April 15, Project Scope Inclusions: 1) The website that will include six pages: Home, The Apologetically Idiosyncratic Blog (news, advice series, guest bloggers, upcoming bazaars, design contests), Online store, Come See Us (list of dates at Saturday Market, Comic Cons, bazaars, etc.), About, Contact 2) The project will include training for employees to manage the website content to add blog posts, new products, update calendars, etc. 3) The project will include training for employees to process online orders and to provide customer service for online customers Exclusions: 1) At this time, no landing pages for specific marketing purposes will be included. 2) Beyond using best practices, SEO optimization and analytics will not be included. Project Assumptions 1) Apologetically Idiosyncratic will provide photography and the copy to be used on most pages. When there is a gap in asset availability or quality, the web designer will charge $50 per hour for content creation services. 2) Apologetically Idiosyncratic will provide their own: Computers, laser printer to print order paperwork and shopping labels, postal scale, etc. Internet connection--preferably through a cable provider Domain name registration POS inventory tracking hardware and software Virtual server running firewall software, displaying SSL certificate, having a unique IP address, with a guaranteed uptime of 99%, variable bandwidth, etc. Storage area for products with adequate shelving to keep SKUS and sizes organized Shipping area ipad for demoing website and taking online orders for unavailable sizes at events ipad or Smartphone with Square card reader for taking payments at face to face events

3 Website Project Stakeholder Index Stakeholders Effect of project on the stakeholder Involvement Owner Return on investments, security I, K, S, C Employees Content Creators Ease of use, makes it easier rather than more difficult to do their jobs, more hours due to website success Employees who will write copy, provide photos, write blogs, community outreach activities I, K, T, S, O, C I, K, W, P, T, O, C Web Designer Creates e-commerce site and trains workforce I, K, W, P, S, T, C Customers Geek Community Ease of use, great experience offering more than just a shopping cart, great quality and value, fast delivery, testimonials Website gives back by promoting activities Bloggers Like to share cool products and content with others O Search engines To provide relevant content for web searches O Hosting provider Keep site up and running Suppliers May have specific rules for use of their logos, etc. I Legend: I=Input, K=Kickoff, W=Writing, P=Photo, T=Training, S= Status, O=Ongoing, C=Close I I, O O

4 Project Costs Cash Outflow The team will build an ecommerce website using WordPress with WooCommerce for the shopping cart system. The yearly licensing fees for the premium plugins to be used total $400, and the estimate for the labor needed to customize the theme, set up the product database, setup the pages, and train the staff is approximately $2,100. The additional costs incurred by AI for hosting, domain registration, SSL certificates, etc. will average approximately $1,200 a year. Owner s Plan for Online and Market Sales Cash Inflow April: Introduce new website at a Hard Launch Event Online sales: $2,000 May: Continue promoting website and recruiting more organizations into the marketing cooperative. Host a family friendly rather than 21 and older geek trivia evening and give Apologetically Idiosyncratic gear as prizes. Online sales target: $4,000 June: Online sales target: $6,000 July: Online sales target: $8,000 August: Big back to school clothing promotions Online sales target: $9,000 September: Big back to school and Rose-City Comic-Con promotions Online sales target: $8,000 October: Possible Halloween or zombie theme shirt Online sales target: $8,000 November: Big holiday gift promotions. Online sales target: $10,000 December: Big holiday gift promotions. Online sales target: $16,000

5 Project Risks and Alternatives to the Website Project Technical/Quality Risk There are possibilities that some of the plugins may require additional compatibility testing. We need to do extensive testing of the shopping cart system and make sure that the users will feel secure in every step they take on the site. Budget Risk If the schedule slips, the labor costs may increase. If we abandon WooCommerce and the WooCommerce specific plugins, we will not get a refund for the licensing fees. Schedule Risk The possibilities for the project lagging may be related to getting all of the necessary assets from the client, fixing glitches, making necessary changes found in testing, etc. Alternatives Current Status Do Nothing Having no website will impair the growth of the company, and they will lose potential sales. Setting Up a Static Site Without a Shopping Cart: Having a static website would be good for marketing purposes, but they will lose potential sales. Use Shopify (with Drupal as CMS) Instead of WooCommerce (with WordPress as CMS) The owner had received a couple of recommendations for the Shopify shopping cart system with Drupal as CMS, so she had expressed interest in setting up a shopping cart using Shopify. One benefit of Shopify would be increased POS functionality for managing inventory. Shopify offers so many services that the owner could consolidate hosting, etc.

6 Website Project Team Ground Rules 1) Remember the shared goal(s) of the meeting 2) Have an agenda (distributed in advance if possible) with clear, relevant topics 3) Have all needed participants present - and no one else 4) Start and end on time 5) Listen carefully and respectfully 6) Voice any disagreement with the process immediately 7) Stay on topic 8) Speak openly 9) Challenge ideas, not people 10) Allow every voice to be heard 11) Use the last 15 minutes to summarize, recap, conclude, assign follow-up tasks and, if necessary, schedule follow-up meetings 12) Attribute conclusions and decisions to the group, not to a person 13) Agree to support the decisions of the group (agree to disagree) 14) Send out meeting minutes within 24 hours

7 Website Project Task Plan Task 1.0 Research/Information Gathering 1.1 Identify target audience and needs 1.2 Identify major tasks 1.3 Review competitors websites 1.4 Review websites with similar functionality 1.5 Identify functional specifications 1.6 Identify technical specifications 1.7 Identify assets needed for the website 1.8 Identify best CMS for the website 1.9 Design the navigation 1.10 Create site map 1.11 Build inventory of content 1.12 Obtain team signoff 2.0 Design overall look and feel 2.1 Develop a style guide 2.2 Create wireframes/mockups for each page 2.3 Choose a theme for the CMS chosen 2.4 Make production-ready design assets 2.5 Obtain team signoff on style guide and theme 3.0 Develop the website 3.1 Set up development/test environment 3.2 Install CMS 3.3 Install theme 3.4 Install shopping cart 3.5 Load content 3.6 Customize the CSS 3.7 Create forms and make them work 3.8 Establish domain accounts 3.9 Implement security features 3.10 Implement Google Analytics 4.0 Testing 4.1 Debug Database 4.2 Browser Testing 4.3 Complete Plug-In Compatibility Testing 4.4 Conduct Usability Testing 4.5 Fine Tuning 4.6 Obtain pre-launch approval (repeat 4.5 & 4.6 as necessary) 5.0 Training 5.1 Conduct training (order processing and CMS) 6.0 Launch 6.1 Migrate site 6.2 Check functionality using go live checklist 7.0 Post-Implementation Evaluation 7.1 Verify performance and obtain acceptance/approval 7.2 Identify follow-on activities 7.3 Documents lessons learned 7.4 Have a wrap-up party Deliverables Site Definition Style Guide Mockups Make a functioning site Detailed checklist and issue log Training materials Scheduled sessions Go live checklist Lessons Learned Document Final Invoice Maintenance Agreement Party

8 Task Assignments Task Responsibility Nancy Shelly Mark 1.0 Research K S S 2.0 Designing S K S 3.0 Development K S S 4.0 Testing K S S 5.0 Training S S K 6.0 Launch K S S 7.0 Evaluation S S K

9 Website Project Reporting Plan Report Recipients Author Frequency Project Proposal AI Owner Nancy K Weekly Status Updates Project Team Nancy W Executive Status Updates AI Owner Nancy M, AN Launch Readiness Plan Post Launch Assessment AI Owner, employees, and web team AI Owner, employees, and web team Nancy Mark & Nancy Project Signoff AI Owner Nancy C Legend: K=Kickoff, W=Weekly, M=Monthly, AN=As Needed, C=Close AN C Website Project Close-Out Task Plan 1) The project is complete: the website is up and meeting all original objectives 2) Review plan vs. actuals of schedule, budget, Google Analytics 3) Evaluate and commend team members 4) Archive project files, documentation, and artifacts 5) Document the tangible benefits and costs of the project 6) Identify follow on tasks and create new Statements of Work as needed 7) Get final sign off on the project 8) Perform post-mortem lessons learned and get team members t-shirt sizes 9) Celebrate

10 Status Report To: Project Approval Board From: Nancy Bogaard and the Website Team Date: 2/22/14 Subject: Week Six Status Report: Apologetically Idiosyncratic Website Project As the project progresses, the work is coming along smoothly. As you can see in the attached project notebook, we have made it through the Research and Design Phases on time. The changes that were requested in the Design approval stage have been incorporated to the plan. They didn t truly change the project scope just a change in design choices-- they should add no additional costs nor lengthen the schedule. Now we have begun the actual site development. I have set up the development/test environment on the server and installed WordPress. We have purchased and installed the agreed upon theme and the Woo Commerce e-commerce plug-in. In the next couple of days, I will create the pages. As soon as that is complete, Shelly will help load in all of the content, and I will begin working on the shopping cart. By the end of Week Nine, we will conduct some early usability testing and starting customizing the style sheets to get the look and feel we want. I want to thank everyone for participating in the Research and Design Phases, especially everyone who helped by writing copy, providing photos, writing blog entries, and sharing the calendar of community outreach activities. Thanks to you helping gather all of these assets, we may not need the float that was built in the development phase. We look forward to sharing the site with you around Week Eleven.

11 To: Website Team, Project Sponsor From: Nancy Bogaard Date: 3/27/14 Time: 3:00 pm Location: AI HQ Subject: Apologetically Idiosyncratic Website Project Close-Out Meeting Reminder: Please make sure to return your Lessons Learned Questionnaire by March 22, AGENDA 3:00 pm 3:10 pm Meeting Opening Review meeting objectives and the agenda 3:10 pm 3:50 pm Review Project Highlights Review project scope, deliverables and accomplishments Share planned vs actual schedule 3:50 pm 4:10 pm Follow-on Suggestions Discuss fine-tuning and follow-on activities on the project 4:10 pm 4:40 pm Lessons Learned Develop best practices for future projects What worked well? What could be improved? 4:40 pm 4:50 pm Team Recognition Recognizing team s successes and accomplishments 4:50 pm 5:00 pm Meeting Close Review Project summary, Outstanding action items, Lessons Learned 5:25 pm 6:40 pm Dinner Meet Bill Schonely at the Pyramid Taproom 6:50 pm 9:30 pm Blazers Game AI thanks you for all of your hard work! PM PM PM / All All Project Sponsor /All PM / All PM / All PM / All