Project Planning

Before this project, my experience with project planning was mostly based on completing assignments by following directions and working through them one step at a time. I understood that planning was important, but I did not always think about how much planning goes into a technical document. For this project, I had to plan different types of documents about Gucci’s $890 black wool balaclava that resembled blackface. I had to think about the purpose of each document, who would read it, and what information needed to be included.

One strategy I used was breaking the project into smaller parts. I first worked on the problem-summary statement, then the complaint letter, the response letter, and finally the social media posts. My brainstorming and rough drafts helped me organize my ideas before writing the final versions. I also used the information from class discussions and assignments about reasoning-based and values-based persuasion. For example, in my complaint letter, I planned to use cause and effect to explain how the sweater’s design could make people think of blackface and how this could make customers feel disrespected or uncomfortable.

One challenge I faced was making sure each document had a different purpose instead of repeating the same information. I adjusted my strategy by changing the tone and focus for each document. The complaint letter focused on the customer’s concerns, while the response letter focused on how Gucci could address the problem.

In the future, I would start my planning earlier and create a stronger outline before writing. However, I would use the strategy of breaking a large project into smaller sections again because it made the assignment easier to manage.