Easy project reporting
As you plan for an experiment, decide in advance if you want to release the results to the public. If you do, there are easy steps you can take to plan to report on your project.
How about a template? Below, I’ve taken a pass at brainstorming some key sections that will be very useful to people wishing to know more about your experiment.
Background Info — What is the backstory on your organization, and your mission?
Problem — What issue are you trying to solve? Why is it important?
Hypothesis — Why do you think this problem is happening? What do you know at the start of the project?
Obstacles — To date, what obstacles have you encountered, and how are you planning to overcome them?
Data Gathering — Do you need to gather data? How are you going to do that/how did you do that?
Experiment — What did you try to change, and how did you go about it?
Results — Did you learn anything from your experiment?
Project Review — What problems did you encounter? Are there any holes in your knowledge or results that you still wish you knew? Would you do anything differently were you to start the project all over again now?
Next Steps — Now that you have completed the project, what are your next steps in the research? What would you tell another organization trying to follow in your footsteps?
Contact Info — How can someone who is reading this get in touch with you if he/she has questions?
Before you start your experiment, research if anyone else has already done anything like it. Get in the habit of saying “let’s see what others have already done… perhaps we can save some time and money on our experiment, or move the knowledge forward.” I’m often quoted as saying “every marketing activity you do should be an experiment” — let us now get in the habit of sharing what we’ve learned.
