Real-Life Communication
As a junior CD-ROM designer at a large computer software company,
you often find yourself working away on projects without being noticed by
your superiors.
You do great work and are rewarded with good pay and
benefits, but you crave more challenge. You want to catch the eye of the company's
executives so they can see your talent up close.
The opportunity to
impress presents itself one day in an unusual way. On your way back to the
office from lunch, you pass a gym on the street and through the window you
notice dozens of people running on treadmills and pedaling bikes. All are
staring up at a TV set that they can't hear. You pass without notice, but
find yourself wondering if there isn't a better way to pass the time it takes
to get a good workout.
By the time you return to the office, you can
think of nothing else. You sit down and sketch some ideas. What if you designed
a CD-ROM that gave a gym-goer many choices of what to watch? How about a short
film stored on CD? Or a video of passing countryside, with rolling hills and
pretty scenery? Or a quiz game played against the computer?
Now you
know you want to present your idea to the vice-president of new products in
your company. You call her secretary and get a 15-minute appointment in two
days. Now you have to prepare a detailed outline of your proposal and show
how you are going to make it a reality.
In it, you should explain your
idea and why you think it is a good one. You should also include some information
on how viable the product would be. How much would each interactive computer
unit cost -- could the gym afford it? You'll also want to give her some idea
of how long it will take to develop the idea into a product -- what kind of
resources will it take?
You do some preliminary research and find that
you could install the touch screens you need for about $500 each. You also
decide it will require at least two months of design and programming time,
with a team of about five employees from different departments working together.
Now
formulate your outline. Make the format clear and concise. And keep the whole
thing to two pages. Remember, you only have 15 minutes to put your career
on the fast track.