| I. | Introduction | |
| II. | Motivation | |
| III. | Background | |
| IV. | Previous Work | |
| V. | System Description | |
| VI. | Challenges | |
| VII. | Time-line | |
| VIII. | Budget | |
| IX. | Conclusion |
The introduction will be similar to the cover sheet summary. Please do not repeat yourself verbatim. The introduction will typically have more detail than the summary. Be sure to cover, at a high level:
Why are you pursuing this project? What makes it important? Are
there market forces conspiring to create the "perfect storm" for this
fancy new technology? This section should identify a need for the
project. It should also covey, if only subtly, your unique reasons
for pursuing the project; are you (or your organization) motivated by
money or higher ideals, do you have a "mission"?
III. Background
This section should draw out the competition. You can be critical of
similar work, but be fair. This section is important, since your
credibility rests on your ability to be an expert in the proposed
work. If a client can identify a similar product or idea, you better
have a discussion of its relationship to this project here.
IV. Previous Work
What have you done? Why are you right for this job? In general, this
section and Background are one and the same. You shouldn't lie about
your experience, but you can puff it up a bit. This section can be
composed as a basic bio of you, and eventually your group. However, a
formal bio is often provided as an attachment at the end of the
document. Focus on specific projects in this section.
V. System Description
This section should describe the "boundaries" of the application.
What does the user/customer see when they use it? What are the assets
generated by the application, e.g. what kind of valuable data or side
effects does it generate? This sections serves as a kind of
"pre-requirements" elicitation. You should be specific about the
features of the system without necessarily doing a formal requirements
specification. It is likely that the features of the system will
change during negotiations with the client and development; the right
level of detail is important at this stage. You should also consider
including figures illustrating the system, as a mock-up or proof of
concept. This section should also identify the scope of the project.
Consider what things are NOT part of the project. Where do you draw
the line? Perhaps, place items out of scope in the context of future
work.
VI. Challenges
Assuming you have done a good job of motivating and describing the
project, why then hasn't it already been done? This section should
analyze the project as the complex system that it is. Are you
targeting future capabilities of computer hardware or some emerging
market? What special skills are required to get the job done? This
is also the time to address the tertiary benefits that the system
might generate. Are there more general tools or skills that will be
developed to complete this project, which can be reused for future
work? How might the other stakeholders in this project also benefit?
The key is to identify any substantial gap in the existing tools at
your disposal that make this project non-trivial.
VII. Time-line
It is important to have a good estimate of the time needed to complete
the project. "Time is Money," therefore, time is one of your most
valuable resources. This is especially true given the hard
constraints of a semester long class. What is your plan to deploy
this product. Don't leave out important items like testing and
multiple pre-releases. How do you plan to handle slips and unforeseen
problems?
VIII. Budget
Put a dollar amount to this project. How much are you and your team
worth? Do you plan to provide benefits like health-care? What kind of
equipment do you need? If this project works out, how much will it
cost to maintain it? How much do you project this system will
generate in revenue, over time? If not money, how do you quantify the
value of this system?
IX. Conclusion
This section should re-summarize the project, with the assumption that the reader now has a better understanding of what it is. Be sure to emphasize the need for it and its impact on the target audience and stakeholders. Many clients will be interested in how well you understand the "big picture" that this work fits into, and this is a good place to reiterate that.
Imagine that you are starting a small company. Put yourself in the roll of founder. How do you prepare for the up coming team and work load? I am not looking for a specific answer to this question in your proposal, but I want to understand that you have thought this through. More importantly, I want you to have a feel for the tasks and considerations that come along with a real project, beyond simply coding it up.
Please do not feel that you need to precisely follow the 9 step format described above, or address every item in the checklists below. The breakdown is offered to give you an idea what I expect from a proposal, not necessarily the exact section headings. The checklists are there to help remind you of the possible issues that you need to consider.