Week 8

Question 1

What are business letters? Why are they formal?

Answer 1

They are the most formal type of communication we’ll consider.

Formal cuz they’re used extensively in all sectors, but also are a strong and permanent reflection of professionalism for you personally and for your organization.

Question 2

What is the format of the business letters?

Answer 2

• 1 to 1/4 in margins
• use block format (all text starts even on left)
• must be left align (even on left, ragged on right)
• size 11 of 12 font
• Times New Roman

Question 3

What are the basic elements of the business letter?

Answer 3

Senders address (your address)

date written out in full

Mr/Mrs, first and last name (if applicable)
Recievers title (if applicable)
Insider/Recievers Address

“Dear Mr/Mrs. Last:”

-Body of letter-

-Closing of letter-

The spacing is important and don’t forget the “:” when starting the letter!

Question 4

What is included in the body of the cover letter?

Answer 4

Commonly, the body is divided into:

Introductory paragraph: friendly greeting and outlines purpose

Supporting Paragraph: One or more paragraphs of supporting details

concluding paragraph: Restates purpose or requests some type of action

BLANK LINES IN BETWEEN PARAGRPHS
NO INDENTS!

Question 5

What does the closing of a business letter consist of?

Answer 5

Typically you’d just write “Sincerely,” “Thank you,” “Best regards,” or something similar.

A COMMA IS PLACED AT THE END OF EACH LINE

A few blank spaces for signature

Then your name is written out and if applicable, your credentials are included after name

Question 6

How about paper with letterheads? Extra long receiver titles? What about “Re”?

Answer 6

Letterheads include dates, so skip that and only put letter heading on first page!

Extra long receiver titles are put on the line below the receivers name

A bold reference line starting with “Re:” is us ed to identify critical information such as application number, order number, job posting code, and so on

Question 7

Where would you put additional elements on a business letter?

Answer 7

Include additional documents through an enclosure. Enclosures are underneath the closing.

Ex/
Enclosures:
1. Copy of original application
2. Invitation letter from the City of Somewhere

cc: Ms. First Last, Director

Question 8

How does “Clear” apply to business letters?

Answer 8

1. Clear - Writing is simple and easy to understand

Question 9

How does “Concise” apply to business letters?

Answer 9

2. Concise - Message is brief and to the point

Question 10

How does “Correct” apply to business letters?

Answer 10

3. Correct - Document is free of errors

Question 11

How does “Concrete” apply to business letters?

Answer 11

4. Concrete - Main point is evident, vivid and detailed

Question 12

How does “Complete” apply to business letters?

Answer 12

5. Complete - All necessary information is included

Question 13

How does “Courteous” apply to business letters?

Answer 13

6. Courteous - Writing has friendly, appropriate tone

Question 14

How does “Considerate” apply to business letters?

Answer 14

7. Considerate - Writing takes receiver into account

Question 15

What are needs?

Answer 15

They are a list of everything that a person could want about something. Include:
- Requirements
- Evaluation Criteria

Question 16

What is the difference between requirements and evaluation criteria? How do they relate?

Answer 16

Requirements:
- features that are either present or not

Evaluation Criteria:
- Items in the “Needs” that distinguish between different degrees of stakeholder satisfaction (from barely acceptable to outstanding/max satisfaction)

Each evaluation criteria usually also has a need (the minimum)

Question 17

What are the design parameter values? How do the relate to the product attributes?

Answer 17

The design parameters are like inputs and they are determined by the design engineers.

The product attributes are the like outputs and they are the INTERESTS of the STAKEHOLDERS

Changing a design parameter value (ex laptop case material) can impact multiple product attributes (durability, weight, cost, etc.)

Question 18

What is a satisfaction curve?

Answer 18

We use satisfaction curves to represent out evaluation criteria:

X axis: the attribute (something of importance to the stakeholder)

Y-axis: Satisfaction level from 0% to 100%

We try to max satisfaction to maximize performance!

Question 19

Does satisfaction always have to start at the origin? Is there a limit?

Answer 19

Satisfaction can at any attribute value (ex/ minimum 8gb or ram). That threshold attribute value is also then associate with a requirement!

There is also a limit to satisfaction (ex/ there’s a point where more ram doesn’t increase satisfaction, 500gb ram and 1000gb ram doesn’t rlly change anything)

Question 20

Are satisfaction curves always linear? How can you determine this?

Answer 20

Satisfaction curves can be different based off the situation. For example:

• The difference between 200 and 300gb is SMALL because it’s near the minimum requirement
• The difference between 500 and 600gb is MASSIVE because this is around the attribute value that users EXPECT. Small changes here are BIGGGG
• The difference between 1000 and 1100gb is SMALL because it’s nearing the maximum satisfaction value. More doesn’t really help much here.

Question 21

What is an important note about satisfaction curves?

Answer 21

Satisfaction curves are independent of other things and factors. Increasing storage on a laptop, for example, could also increase the weight, but we don’t take that into account as the weight has it’s own satisfaction curve.

Question 22

Where do satisfaction curves come from?

Answer 22

They come from understanding the market, from research, and from talking to, working with, and observing key stakeholders.