Category Archives: PUR

Problem Understanding Review

Problem Understanding Review (PUR) — Pre-meeting Briefing

This one sheet serves three purposes:

  • brief/quick preparation for your audience prior to the meeting (“pre-meeting briefing”);
  • a guide for the PUR meeting, for you and your audience members; and
  • a take-away for your audience.

1     Organization and Formatting

  • There are four (4) sections that progress according to the numbers in their respective headings.
  • Each section on the sheet has, below its heading, a text field with a prompt for a short sentence to provide context (replace that prompt with yours) followed by a bullet-list starter “Xxxxx”.
  • The top headings (left- and right-columns) are on the master layout named “PMB-TBLR”(top-to-bottom then left-to-right) and should not be moved. The other two headings may be moved up or down (hold the shift key down to maintain vertical alignment) to redistribute space as it better serves you.  Do NOT change the wording of any of the headings.
  • Remember, this covers highlights for the purpose of prepping your audience before the meeting and that you will use to lead the discussion at the start of the meeting.
    • It need not be jam packed; you are allowed/encouraged to have your IRD content pages at hand to reference for details as needed.
    • The content should be graphics-rich with minimal text. Aim for (minimum) 75% of the space consumed by graphics (with the exception of sections 3 and 4 which will likely, though not necessarily, be mainly text).
    • But do not try to include all of your graphics relevant to the respective section. Be thoughtfully selective; you can have your IRDs to reference as noted, and the graphics on the PMB must be large enough to see any important feature on the graphic.
    • Think of each of the four sections as a “slide” dominated by graphics with some bullet points to complement the graphics.
  • Regarding graphics:
    • Graphics include annotated CAD, illustrations, plots, and photos as well as tables. Yes, annotate plots as needed (often but not all of the time) to point out what is of particular interest.
    • Graphics used here are copied and pasted from your other docs.
    • Choose graphical elements of substance, not just to be present as a token non-textual element that is otherwise useless.
    • Be sure to have figure and table numbers so your audience can follow you as you talk them through it.
    • Did you see “annotated” above?!
  • Regarding text:
    • The bullet points serve three purposes:
      • guidance for your audience, leading them through the storyline and graphics both during the meeting and for quick pre-meeting preparation,
      • cues for you during the meeting, reminding you not what specifically to say (use your spoken words for that), but what generally to talk about, and
      • refreshers for your audience, reminding them afterwards what you talked about and jogging their memory about some of the details of what they heard you say (your spoken words).
    • These bullet points are short, to-the-point, not copied from your IRD since they are to be very limited and short compared to your more extensive, archival bullet points in the IRD. Each should be no more than a single short sentence or phrase.
  • Again… more graphics, less text!

2     Content Presentation

  • Leading into each bullet-point list should be one short, complete sentence providing context for the list/section.
  • There are four general areas of your work-product you are covering (in this order):
    1. Project Overview
    2. Background Research
    3. Next Steps
    4. Use Cases and Engineering requirements
  • The three green-text sections are the focus for the content on this sheet, as indicated by them being the larger regions on the template. Some additional guidance follows:
    • Section 1 is a bullet-point rendition of your project overview section of the PUD complemented by a meaningful graphic — remember, your audience knows little to nothing about this problem at this point. Being bullet-based, this is not the sentence/paragraph-based version from the PUD.  Also, do not hit on budget and overall success items from the PUD.
    • Section 2 (the bottom-left and continuing in the top-right) hits on your team’s background research; this section is the primary focus of the PUR. It should contain the most important highlights of your IRD findings across the entire team, brought together in a logical way.  If not dominated by annotated graphics that are legible, you have failed in your main purpose for the meeting.
    • Section 3, next steps, is the secondary focus of the PUR. Be sure to make note of what you don’t yet know and need to find out.  Also note what your weekly work-focus will be for the rest of this week (week-3) through week-6.
    • The Use Cases and Engineering Requirements section (Section 4) likely will have some content, though keep it light as there usually is not time to even get into it. Again, what are the focal points?  Background Research and Next Steps.

3     Examples of Great Work

Do a great job and be the first!

© 2017, William J. Endres Updated October 09, 2022

Individual Research Document (IRD)

1     Organization and Formatting

1.1    General

  • This is your sandbox, or canvas, for laying out information in a concise, logical manner.
  • Organize/group information into boxes, providing each box with an appropriate title.
  • Size and arrange boxes as you wish.
  • Use the styles provided, in particular, stick to Times New Roman 12-pt font for the majority of the written content.

1.2    Specifics

  • Include the following on a single B-Sheet; you (each team member) are allowed one sheet of content
    • Identification: Enter your initials in the “by” box at the upper right of the header (replacing the placeholder “FML”).
    • Date: Enter the date of latest update in the “on” box at the upper right of the header (replacing the placeholder “mm/dd/yy”).
  • References should be listed on the second B-Sheet. It is two-column for future use/expansion; it is not anticipated you will need the whole sheet or even a whole column.  IEEE format is to be used with numbering as [FML##] according to the following:
    • FML is your First, Middle and Last initials (e.g., William J. Endres is WJE)
    • ## is a two-digit sequential number (e.g., 01, 02, 03, …, 10, 11, …).
    • For example, my reference numbering would be [WJE01], [WJE02], [WJE03], …, [WJE10], [WJE11], …. You can continue with this reference numbering as each team member identifies new references throughout the course of the project.
    • Further information on references can be found in the Doc-Prep Guidance — Getting Started section, subsection 4, References.
  • All figures should have a caption and be numbered as FML.# (e.g., WJE.1, WJE.2, …, WJE.10, WJE.11).

2     Content Presentation

2.1    General

  • Depending on your team’s strategy and what areas of background research have been allocated to you, logically organize your findings into boxes having text and graphics.
  • Use graphics (photographs, illustrations, sketches, etc.) liberally (i.e., plentifully) for clarity. Clarity implies that graphics should be annotated to highlight specific visual information of interest.
  • Keep descriptions/notes concise, but also thorough, making liberal use of bullet point lists and short paragraphs (2-3 sentences) rather than long paragraphs.
  • Make use of at least ten unique references.

2.2    Specifics

  • When presenting your perspective (in the one pre-titled box) on the history and nature of the problem, be concise and focus on what led your customer to initiate this project, which should dig down into the root of the problem at hand, the pain or gain that is of interest to your customer.
  • When covering products/processes that accomplish similar but possibly different results, from the same or other industries, patents can be a huge source of information and should not be overlooked. Patents can provide design ideas to pursue, or design ideas not to pursue (as it would be infringing), and often both.
  • When covering the key scientific/engineering concepts and methods that may be relevant to the design work. Go beyond an understanding at a less technical level to consider how equations (mathematical models) and experimental testing/trials that you have learned (in classes or more likely through additional research) may apply.

3     Examples of Great Work

Do a great job and be Example #2!

Example

© 2017, William J. Endres Updated August 31, 2017