To: Business Map Centre Manager

From: Noor Al-Suwaidi,

Date: June 04, 2014
Subject: Proposal to develop a usability test for AlGarafah DietHouse modified location map.


The purpose
The purpose of the proposal is to conduct a usability test to evaluate AlGarafah DietHouse
Restaurant Modified Map.
Introduction
From a personal experience, I discovered a restaurant location map (See Appendix A) that was
poorly designed and required modification. I also researched customers comments on the
restaurant instagram account that indicated that the current map of the restaurant was not
clear and therefore they couldnt use it to find the restaurant location. This issue created a
need for producing a new map location of the restaurant to resolve the problem.
DietHouse restaurant is located in AlGarafah and is considered the only restaurant in Qatar that
provides healthy meals. The issues of many customers have been addressed in the current map
of AlGarafah DietHouse restaurant. The current map of AlGarafah DietHouse restaurant shows
lack of important details. One of these missing details includes famous landmarks that exist in
the area near the restaurant that can help the customers identify the location of AlGarafah
DietHouse easily. Another missing detail in the current map is the variety of start points where
the current map only shows one start point that the restaurant can be reached from. In fact the
restaurant can be reached from more than four starting points. In addition to that missing
detail, many street names are not shown in the current map. In the current map one of the
roads of AlGarafah roundabout is connected to AlHedab st that leads to location of the
restaurant which was confusing because they are not connected in the reality.
A new map has been recreated using high quality navigation systems with a simple and a user
friendly location map design. A first draft of the new map (See Appendix B) was modified by
conducting an informal in-house testing (Ceraso, 2013, p. 238). AlGarafah DietHouse Modified
Map includes many details that are missing in the current map of the restaurant (See Appendix
C). This map includes many of the famous landmarks that are near the location of the resturant.
Examples of those landmarks are Qatar National Convention Centere, Education City and
English Gulf School. The map includes different start point locations and most of the street
names which could make it easier for the customers to locate the restaurant. The direction of
the north is shown in the map for more clarity. A more simple and clear design was chosen for
the modified map of AlGarafah DietHouse map.

The managers of AlGarafah DietHouse restaurant have been contacted (See Appendix D). They
have been informed about the issues of their map and the replacement of their current map
has been suggested. As a team member of Business Map Centre, I am proposing that we
conduct a usability test for the location map as soon as the restaurant managers approve to
replace their current map with our map. A proposed usability test and a questionnaire are
required to measure the effectiveness of the new map.
The Usability Test Procedure
The usability test will be constructed using a classification-based model which means that a
targeted audience of specific characteristics will be chosen to perform the test (Ceraso, 2013, p.
239). A selection of 8 participants will be chosen for the test. Each participant should have a
driver license, a car, a map and should have not visited AlGarafah Diet House before. Using only
the new map of AlGarafah DietHouse, the participant will be asked to reach the destination and
based on that experience, an online questionnaire on Business Map Centre website will be
taken immediately after the test. The questionnaire will inquire about the clarity of the map
and its effectiveness as well as provided an additional comment section. The testing will be
conducted in two days for 4 participants at each day. For every participant there will be a week
of free meals provided by DietHouse restaurant. After testing the modified map and solving the
questionnaire, the participants feedback will be evaluated and taken into consideration for
future modification of the map. This testing is considered a summative testing where the map
has already been created and the modification will be done after evaluating the feedback
(Mirel, 2013, p. 291).
The Usability Test Budget
The following table shows the Budget of this proposal. The total cost of the proposed test and
map is 130 QR.
Unit cost (QR) Amount of
items
Estimated cost
(QR)
Printing colored menu including the
modified map of AlGarafah DietHouse
13 10 130
Total cost 130







The Usability Test Timeline
The following table shows the time line of the proposal.
June 5, 2014 June 6, 2014 June 7, 2014 June 8, 2014 June 9, 2014
Printing the
new map with
the menu

Participant
testing the
map/Answering
Questionnaires

Map Test
Evaluation

The updated
map will be
ready to be
used by the
restaurant


Conclusion
The new map is needed to resolve the problem of the current map of AlGarafah DietHouse
restaurant. The new map included more important details such as famous landmarks that
surrounded the restaurant, more street names and the North direction. The usability test of the
new map is very important, because these evaluations and feedbacks will help to create a
better version of the new map. In the new version of the new map, the Arabic translation will
be considered.

References:
Ceraso, A. (2013). How Can Technical Communicators Plan for Users? J. Johnson-Eilola & S.
A.Selber (Eds.) Solving Problems in Technical Communication (pp. 237-261). Chicago and
London: The University of Chicago Press.
Mirel, B. (2013). How Can Technical Communicators Evaluate Usability of Artifacts? J. Johnson-
Eilola & S. A.Selber (Eds.) Solving Problems in Technical Communication (pp. 285-309). Chicago
and London: The University of Chicago Press.



Appendices:
Appendix A: The Current map of AlGarafah DietHouse restaurant map











Appendix B: The First Draft of AlGarafah DietHouse Modified Restaurant Map











Appendix C: AlGarafah DietHouse Modified Restaurant Map

AlGarafah DietHouse Modified Map













Appendix D: The Proposal Memo Sent to DietHouse Managers
To: DietHouse Managers
From: Noor Al-Suwaidi
Date: June 04, 2014
Subject: a Proposal to Replace the Current Map of AlGarafah DietHouse Restaurant
The purpose
The purpose of the proposal is to encourage you to replace the current map of AlGarafah
DietHouse restaurant and to allow me to conduct a test to evaluate the new map.
Introduction
I am an engineering student at Texas A&M at Qatar. I am currently taking a technical writing
course where we have been asked to create or modify instructions as a part of a course project.
I chose to modify your restaurant map for two reasons: 1) The first reason is that your
restaurant is considered the only restaurant in Qatar that provides healthy meals. 2) The
second reason is that my two drivers and I experienced difficulties to locate your restaurant
using your current AlGarafah DietHouse map. Because the map didnt help me reach your
restaurant, I contacted AlGarafah DietHouse staff to help me reach the restaurant. The
searching of your restaurant took about an hour and a half.
In addition, your customers comments that were found in your instagram account indicated
that the current map of AlGarafah DietHouse was not clear and therefore they couldnt use it to
find the restaurant location. This issue created a need for producing a new map to your
restaurant. Because the satisfaction of the customers is an important element in every
successful business, I created a map to resolve the problem for your customers.
Testing the Map
If you are willing to accept the proposal, we are interested to replace the current map with the
new map of AlGarafah DietHouse Restaurant a test will first be conducted to measure the
effectiveness of the new map. The testing procedure consist of many stages such as testing the
map, collecting the data, evaluating the data and modifying the final design of the new map.
First of all, a selection of 8 participants will be required for the test. Each participant should
have a drivers license, a car, a map and should have not visited AlGarafah Diet House before.
Using only the new map of AlGarafah DietHouse, the participant should reach the destination
and based on that experience, a given questionnaire should be completed. The questionnaire
will include questions about the clarity of the map and its effectiveness as well as an additional
comment section. For every participant, we ask that you provide a week of free meals. After
these procedures, their feedback will be evaluated and taken into consideration for future
modification of the map.
Conclusion
The new map is needed to resolve the problem of the current map of your restaurant. The new
map included more important details such as famous landmarks that surrounded the
restaurant, more street names and the North direction. Conducting the test of the new map is
very important because these evaluations will help to create a better map for your restaurant
location and therefore lead to a higher level of customer satisfaction. For the second version of
the new map the Arabic translation will be added.