RECOMMENDATION

OVERVIEW
Dr. Jessica McCarthy
Technical and Professional Writing
Washington State University

July 13, 2016

A comprehensive recommendation overview for the

Team 1:
How to Use KnowledgeOwl Instructional
Guide
Turner McCulley
Stephanie Nash
Ziwen Chen
Willie Roach

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July 13, 2016
Dr. Jessica McCarthy
Project Director
Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99163
Dear Dr. McCarthy:
Here is our recommendation overview for the KnowledgeOwl instructional document we have
created as a supplement to the KnowledgeOwl software program. We have collaborated as a
team to create a very helpful tool in introducing new users of KnowledgeOwl to its features. In
preparing this report and our guide, we have learned a lot in regards to creating technical
documents, as well as working collaboratively on a team.
While the KnowledgeOwl tool is, in itself, a very practical and applicable program for nearly any
field of business or collaboration, new users will benefit greatly from an introduction to its
features. In this report we have specified the areas of focus of our created documents, as well as
the methods used in researching and creating the needed materials.
While we were not fortunate to have the benefit of input from all of our team members on this
project, those that did participate did their due diligence to ensure that every measure was taken
to make this a successful team project.
We have enjoyed creating this document, and would be glad to address any questions you may
have.
Sincerely,

Team 1:
Stephanie Nash,
Turner McCulley,
Ziwen Chen &
Willie Roach

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Research Methods............................................................................................................................2
Results..............................................................................................................................................2
Conclusions......................................................................................................................................2
Recommendations............................................................................................................................2
Appendix: The KnowledgeOwl Instructional Document................................................................3

Executive Summary
This report provides and introduction to the KnowledgeOwl knowledge management software
and reports on the completed project to create a KnowledgeOwl instructional document. It
provides a detailed look at the project goals, our research methods, the actual results produced,
and our recommendation for evaluating the success of our instructional. Overall, this project was
completed successfully and produced a detailed document providing instructions on how to use
the basic features of the KnowledgeOwl software.

Introduction
The KnowledgeOwl product is a web-based knowledge management software. KnowledgeOwl
allows for users to create how-to articles and document employees knowledge. This serves as
the first resource for employees looking for instructions on how to complete tasks. Using
KnowledgeOwl will help maintain the knowledge of a companys employees even after the
employee leaves. The end result is decreased research time and less duplication of research work.
However, implementation of a new software product can be intimidated to new users of the
product. Users may be hesitant to create and use the product if they are unfamiliar with how to
use it. Without proper instructions on the product, the KnowledgeOwl software may see slow
usage rates as employees put off learning and using the system.
Our project seeks to minimize the learning process and reduce the stress of using a new product.
The final result of our product will instruct new users on how to use the KnowledgeOwl
software. Our document provides step-by-step, easy to follow, instructions for new users on how
to create new articles, edit articles, set security for the knowledge base. This allows a new user to
learn how the software works quickly and in a very efficient manner. This will reduce employee
hesitations in using the new software and will decrease overall learning time of the product.

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Research Methods
In creating our product, we used several methods to arrive at our final result of an instructional
guide. We collaborated using online tools, referenced course materials and benefited from input
from each team member.
Preliminary Research and Decision
We first discussed the benefits and concerns in collaborating to complete this project. Members
of the team each gave input regarding the feasibility of completing the project. We reviewed who
our target audience would be for the project, how they would benefit from our product, what
tools would need to be used in order to create our product, how our product would be accessed
by users, and reviewed whether there were any ethical concerns in creating our final product. We
utilized our group discussion board to provide input and decide on the focus for our project
Design Concerns
There were few concerns in completing this project. Being that it was introduced in a very
straightforward manner, it was fairly simple to decide that our end product would be an
instructional guide in the form of a PDF document.
Use of Resources & Tools
In completing this project, we utilized, mostly, the group discussion boards, file exchange and
individually referenced the course materials in order to complete assigned tasks. Participating
team members volunteered to complete sections of our product as well as this report. We utilized
Microsoft OneDrive in order to collaboratively work on the project.

Results
The result of this product is a PDF document that contains clear instructions for new users of the
KnowledgeOwl product. Our instructional manual outlines how to complete the following tasks:

Log into KnowledgeOwl

Search for a KnowledgeOwl article
Create a KnowledgeOwl article
How to edit a KnowledgeOwl article
Maximize the search ability of articles
How to configure a KnowledgeOwl knowledge base for user security
How to configure KnowledgeOwl category and article security

By outlining in detailed, step-by-step instructions, our instructional allows for first-time users to
easily adapt this new product. To maximize the usability of our product, it includes a table of
contents and major and minor headings for easy location of sections. It also includes many
screenshots of the KnowledgeOwl user interface to ensure that new users are able to follow

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along with a visual comparison. The instructional also provides several notes on frequently
encountered security issues. Overall, using our document a user can quickly complete all basic
tasks in the KnowledgeOwl product.

Conclusions
The KnowledgeOwl instructional document was created to fill a need to help new users of the
product learn to use it quickly and thereby speed up the implementation. The project was created
by learning the product ourselves, learning the best practices, and documenting the best and
easiest way of performing the basic tasks of the project.
Overall, the instructional came together into a seventeen page instructional. The instructional
features pictures of each step to help new users follow along. This results in a document that is
easy to follow allowing for the best learning possible in a written document. After testing this
guide with two people, we found they were easily able to complete the tasks outlined. Overall,
this project should speed implementation of the new product and ease the organizations pains
with implementing the new piece of software.

Recommendations
It is recommended that our KnowledgeOwl instructional is placed on the SharePoint and shared
drive of the organization at the time of implementation of KnowledgeOwl. Additionally, the
instructional should be placed in a KnowledgeOwl article that is available on the organizations
KnowledgeOwl login page. This will allow for maximum accessibility for new users.
During the initial implementation phase of the KnowledgeOwl software, users should be polled
to ensure this document aids in their understanding and adoption of the product. To be
successful, this document should be considered very helpful to over 75% of initial users that read
the document. This document should also reduce the learning rate of new users by over 50% and
KnowledgeOwl should be used by over 70% of users within the first three months. If these
criteria are met, this instructional should be deemed successful in easing fears and aiding in the
adoption of the KnowledgeOwl product.
It is also recommended that this document is reviewed quarterly to ensure that it is still accurate
and meets the needs of the organization. KnowledgeOwl is a web-based application that is
updated periodically. If the user interface changes or new features are added the instructional
should be corrected.

Appendix: The KnowledgeOwl Instructional Document

The KnowledgeOwl instructional document produced by the project is attached below.

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How to Use
KnowlegeOwl.pdf