Researching Online Readability and Retention

December 5, 2017
 Project Background

EDLP / EDLC
Walmart’s growth was built on a model of low prices, low cost, and efficient supply network.

ASSOCIATE AND CUSTOMER BASE

According to Walmart (2017), in 2014 2.3 million associates employed worldwide who served more than 200 million
customers per week.

TECH HISTORY
Sam Walton embraced technology in an effort to create greater efficiencies and reduce operating costs for the company.

TECH USAGE
Walmart stores utilized electronic cash registers, centralized reporting, and information technology in ways that helped
it out pace competitors in the retail industry.

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 Project Purpose

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
1 The purpose of this project is to find a best practice for content creation as it relates to user readability and
comprehension across a digital media platform.

RESEARCH
2 Show research results that provide insight and help with a solution to the readability and comprehension on a digital
platform.

REPORT FINDINGS
3 Analyze and review the results of an internal survey that was designed to test user readability and comprehension.

PRESENT SOLUTION
4 Present a solution to problem that was identified which incorporates the findings from research and survey results.

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 Problem Identified

LABOR COST MISSED SALES COMMUNICATION

Average associate rate of pay is $10.90 / hour. Using the WIRE takes time, costing the company Bad communication can cost a company 1 to 10
money. percent of sales (Giessler, 2006).

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 Research Solutions

Method Used
• Quantitative Survey
• Questionnaire asked participants to read an article and complete test questions
based on knowledge found in the article.
• Answers were found throughout the document to test readability and retention
based on chunking and presentation of the article.

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 Survey Example

Survey Highlights
• Small (12pt) and Large (18pt) font sizes
• Images and modern headers
• Randomized selection for small or large print testing

Large Print Example Small Print Example

Researching Online Readability and Retention Confidential and Proprietary

 Survey Questions

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6

Which three e-commerce What does the author note Wal-Mart produced revenue
90% of Americans live Competition in what area led
Question businesses were purchased as a winning template for What price did Walmart pay of $123.4 billion, an increase
within ___ miles of a to a decrease in operating
Text recently by Walmart to build thriving in a digital for Jet.com? of ___ over the prior year
Walmart: income for Walmart?
out their digital portfolio? economy? quarter.
Last paragraph, last
Location of Third subsection, first Third subsection, first Second Subsection, first Second Subsection, first
sentence of fourth Throughout article
Answer paragraph paragraph, first sentence paragraph, first sentence paragraph, last sentence
subsection
Test Retention and Reading Test Retention and Reading
Intent of Test Retention and Read- Test Retention and Reading
Test Retention Test Comprehension of First Sentence in Higher of Last Sentence in Higher
Question through of First Sentence in Section
Subsection Subsection

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 Overall Survey Results

Result Highlights 100%

• Total of 38 survey results gathered, with 16
90%
responses being small print and 22 being
large print. 80%
• Question 1 and 2 were at the end of the
document, they saw the highest scores. 70%

% Answered Correctly
• Question 2 is somewhat common
knowledge 60%
• Question 3 shows the largest gap and tested
comprehension of the overall document. 50%
Small Print
• The overall average score of correct Large Print
40%
answers was 66% and 67%, showing little
difference in retention of material. 30%

20%

10%

0%
1 2 3 4 5 6 Overall
Survey Question Number
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 Age and Education of Respondents

Result Highlights
18-24 years old 25-34 years old 35-44 years old 45-54 years old 55-64 years old
• Out of 38 respondents, 24 had
a Bachelor’s degree. High school
graduate,
• Majority of responses came
diploma or the 2 0 0 0 0
from the 25-34 year age range. equivalent (for
example- GED)
Trade/technical
/vocational 1 0 0 0 0
training

Associate's
1 1 2 1 0
degree

Bachelor's
4 11 5 3 1
degree

Master's
0 2 1 0 0
degree

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Are Content Structure and Formatting Changes Needed?

Data Shows:
• Retention levels are approximately the same between small and large print results.
• Comprehension level differed with the increased size of font and line spacing.
• Comprehension level increased with modern chunking and display of information.

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 Proposed Solution

WIRE STYLING
1 Change default font to 18pt and line spacing to 1.5 variable for better comprehension.

CONTENT CREATION GUIDELINES

2 Assemble team to develop content creation guidelines and standards for better comprehension.

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 Solution Implementation

KICKOFF / WIRE PROD AND

TESTING CONTENT GUIDELINE
Implement changes in WIRE Sandbox, and
assemble team for kickoff meeting on TRAINING
content creation guidelines. Move WIRE changes to production environment and train the appropriate
teams on using the new content creation guidelines for creating digital
content.

CONTINUAL
PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3
IMPROVEMENT

WIRE STAGE PROJECT IMPROVEMENT

AND CONTENT LIFECYCLE
Continually evaluate new standards and procedures to keep WIRE styling
RESEARCH modern and up to date, as well as ensuring that content creation
Conduct further research on content guidelines are following practices that promote retention and
creation guidelines with the assembled team, comprehension in a digital environment.
and move the WIRE changes to stage
environment.

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 Cost to Implement
1 2
WIRE Update Cost
• 7 hours of development to install
and 1 hour to complete UAT
• Calculating at ~60k a year, which
is ~$28/hr, the cost of coding
would be $196
• The cost to UAT would be 4
associates at ~28/hr in a 1 hour
session. This equates to $112.
• Total cost would be $308.
Content Creation Guidelines
• Kickoff meeting would last 1 hour
• 10 associates at an average of
~28/hr, would be $280.
Researching Online Readability and Retention
WIRE Update Cost
• 4 hours of development to
install and 1 hour to complete
UAT
• Calculating at ~60k a year,
which is ~$28/hr, the cost of
coding would be $112
• The cost to UAT would be 4
associates at ~28/hr in a 1 hour
session. This equates to $112.
• Total cost would be $224.
Content Creation Guidelines
• Bi-weekly meeting would last 1
hour. (Total of 8 meetings
across 4 months, totaling
$2,240)
• Allotment of 1 hour per week,
per team member, for additional
research of the topic. (Total of
120 hours across 10 team
members in the 4 month period,
totaling $3,360)
• Total for all tasks is $5,600.
Confidential and Proprietary
3 Total
WIRE Update Cost WIRE Update Cost
• 2 hours of development to • $700
install and 1 hour to complete
UAT Content Creation Guidelines
• Calculating at ~60k a year, • $6,608
which is ~$28/hr, the cost of
coding would be $56
• The cost to UAT would be 4
associates at ~28/hr in a 1 hour
session. This equates to $112.
• Total cost would be $168.
Content Creation Guidelines
• Final meeting time 2 hours,
cost of $560
• Publish and distribute
guidelines, ~2 hours by one
core team member, cost of $56
• Complete at least four training
sessions with participants,
spanning 1 hour of time with
single lead trainer. Cost of
$112.
• Total cost would be $728.
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 Sense of Urgency and ROI

Better Communication Leads to:

• Better Stakeholder Returns
• Lower Turnover

Ineffective Communication Leads to:

• 1% to 10% of Sales Lost due to Bad Communication

Recommended Action Plan:

• Begin work on Phase 1 as soon as feasible with other project guidelines

Time to Recover Investment:

• At $10/hr rate per associate, it will take 730 hours to recover the total costs of both projects.
• At 3 hours and 20 minutes of labor savings per day, the payback would occur in 7 months.
• This rate assumes only 20 associates saving 10 minutes of time per day based on better comprehension and retention levels.

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Thank you for your time!

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