Program and Process Description
Capstone Project Background
The project is meant to introduce an effective and cheap way for Nigerian college scholars to access books. The availability of books for the said scholars is, to a significant extent, limited by the high costs related to purchasing of books (Capella University, 2017). It is for these reasons that this Capstone project exists. The project involves the development of a website that will allow students to access used books. There will be two groups of participants on the website; the sellers of the books and the buyers (students). The project seeks to reduce the time wasted in searching for the books in stores compared to the fast access to variety through the internet. Also, the project hopes to ensure availability of books while at the same time allowing users to access available books within the shortest distance.
The project has been tested for feedback from the beneficiaries of the project. Feedback generation employs the use of the internet. The project relies on the internet and hence, it is only prudent to use the same marketing channel (Wright, 2017). Besides, “the cost of computer hardware and software continues to decrease, and the popularity of the internet increases,” (Wright, 2017, p. 3). Questions asked involved the access to the internet, length of time the students use books, the availability of books in bookshops, the price of second-hand books, the probability of getting the books and the will to purchase the second-hand books. The results of the questions are critical in determining the efficiency of the program. Also, to manage online traffic, the number of participants is significant in giving rough estimates of expected participants.
The most relevant thing is the high prices at which the books are sold. The project, therefore, stands better chances of dominating the sale of books, majoring in second-hand books. Setting the project apart from online websites that sell books, is the sale of second-hand books only in Nigeria. Also, the project is a solution to the overcharged pricing on books.
The development of the website is expected to take the longest time because of constant adjustments based on feedback from participant students. Besides, the marketing of the website to students in different schools is done before developing the website. At most, the project will take four months before the website is ready for use.
Methods
The implementation of the project purely relies on the internet. Access to the database is accessible from phones and personal computers. The diversity in access is because of the unrestricted access of users.
The marketing of the website involves the use of social media. The shifting focus in marketing dictates that companies market where customers, students, are, “firms face internal and external pressures to adopt a digital presence in social media platforms,” (Pinheiro, Tiago, & Verissimo, 2014, p. 703). Besides, the project is entirely dependent on the internet because it offers unlimited access, fast delivery to participants and saves time that would otherwise be used for individual answers (Wright, 2017). The questions used regarding these projects are all geared at ensuring efficient service delivery for the students.
Evaluation
The program is affected by the availability of access to the internet. Because most of the students struggle to pay fees, access to the internet is also restricted. Therefore, the project will not charge membership and access fees but will rely on advertisements for financing. Also, the agreements between the students and sellers are independent of website developers so the interface is to be as simple as possible. Because the project is not officially launched, the impact of the website on education can only be speculated. Therefore, there is need to determine the rate of adoption of the project and the possible improvements. Feedback from the users is saved in the databases and will be used in rolling out improved versions of the website.
References
Capella University. (2017). Doctoral Capstone Deliverable Guidebook. Minneapolis: Capella University. Retrieved 2018, from https://assets.capella.edu/campus/doctoral-programs/EdDDeliverableGuide.pdf
ILO. (2016). Technical Operation Manual. Project Evaluation, 1(1), 1-31. Retrieved 2018, from http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—dgreports/—exrel/documents/genericdocument/wcms_172679.pdf
Pinheiro, M. T., Tiago, M. B., & Verissimo, J. M. (2014). Digital marketing and social media: Why bother? Busniess Horizons, 57(6), 703-708. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0007681314000949
Wright, K. B. (2017). Researching Internet-Based Populations: Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Survey Research, Online Questionnaire Authoring Software Packages, and Web Survey Services. Computer Mediated Communication, 10(3), 20. Retrieved March 2018, from https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/10/3/JCMC1034/4614509
