Design Document Front Matter
The front matter for your design document (final report) will include a cover page, a Change Notice Page, (3) a table of contents, a list of figures, a list of tables, and an executive summary.
Cover Page
The cover page must include the following:
- Project Name
- Industry Sponsor
- Picture of Team Members
- Name of Team Members (with Majors)
- Industry Project Sponsor
- Academic Project Advisor
- Course Number/Academic Year
- Date
Change of Notice Page
This follows the cover page and records major changes to the Design Document. An example includes, but not limited to, the following:
| Revision Number | Reviser | Reason for Change | Date |
Table of Contents, List of Figures, List of Tables
The table of contents should lists all of the component parts of your Design Document, beginning with your list of figures and list of tables (if used). All chapters or titled sections and all first-level subheadings of the design report are listed in the table of contents. MS Word and other word processing software have templates available for your use and can be configured to automatically include/update page numbers in the TOC.
Executive Summary
This summary will be finalized at the end of the project and will go through several iterations as you draft the component parts of your Design Document. Think of the executive summary as the abstract of a paper. Keep this section under 500 words with no figures or tables. A person with no background knowledge of the project should be able to read the executive summary and get the big picture of the project without the fine details. Recommended things to include in an executive summary: introduction (draw in the reader), project scope, any necessary background, and an overview of important findings and key data points.