MeTee, LLC. Proposal

MeTee, LLC. was established on 11-7-2017 as an online tee-shirt design and supply store. The store’s basic business model is to manufacture tee-shirts with innovated, original designs created by an internal design team. The current business model is strictly web based, with no current plans for brick and mortar stores. At least one office will be opened to support internal employees such as designers, the payroll department, sales department, IT, etc. The business is a for-profit business, with the intention of generating revenue, as well as supporting young designers and artists by donating $100,000 annually toward a scholarship program for one art or design student. The mission statement of the brand is to encourage young designers to pursue artistic and/or design careers by providing viable, stable employment as well as internship opportunities. The MeTee brand also aims to encourage young amateur artists by developing a “Create Your Own” tool where the user will have the option to design their own tee-shirts. The focus of the brand is to encourage young designers and artist using multiple employment and involvement techniques, as well as a commitment to creating quality product, with all materials sourced from environmentally and ethically responsible manufacturers.

BUSINESS GOALS

• Create website where users can design and order tee-shirts
  • Create “About Us” page outlining business concept
  • Create “My Account/Registration” page where user can store personal and payment information
  • IT development of user friendly design software that will enable users to create their own designs
  • Display of pre-made designs by internal design team
  • Create standardized sizing rubric
  • Establish ordering procedures and automate communication process with manufacturing company
  • Create tracking process for all items sold – both internal for marketing analysis and external for user to track items purchased
  • Create Privacy Agreement for Users
• Establish Scholarship Fund
  • Meet with financial advisors to ensure all legal/tax requirements are met
  • Establish rubric for contest submission requirements
  • Identify criteria for judging submissions and team of judges
  • Create timeline for contest
  • Create financial plan to fund scholarship
  • Create website page to highlight scholarship program and enable submissions

RESEARCH

The first step our team took when conceiving the brand was to conduct thorough market research. Our research was aimed at our main demographic of 15-25 year olds. In order to reach this demographic we emailed and mailed surveys to high schools and colleges around the country. The preliminary surveys were largely open ended, asking participants information regarding:

• Topics of interest
  • Most and least popular
• Preferred materials
• Preferred cuts and styles
• Preferences when buying clothing online
  • Easy returns
  • Fast delivery
  • Easy ordering system
  • Variety of options
  • Recognizable designers

The initial surveys served as a fact-finding mission to establish the basic topics and design themes popular with our key demographic. We then conducted small focus groups of 5-10 individuals between the ages of 15-25. During these sessions we engaged in more in-depth conversations regarding the topics identified, and preferences regarding different design elements such as fit and style. We also asked the subjects to participate in a Card Sort activity. The subjects were given cards with terms we had previously identified and asked to categorize and group these terms into logical groupings and hierarchies. In addition, each participate was given blank cards to write down terms that they believe were missing, or better representations than the terms provided.

ONTOLOGIES AND METADATA

After concluding our market research, our team began creating a Folksonomy based on the feedback we received. The focus groups enabled us to identify the popular vernacular used by our target demographic. After compiling a list of popular terms, we identified the Preferred Terms we will use for site. We then created lists of related, or Variant Terms, that were commonly associated with our Preferred Terms. From these Preferred and Variant terms, we have created synonym rings that will be given to the IT team to assist in creating a search algorithm. We also created a Controlled Vocabulary, identifying the labels for each theme or topic, as well as the labels used for each sub-theme or sub-topic.

With a wide selection of products, we identified the main metadata tags needed to assist with navigation and the search algorithm. The main organization of the product will be by Topic, and most searches will be simple keyword searches. Therefore, each product will need multiple metatags describing the different attributes a user will likely associate with each product. The most crucial meta data tags include:

• Meta Data for Images
  • Product Name
  • Designer Name
  • Size
  • Date created
• Meta Data for Products
  • Design name
  • Designer Name
  • Date published
  • Color
  • Style
  • Main topic
  • Band name/movie name
  • Artist/actor
  • Terms identified through research/synonym rings

ORGANIZATION, LABELS AND NAVIGATION

The global navigation for the page will include 4 main buttons, in addition to a link to the Cart for purchasing:

1. About Us will navigate the user to a separate content page.
   • Clearly stated Mission Statement
     • History of the company
     • Goal to promote young designers
       • Employment Opportunities
       • Internship Opportunities
       • Scholarship Award
       • Create Your Own Design

The About Us page will include inline contextual navigation links, which the user can click to navigate directly to the Scholarship page, the Create Your Own Design tool, an index of Current Designers, a content page with information regarding Employment Opportunities, and a link to a content page outlining Internship Opportunities.

• Our Designs will be a drop down menu with the following categories and subcategories;
  • By Category
    • Artistic
    • Humor
    • Music
    • Movies
    • Politics
  • By Designer
    • Listed by designer’s name
  • Scholarship Winners
    • Listed by winner’s name and year they won

After the user selects a subcategory from the Category drop down, they are directed to the page for that subcategory. There the user would browse visual thumbnails, or pictures of the product underlined with basic information such as the name of the design and the designer who created it. The user could then click on the thumbnail, which would take them to the product’s page. This page will include a larger picture of the shirt from multiple angles, detailed information about the design, the materials it is made from, and the option to choose a size, an amount, and add it to the user’s cart.

The user will also have the option to navigate By Designer or by Scholarship Winners. After clicking the “By Designer” or “Scholarship Winners” subcategory, the user would be able to select a designer or winner’s name from a drop down. The user would then be navigated to that designer or winner’s page which would include a picture and short bio, as well as thumbnails of their designs for the user to browse.

To assist with navigation, each subcategory page would include a “Filter-By” option on the left of the page. This would allow the user to narrow products by price, color and/or genre. Each subcategory page would also have a “Sort By” option, which would reorganize the products on the page from “Price – Low to High”, “Price – High to Low,” or “Most Popular”.

• Create Your Own would take the user to a tool where they would be guided through a sequence of steps to create their own design. Step-by-step, the user would decide:
  • Color of shirt
  • Cut/style of shirt
    • Crew neck, boat neck, V neck, scoop neck
    • Long sleeve, short sleeve, ¾ sleeve, sleeveless
    • Extra long, extra short, average, crop top
  • Design Elements
    • Placement
    • Sizing
    • Layering

Once the user choses the basics (color, neckline, sleeves, etc.), they would be taken to a screen with thumbnails of different design elements. The user would then drag and drop their preferred design elements onto a picture of their tee-shirt in a large viewing box. The user could re-size these elements, layer different elements on top of each other, and choose their placement on the front and/or the back of the shirt. The user would also be able to double click on each element on the shirt and would be given a Delete option. The user would be asked to preview the final product in a separate window for final approval. The user would then choose what size tee-shirt they would like and have the option to add it to their cart.  

• Scholarship would navigate the user to a content page. This page would include:
  • Scholarship Mission Statement
  • Submission Criteria/Rules
    • Original design
    • Original essay
  • Submission Deadline
  • Link to index of past winners
    • Thumbnail of each winner that navigates to their personal page
  • Submission Submittal button
    • Scholarship Submittal Privacy Agreement with required check box acceptance
    • Personalized Account creation required for all participants

SUPPLEMENTAL NAVIGATION

In addition to the Global Navigation, the site will also offer supplemental navigation tools. The MeeTee logo will be located at the top of every page and will navigate the user back to the Home page. The site will also include a Fat Footer at the bottom of every page. This will include links to the following pages frequently visited by users:

• Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Our Designers (Index Page)
  • Scholarship
  • Make Your Own
  • Privacy Policy
  • Checkout

SEARCH

The focus of Mee Tee’s information architecture is the establishment of a coherent and easy to use navigation system. However, a search box will be included as an option for the user. The amount of products and content located on the site will be limited, so a basic search box used for key word searches will be included at the top of each page. This basic search box will search the entire site. The only “search-zone” that will be indexed separately will be for the designers. The user will have the option to click on an advanced search option, to search “By Designer”. The user can then choose a specific designer from a drop down, and use keywords to search within a specific designer’s line of products.

The search algorithm will be built with the information obtained by our market research. As previously mentioned, we have compiled a detailed Folksonomy of the common vernacular used by our key demographic. From that vernacular, we have created an extensive collection of synonym rings which our IT team will use when designing the search algorithm.

To further assist users, the search algorithm will utilize the following query building tools:

• Spellcheck – to account for common misspellings
• Auto Stemming – for example: storm would automatically stem into storming, stormy, etc.
• Autocomplete – to encourage the use of preferred terms

PRIVACY

Customers:

As a web based store, user privacy is a main priority. A link to a comprehensive Privacy Policy will be available at all times to any visitor to the site with a link in the Fat Footer. In addition, every user will be required to read and consent to the Privacy Policy upon creating a personalized account.  The main points of the policy will include:

• Data Relevancy – only essential information will be collected to complete a transaction
  • Name, address, credit card information
• Sale of Information – the sale of customer information will be strictly prohibited
• 3^rd Party Requirements – all third party partners will be required to meet equal standards for privacy and security
• Right to Delete – the user will have the right to delete their account and personal information. MeeTee will only keep personal user information if needed to complete a current transaction or if required to by law

To provide more user privacy control there will be two options when purchasing:

• Personalized Log In – the user will create a unique login ID and password. The user can then store their personal information (address, credit card information, etc.) for future transactions. The user can also track purchases and review previous orders
• Guest Log In – the user can submit their personal information, which will be processed for a one-time transaction. Once the transaction has been completed, their information will be deleted

Scholarship Applicants:

There will be a separate Privacy Agreement for Scholarship Applicants. Scholarship Applicants will be required to create a Scholarship Applicant account prior to submitting a design, and will be required to read and accept the Scholarship Privacy Agreement. The main points will include:

• Data Relevancy – only essential information would be collected so participants and/or winners can be contacted
  • Name, address, phone number, email
• Sale of Information – the sale of applicant information will be strictly prohibited
• Likeness – the winner agrees to have their likeness displayed on MeeTee’s website

SECURITY

MeeTee will employ a full time IT Security team to monitor the safety of user information. The IT Security team will be responsible for implementing and maintaining the following protocols:

• Encryption of user data
• Firewalls
• Data Wiping

GOVERNANCE

The upper management team, in collaboration will the sales team, design team and IT Team will establish a clear plan to ensure that all company and user information is properly used, stored and protected. The main components of the information governance will include:

• User and Scholarship Participant Privacy Policy – please see Privacy section above
• User Agreement for Scholarship
  • Intellectual property and ownership rights of submittal
    • Winners will have their designs manufactured and sold by MeeTee as a condition of receiving the scholarship award
    • Non-winning designs will not be manufacture or sold by MeeTee and will remain the sole property of the applicant
• Internal Information Management Policy
  • Roles and Responsibilities by Department
    • Management
    • Designers
    • Sales/Marketing
    • IT Security Team
    • Back Office Staff
  • Access Controls for User Information by Department
  • Access Controls for Internal Information by Department
    • Payroll, personnel files, accounting data, sales data
  • Life-Cycle schedule
    • Deletion schedule for inactive user accounts
    • Deletion of sensitive personal information of terminated employees
    • Communication schedule to update active user information
  • Review Schedule
    • To occur quarterly between all department heads to ensure information is properly collected, utilized stored and protected

METRICS

To monitor the success of the current business model, as well as identify areas for improvement or change, specific metrics will be monitored and analyzed on an annual basis. These metrics will include:

• Website data
  • Clicks per page
  • Amount of time per page
  • Most popular pages
  • Most popular search terms
  • Bestselling products
    • By category
    • By design
    • By designer
    • By price bracket
• Scholarship data
  • Amount of submissions
  • Judging results
  • Accounting information for funding
  • Publicity costs and benefits
• Perform annual survey of internal designers
  • Review feedback from each designer
  • Review performance of products created by each designer
  • Provide feedback for areas of improvement
• Perform annual fiscal review 
  • Identify most profitable products/designs
  • Identify areas of wasted expenditure

POTENTIAL ISSUES

As with any businesss, there are areas or scenarios where there is a potential for issues to arise. Below is an outline of potential issues, as well as our intended course of action:

• Copyright/Licensing
  • Review with legal team to establish guidelines for designers regarding content to avoid potential copyright infringement issues
    • Must create Copyright/Licensing agreement for designers regarding ownership of content created
    • Must create Copyright/Licensing agreement for scholarship submissions regarding ownership of content submitted
• “Create Your Own” Tool
  • Work with IT Department to create fast, dependable and user-friendly design software
  • Create review process for designs to ensure all content created by design software can be legally manufactured and sold
  • Establish process for complaints if delivered product does not meet the user’s expectation

CONCLUSION AND FUTURE PLANS

The founders of MeeTee LLC. are excited to create an innovative and engaging experience for users that will be not only be profitable, but will also encourage young people interested in careers in art and design. While MeeTee is currently focusing on the goals and tasks outlined above, the ultimate goal is to transform “MeeTee” into a household name. In light of this goal, within the next 5 years MeeTee plans to achieve the following:

• Double the size of the design staff
• Triple the amount of products
• Expand product range
  • Sweatshirts
  • Sweatpants
  • Backpacks
  • Hats
  • Accessories
• Create a Mobile App