Buying for the Smiths

deemed as project managers for a family, the Smiths, has brought me and Corey Hubert together for the reason of purchasing a new car. Using the steps of the Systems Development Life Cycle we will plan out the best strategy for purchasing a car that will meet the needs of the Smiths.

1. Identify the Problem

The Smiths are in need of a new car that will solve their issues of transportation, and also serve the needs of the family. The family has stated their need of a vehicle that has good miles per gallon rating and also the need of a vehicle that can comfortably seat a small family, but have also stated that they will spend no more then $40,000 on the purchase. It would also be in the best interest of the Smiths to purchase a vehicle that can last them a long time and also a vehicle that has a good safety rating. To put all of these features together to find the best possible vehicle and cost scenario for the Smiths will be the extent and scope of the problem.

2. Analyze and Understand the Problem

The biggest part of the problem for the Smiths is that their current vehicle is out of commission, so the need for a speedy conclusion is very pressing. Since the Smiths are going to be out of town, they have asked me and my partner to fill the role of planning and purchasing the new vehicle for them. Myself and my partner realize that there will be a few risk factors involved in pursuing this request, so we have tried to identify them early on to prevent them from happening. The big thing here is to take everything that the Smiths were interested in and really research those needs. We would check out consumer reports and reviews from trusted automobile Web sites, compare pricing at dealerships to the Blue Book value, and pay special attention to the vehicles crash test rating.

3. Identify Solution Requirements and Expectations

In order to fulfill the needs of the Smiths, my partner and I will have to make sure and meet their needs and expectations. To do this we will have to take all of our previous research and compile it into an easy to understand document. We know that the Smiths need a car with good gas mileage, a good track record, comfortably seats a small family, and they need the car by the end of the week because they are going on a family trip.

4. Identify Alternative Solutions and Choose the Best Course of Action

At this point my partner and I will have to discuss with our clients the finer details. We need to talk about what kind of automobile designs that they liked, what manufacturers to stay away from, whether they wanted a stick shift or an automatic, and anything else that the Smiths want to discuss that might not have been brought up in the initial discussion. My partner and I would have to remind the Smiths of the monetary limit that they set for us and the tight time restraint that they left us with. Getting a good understanding of what kind of vehicle that they would enjoy would save us from purchasing a vehicle that they would not want in the future. After the discussions we have come up with a good plan of attack for the Smiths and have narrowed down the playing field for them significantly. We came up with a list of three cars, the Acura RDX, the Audi A6, and the Toyota Camry Hybrid. Each of these vehicles meets the needs and means of the Smiths, and if one vehicle falls through then we have two more choices to fall back on.

5. Design the Chosen