Consumer Market Study Project — Assignment #1: How to Approach It in Microsoft Project
A clear, step-by-step guide for students working through the Consumer Market Study project in MS Project — covering environment orientation, WBS entry, task indenting, predecessor dependencies, resource assignment, network diagrams, and setting a baseline.
Microsoft Project is one of those tools that looks simple until you’re actually inside it. The interface is clean enough. The instructions seem straightforward. Then you try to indent a task and nothing goes where you expected, or you enter a predecessor number and the dates stay wrong, or you save the file and realise you forgot to set the baseline first. The Consumer Market Study Assignment #1 is your introduction to this software — and the mistakes students make here tend to follow them through every subsequent assignment. This guide walks you through each step, explains why you’re doing it, and flags the exact places where things go sideways.
What This Guide Covers
The Project Background — What You’re Actually Building
Before you open Microsoft Project, get clear on what this project is. A company has commissioned a consumer market study. That means a team is going to design a questionnaire, run it with a target audience, collect the responses, build software to collate those responses, and then produce a report. Four people are doing this work: Jim, Susan, Steve, and Andy. Each person owns a specific part of the project.
Why does this matter before you start? Because your assignment is not just about clicking buttons in a piece of software. It’s about representing a real project structure accurately — who does what, in what order, and with what dependencies. If you understand the project logic, you’re much less likely to assign the wrong person to a task or enter a predecessor that makes no sense. The software will let you make those errors without complaining. Your marker won’t.
Setting Up the File Correctly — Don’t Skip This
Most students rush past the file setup steps because they feel administrative. They’re not. The project properties and start date you enter here flow through every calculation MS Project makes. Get them wrong and your dates will be wrong. Get them right and the software does the scheduling work for you.
Create a Blank Project and Save It Immediately
Open Microsoft Project. Click File → New → Blank Project → Create. Before you do anything else, save the file. Click File → Save As, choose your location, and name it exactly as instructed: Consumer Market Study – 1. The dash matters. The spacing matters. Save it now and save it often as you work — MS Project does not auto-save in the same way Word does, and a crash mid-session is painful.
Set the Advanced Properties (Title)
Click File → Info → Project Information (drop-down arrow on the right) → Advanced Properties. In the window that opens, click the Summary tab. Enter Consumer Market Study as the title. You can fill in Subject, Author, and Company if you like. Click OK, then use the back arrow at the top left to return to your project view.
Set the Project Start Date
Click the Project tab in the ribbon → Project Information (in the Properties group). In the Project Information window, set the Start date to Fri 1/12/18. Click OK. This is the date from which MS Project will calculate all task start and finish dates once you enter durations and predecessors. If you skip this, your project will start from today’s date and all your scheduled dates will be wrong.
Your assignment instructions are explicit: use the desktop application, not the online version of Microsoft Project. They are not the same tool. Several features required for this assignment — including certain ribbon options and the network diagram view — behave differently or are unavailable in the browser version. If you’re unsure which version you have, check the Start Here section in D2L for the download instructions.
Orienting Yourself in the MS Project Interface
You’ll spend this entire assignment in two main views: the Gantt Chart view and the Network Diagram view. Before you start entering data, spend two minutes understanding where things are. It saves you a lot of hunting later.
The Ribbon Tabs
Task, Resource, Report, Project, View, and Gantt Chart Format sit across the top. Each tab shows a different set of tools. You’ll mostly work in Task and Project for this assignment. Click a tab to switch ribbon content.
The Entry Table
The left side of the Gantt Chart view — the grid with columns for Task Name, Duration, Start, Finish, Predecessors, and Resource Names. This is where you’ll do most of your data entry for this assignment.
The Gantt Chart
The right side of the view — the bar chart that visualises task timing and sequence. MS Project builds this automatically as you enter data. You don’t draw bars manually; you enter data and the chart updates.
One thing to do before you start entering tasks: enable the Project Summary Task. On the Gantt Chart Format ribbon (click the “Gantt Chart Format” tab), find the Show/Hide group and check “Project Summary Task.” This creates a Task 0 row at the top that shows the overall project name and spans the entire project duration. It’s a visual anchor — and it’s what makes your file look like the Figure 6 example in your instructions.
Entering the Work Breakdown Structure
The WBS is the backbone of this project. You’re entering it as a hierarchical list in the Task Name column — the project at the top, work packages below it, and individual activities below each work package. Here’s exactly what to type, in order, into the Task Name column. Click a cell in the Task Name column and start typing. Press Enter to move to the next row.
Type all of these names flat — one per row, no hierarchy yet. Don’t worry about indenting while you’re entering names. Get all 19 task names into the Task Name column first, then indent. Trying to indent as you go is where most students introduce errors they can’t easily untangle.
Indenting Tasks — The Step Most Students Get Wrong
This is the most important step and the most common source of errors in this assignment. Indenting creates the WBS hierarchy — it tells MS Project which tasks are summary tasks (work packages) and which are leaf-level activities beneath them. Get this wrong and your Gantt chart won’t roll up correctly, your durations will be off, and your network diagram will look nothing like the example.
Where to Find the Indent Buttons
In the Task ribbon, look for the Schedule group. Inside it you’ll see two blue arrows — one pointing right (indent) and one pointing left (outdent). Highlight the row or rows you want to indent by clicking the row number on the left, then click the right arrow to push those tasks one level deeper. Clicking the left arrow brings them back up. You can select multiple rows by clicking the first row number and shift-clicking the last — this indents them all at once, which is faster than doing them one by one. For comprehensive support with project management assignments, our assignment homework help and academic writing services cover MS Project, project planning documents, and all related deliverables.
The Hierarchy You’re Building
After indenting, your structure should look like this — and pay close attention to levels:
Consumer Market Study
Task 0. The overall project summary. Created by enabling Project Summary Task in the Format ribbon. Not indented — sits at the top of everything.
Questionnaire / Report
Tasks 1 and 12. These are the two top-level work packages. Indented once. They become bold summary rows that roll up the duration of everything beneath them.
Design / Responses / Software / Report
Tasks 2, 8, 13, 16. Indented twice — one level below their parent work package. Also summary rows.
Individual tasks (3–7, 9–11, 14–15, 17–19)
Indented three times — the leaf level. These are the tasks with durations and resource assignments. No tasks below them.
This is called out explicitly in your assignment instructions and it matters. Summary tasks (work packages like Questionnaire, Design, Responses, Software, Report) should have no resource names assigned. If you assign a person to a summary task, MS Project adds their time and cost to both the summary task and its child activities — double-counting that produces incorrect budget and performance reports.
Resources go on the individual activity rows (Tasks 3–7, 9–11, 14–15, 17–19) only. Check your Resource Names column carefully before submitting.
Entering Predecessor Dependencies
Predecessors define the logic of your project schedule — which tasks must finish before another can start. You enter them as task numbers in the Predecessors column. MS Project then automatically calculates and updates the Start and Finish dates for each task based on the dependency chain. Watch those dates change as you type — that’s the software doing the scheduling work for you.
Assigning Resources to Activities
Resource assignment in MS Project connects people to tasks. For this assignment, you enter names directly into the Resource Names column in the Entry Table. No need to set up a Resource Sheet first — just type the name into the cell for each activity row.
Tasks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
All five Design sub-package activities belong to Susan. She designs the questionnaire from target identification through to developing the software test data.
Tasks 9, 10, 11
All three Responses sub-package activities belong to Steve. He handles printing, labelling, and distributing the questionnaire to collect responses.
Tasks 14, 15
Both Software sub-package activities belong to Andy. He builds and tests the data analysis tool.
Tasks 17, 18, 19
All three Report sub-package activities belong to Jim. He inputs the data, analyses results, and prepares the final report.
Once you’ve entered all resource names, your Gantt chart bars on the right side of the view should show the person’s name next to each bar. That’s the visual confirmation that the assignment is recorded correctly. If you see names next to summary task bars, you’ve assigned resources to the wrong rows — go back and clear those cells.
Viewing the Network Diagram
The network diagram is a different view of the same project data. Instead of a timeline bar chart, it shows tasks as boxes (nodes) connected by arrows that represent the dependency relationships. It’s the visual equivalent of the predecessor logic you entered — and it’s a useful check that your predecessor data is correct.
Switch to Network Diagram View
On the Task ribbon, click the down arrow on the Gantt Chart button in the View group (it shows the Gantt Chart icon with a small dropdown arrow). From the menu that appears, select Network Diagram. The view changes from the bar chart to a set of connected boxes.
What You Should See
Each task becomes a box showing its ID number, start date, finish date, duration, and completion percentage. Arrows connect boxes according to your predecessor entries. The flow should move roughly left-to-right. The Consumer Market Study summary box should sit at the far left, with branches flowing through the work packages toward the final Prepare Report task on the right.
Check for Logic Errors
If the network diagram looks tangled, has arrows going backwards, or shows boxes completely disconnected from the rest, your predecessor data has an error. Go back to the Gantt Chart view (same process: Task ribbon → Gantt Chart down arrow → Gantt Chart), find the task with the problem, and fix the predecessor entry.
Return to Gantt Chart View
Once you’ve reviewed the network diagram, switch back to Gantt Chart view before proceeding. The baseline step (next) is done from the Gantt Chart view. Use the same Task ribbon → Gantt Chart dropdown to switch back.
The Network Diagram Isn’t Just for Marks — It’s a Diagnostic Tool
Students often treat the network diagram as a view to screenshot and submit. It’s more useful than that. If Task 17 isn’t connected to both Task 11 and Task 15, the diagram will show it clearly — two separate chains with no convergence. If you see that, check your predecessor entry for Task 17. It should read 11,15. One of those numbers is probably missing.
Setting the Baseline — What It Is and Why It Matters
The baseline is a snapshot of your plan as it stands right now — before any actual work begins. It records the planned start dates, finish dates, and durations for every task. Once you start tracking actual progress against the plan, MS Project compares your current data to the baseline and shows you variances. Without a baseline, you have no reference point for tracking.
Go to the Project Ribbon
Click the Project tab in the ribbon. In the Schedule group, you’ll see a “Set Baseline” button. Click it. A small window appears with options for which baseline to set and whether to apply it to the entire project or selected tasks.
Set Baseline for Entire Project
In the Set Baseline window, make sure “Baseline” is selected (not Baseline 1 through 10 — just “Baseline”). Under “For:”, select “Entire project.” Click OK. The baseline is now saved. MS Project stores the current planned start, finish, duration, work, and cost values as baseline values for every task.
Save Your File
Immediately after setting the baseline, save your project file. Click File → Save (or Ctrl+S). Setting a baseline doesn’t automatically save the file — if MS Project crashes after you set the baseline but before you save, you’ll lose it and have to set it again. Saving takes two seconds. Do it.
The baseline captures your plan as it currently stands. If you set it before entering all your tasks, predecessors, and durations, the baseline will record an incomplete plan — and your variance reports in future assignments will be meaningless. Always set the baseline after your plan is complete and before you make it the “final” version you submit. For subsequent assignments in this series, you’ll return to this file and begin updating actual progress data against this baseline.
Common Mistakes That Cost Marks
The instructions say this explicitly and it’s worth repeating: indenting is where most students make mistakes. Check your hierarchy against Figure 8 in your assignment PDF before moving on. Summary tasks (Questionnaire, Design, Responses, Report, Software, Report) should be bold in the Task Name column. Activity tasks beneath them should be regular weight. If your summary tasks aren’t bold, they haven’t been indented correctly — or you’ve accidentally made an activity-level task into a summary by indenting something below it.
Covered in the instructions and worth flagging again because it’s a silent error — MS Project doesn’t warn you, it just silently miscalculates your project costs and work. Scroll through your Resource Names column and make sure every name appears only on activity rows (rows 3–7, 9–11, 14–15, 17–19). Any name on a summary row (1, 2, 8, 12, 13, 16) needs to be deleted.
The project start date is Fri 1/12/18 — that’s January 12, 2018. If you entered today’s date, or left it blank, all your task start and finish dates will be wrong. Go to Project ribbon → Project Information and check the Start date field. Fix it before you enter any predecessors — changing the start date after you’ve entered predecessors can cause unpredictable recalculation behaviour in some versions of MS Project.
Two tasks in this assignment require multiple predecessors: Task 11 needs predecessors 9 and 10, and Task 17 needs predecessors 11 and 15. Students often enter only one of the two. The tell: if your project finishes in fewer than 9 days, or if Task 17 starts before Task 11 finishes, your predecessor data has a gap. Check those two rows specifically.
Set the baseline last — after all tasks, predecessors, and resources are entered. If you set it early and then add more tasks, the baseline won’t include those new tasks, which creates variance data that doesn’t reflect your actual plan. If you accidentally set the baseline early, use Project ribbon → Set Baseline → Clear Baseline to wipe it, then set it again when your plan is finished.
Not a technicality — the browser-based Project app is genuinely different from the desktop application. Some ribbon options either aren’t there or work differently. If you submit work done in the online version and it doesn’t match the expected output, you lose marks for a setup error that had nothing to do with your understanding of project management. Use the desktop app. Download it from D2L’s Start Here section if you haven’t already.
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Assignment Help Get StartedWhat This Assignment Is Setting You Up For
Assignment #1 is the foundation. Everything in the Consumer Market Study project that follows — updating actual progress, tracking earned value, managing schedule variances, running cost reports — depends on this file being built correctly. A solid WBS with accurate indenting, correct predecessors, proper resource assignments, and a saved baseline gives you something worth tracking. A file with botched indenting or missing predecessors gives you noise.
The skills you’re practising here are not just MS Project button-clicking. They’re project planning fundamentals: decomposing work into manageable chunks, understanding task dependencies, assigning accountability, and locking in a baseline before execution begins. Those concepts appear in every project management methodology you’ll encounter — PMBOK, PRINCE2, Agile. The software is just the tool you’re using to apply them right now.
If any section of this assignment is giving you trouble — the indenting hierarchy, the predecessor logic, or the baseline setup — our assignment homework help, research consultant services, and personalised academic assistance provide specialist guidance for project management courses at all levels.
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