“Product Development “

Your team's goal in creating the professional pathways report is to create a well written,
visually appealing resource that will be useful for your peers as they contemplate various
career pathways in our field.  This should not be a dump of everything you find on the
topic, but a concise summary that uses simple, direct language and is easy to follow.
Report should answer:
1. How might opportunities be different in the US than in other areas of the world?
2. Who works in these roles?
What educational background? What kinds of personality might you require?
Deliverables
1. Research plan (due at least full two weeks before the presentation date, ideally done
asap).
You will need to spend a bit of time to figuring out HOW you will go about it.
The HOW question is important to consider carefully. Your first instinct may be to type in
some words into a Google search window. But research plan is a good place to take a few
minutes to consider additional (possibly better, possibly supplemental) ways to answer
your questions.
Research should be a mix of primary and secondary sources for most questions. Primary
sources include talking to people and getting out of the building. Secondary sources is
also sometimes referred to as 'desk research' and includes studying already existing
information (e.g. articles, blog posts, industry reports, analysis of trends, salary, etc).
A research plan should consist of the types of sources you will use.
Sources: please choose from list below. You are probably going to want multiple types of
sources for most questions
PRIMARY SOURCES (this entails talking or surveying people and getting out of the
'building', producing new knowledge)
Interviews and conversations: Ask people stuff! Look for patterns in what people say.
You don't always need a huge number of people, but usually you need more than a
sample of one to identify generalizable patterns. Ideally, you will corroborate what people
say with additional sources.
TIP #1: interviewing is a skill. take a few minutes to read some very  basic tips on
interviewing https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/02/developing-your-
interview-skills-part-ii-during-the-interview.php
TIPS: recruitment seems hard but is sometimes easier than you think. Try these methods:
o Find and join a professional LinkedIn group related to your area related
to the profession (or Quora, Reddit, etc ) . Pose question to the group ("I

am a masters student in NYU Digital Media Design for Learning program
and am eager to learn more about ….. What are your thoughts on…")
o Join the  NYedtech meetup group . This is a professional group of over
7,000 members in NYC area. Post a question on their listserve (remember
this goes out to 7000 people so don't overuse this!) or attend an event such
as a mixer, and talk to people there. This is a great networking opportunity
as well.

 Surveys: Create a survey and send it out to a bunch of people. Again, distribution
might be easier than you think using some of the methods above.
o TIP #1: Make sure to introduce yourself and mention your program
affiliation (this makes you seem more legit and helps people understand
why you're asking). Try asking a variety of questions, including open
ended question. For more tips on survey design. Stay away from
sensitive questions (such as about income, demographics, etc).
o TIP #2: Read some tips on creating a good
survey (https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/10-tips-for-building-effective-
surveys/) before you start. When picking a tool, any of these tools work
well: Google forms, SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics (many others), Typeform
(particularly attractive and easy to use)

 Onsite visits: Interviewing or shadowing someone in their workplace setting can
be highly informative. Take pics if that's allowed. Take some field notes on the
things you observe. Ask them if they might take you on a tour or attend a meeting
or training they are doing. Again, great networking opportunity as well!