What IDs Can Learn from Product Managers

This just in from Pamela. She states,

"Early on in the introduction to Instructional Design course, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete the task of asking questions of stakeholders. I shouldn't have worried. Once I started, I really had a hard time finishing the list. Why? I am a trained product manager, and we ask questions for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and good PMs spend lots of time working out the ins and outs of every potential situation. 

Here is a short list of skills you might want to investigate from a product management perspective to help with your instructional design:

Personas: Focus on who you are talking to. I once taught a class where the target customer was farmers. The education level was typically low – yet when I analyzed their written material, it was written at a PhD level. Make sure you are addressing their needs at a level they can understand and understand deeply. Link here.

Journeys: Customer Journeys are a way of breaking down all the steps along the way for the target persona. At each step, you determine what they need to learn or do to progress to the next step. Link here. 

Problem: We are all trained from a young age to answer questions. We quickly pick up a solution or answer to a situation. However, what really makes a difference is a deep understanding of the problem. When approaching a problem, I often let myself sit with the problem for a while. Noodle on it, walk around the neighborhood. This helps you become more curious, and spawns more questions. Then, the eventual solution will become so much better. Link here."