After working for a few years, I went back to school for a Master of Science in Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. The program I chose includes a specialization in Media Innovation and Content Strategy, a study that sits at the intersection of media, business and technology and focuses on product and strategy.
I took classes on design, content strategy, business and more. I often worked in groups, often across cross-functional disciplines, to develop media and AI products from ideation to prototype to launch. I also conducted research and created funnel-based content strategy for companies. Read about some of my experiences and products below.
Through my Content Strategy course, I was connected with Oura Ring, a wearable health tech company, to create a multiplatform, funnel-based content strategy. My partner and I conducted an audit of Oura Rings, website, social media, email newsletter and app. We then created multiplatform strategies and top-of-funnel campaigns with KPIs to position Oura as a women's health and heart health company.
A big part of developing a media product is designing the user experience. Through a UX design course, I used Figma to develop a clickable prototype for a networking events app.
To build this app, I conducted user research, and a market analysis and built low-fi, mid-fi and high-fi wireframes, storyboards, and journey maps. After several rounds of feedback and user testing, I finalized a protoype for the app Bump.
Northwestern University’s Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation offers a course called NUvention Media. This project-based course builds interdisciplinary teams of computer science, business and journalism students to build AI-driven media products and envision the future of media.
I worked as a product manager on a cross-functional team that developed an AI product , called Custom.ai.ze, which generates hyper-personalized product descriptions. Custom.ai.ze is designed as a B2B product for online retailers that are looking to personalize the descriptions of their products to their individual users to capture and retain audiencesand convert them to sales. Although my team focused on online retailers, this product could also be used to hyperpersonalize product description for services, and experiences.
Focused on both digital and tech products, my master’s program trained me to become a product manager using agile methodology. In my Digital & Tech Product Management course, I led a team develop a product and prototype for an online financial literacy platform for women in their 20s.
My market research revealed that the online courses industry is rapidly growing and expected to pass $300 billion by 2025. Additionally, women are entering the work force at record numbers but still falling behind in financial literacy. After conducting user interviews of our target market, my team and I created a product roadmap and backlog and pitched the product.
The Knight Lab at Northwestern University is a community of designers, developers and journalists working to create new research and tools to help journalists and push journalism into new spaces. In this class, I researched the future of social media, particularly decentralized niche platforms and their experimentation with monetization outside of an advertising model. My researched focused on the problems that journalists and journalism organizations face on current existing social media platforms and considered solutions.