Week 2 Assignment

Due Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 3pm!!

Task 1: Read (4 items)

NPR’s The journey from print to radio storytelling: A guide for navigating a new landscape https://training.npr.org/audio/the-journey-from-print-to-radio-storytelling-a-guide-for-navigating-a-new-landscape/

“Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio,” by Jessica Abel. Chapter 1. Amuse Yourself: Ideas

Amazon Says No to Ads on Alexa, Frustrating Sony   https://www.theinformation.com/amazon-says-no-to-ads-on-alexa-frustrating-sony?shared=VHHVA69wLNM

Glossary of production terms.  

Task 2: Conduct a “Design Thinking” empathy interview. Record it and upload to WordPress.

Interview someone you know about either a) How they use their “smart speaker” or b) How they get their news and whether they are satisfied with that.  Record this interview on your phone or recording device. Upload as a blog post to WordPress. Tag with a) your name b) Empathy Interview 1. c) homework d) your team. Minimum interview length: 4 minutes.

Task 3: Survey more skills, this time with design thinking in mind. Write a post on WordPress

As in week 1, find 3 skills. This time, focus on skills that have some connection to news or journalism. One should have a connection to California. These cannot be from the CNET article that we posted on the class site. Evaluate them from a product design/design thinking perspective.

As you did last week, write a blog post with 3 reviews, total length 175-225 words. OR You may choose instead to upload these as an audio file! Tag with a) your name b) Skill Survey 2 c) homework d) team name.

Note: If you are uploading as audio files, SCRIPT your report before recording it. Don’t just wing it.

Posts should include as much of the following information as possible:

Name of Skill


Frequency of publication

Description of skill

Why did you choose this skill? What spoke to you about it?

What is the “job to be done” of this skill? What problem is it solving for users?

What other “product” does this skill attempt to replace or be better than?

Who do you think would use this skill?

How often do you think users would use this skill?

How long does a typical “use” last?

How did you “discover” this skill?

Does this skill have any user ratings/feedback? What do they say?

Is this skill a flash briefing or an interactive skill?

What is effective about this skill?

What could be better about this skill?

Is there a way to monetize this skill?

Does this skill compete directly with other skills? If so, name up to 3 competitors.

Skill URL: (To find this, go to https://alexa.amazon.com. Click Skills on the Left side. Choose the skill you want. Copy URL from browser.)