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GBUS 813: Developing New Products and Services

SYLLABUS

 

Course Description

This action-oriented class covers the basic steps in developing a new product or service. The early part of the course focuses on the issue of how to identify unmet customer needs and generate new product ideas. Next, students learn how firms convert such “cool ideas” into actual products or services, and actually do so themselves via a hands-on team project. Students in each team identify an unmet need, develop alternative product or service concepts to meet that need, flesh out product concepts via a powerful communicative process of iterative prototyping, and examine product economics. Final working prototypes are presented at a design fair attended by a panel of product development practitioners and members of the University community.

Each student will be provided with a budget of $75 to spend towards the project, on a reimbursement basis. Thus a team of four students will have a budget of $300. Funding for these projects was obtained via a grant from the Batten Institute.

The budget may be used to buy tools or materials, hire a web-programmer, etc. Students should start thinking ahead about where to find the resources needed, since some of these, especially programmers or subcontractors, can be hard to find at short notice.

Class time is geared towards helping students discover and manage the challenges and opportunities in new product development while moving their team projects towards completion. Practicing product developers, creativity consultants and industrial designers will share their wisdom on the product development process while providing students with specific feedback and direction on their team projects. Classes are devoted to project work, product development exercises, cases and guest speakers to develop a thorough understanding of the development function.

You are expected to attend all classes and class related activities, and participation grading is based on your performance. The overall grade breakup for the class will be as follows:

• Participation in class and consulting days 30%
• Project related team presentations 35%
• Project related team written deliverables 20%
• Final paper 15%

Text Book: Product Design and Development, 4th Edition, by Karl Ulrich and Steven Eppinger.