Study Guide

Objectives (course unit)

This course goes through the different steps of product or service design process in practice. It gives a good understanding of how the idea is developed into a ready product or service. The course approach is practical: teams of 3-4 students pick up project from a commissioning company/organization or start project of their own.

After completing the course, students will be able to:
• Apply the concepts and theories of product and service design into practice
• Carry out consultation projects in product and service design area
• Accomplish the project, analyze and report the results to customer
• Plan and implement a project independently and as member of a team.

Content (course unit)

How to implement product design project in practice?
How to implement service design project in practice?
How to manage the customer interface in consultation projects?

Prerequisites (course unit)

-

Further information (course unit)

-

Assessment criteria, satisfactory (1-2) (course unit)

The student can apply the concepts and theories of product and service design into practice. He/she can carry out simple consultation projects in product and service design area. Under supervision and with the support of a mentor, the student is able to accomplish the project and report the results to the customer. He/she can support a consultation project as member of a team.

Assessment criteria, good (3-4) (course unit)

The student is familiar with the concepts and theories of product and service design and can utilise these concepts in a practical business case consultation project. He/she can independently and as a member of a group carry out consultation projects in the product and service design area. The student is able to plan, implement, and evaluate consultation projects and is able to report the project results to the customer. He/she can contribute to the outcomes of a consultation project as member of a team.

Assessment criteria, excellent (5) (course unit)

The student has in-depth understanding of the concepts and theories of product and service design and can utilise these concepts in a practical business case consultation project. He/she can independently and as a member of a group carry out consultation projects in the product and service design area, plus he/she is able to reflect on his/her own service design work progress. The student is able to plan, implement, and evaluate consultation projects and is able to report the project results to the customer. He/she can contribute and enhance the outcomes of a consultation project as member of a team. The student actively facilitates the outcome of the consultation project.

Location and time

The course starts September 12 at 11:15 in class B5-20. This course runs parallel to Innovations and Business Management for a while.
Course ends on Dec. 12. There will be two coaching sessions per week (Mondays and Fridays). The students are expected to be present in all sessions marked in the timetable

Exam schedules

No exam. Upgrading of the final grade must be discussed individually with the instructors. The grade will be based on teamwork, and individual upgrading is difficult. Students are requested to take this into account in their work for the course.

Assessment methods and criteria

Assessment criteria can be found in the curriculum.

Evaluation is based on the quality of the solution of the business challenge as well as the students' participation and active input in the team. Peer assessment will be used as part of the evaluation. More precise evaluation criteria will be presented in the course introduction.

Assessment scale

0-5

Teaching methods

The course is based on learning by doing and collaborative learningn. The students solve a real businessdevelopment / innovation challenge in small teams using the tools and methods learned in the course Innovations and Business Management, which is a prerequisite for this course. Active participation in the weekly teamwork sessions is mandatory.

Learning materials

Literature from Innovations and Business Management -course.

Student workload

10 credits x 27 hours = 270 hours of student work altogether.
Most of the work is done outside lectures in small teams. It is to be noted that the course requires approximately 20 hours of student work every week.

Content scheduling

Teacher coaching sessions twice a week as per a schedule announced in the timetable machine. Teams are expected to be present and able to work during the coaching sessions.

Completion alternatives

None

Practical training and working life cooperation

Student teams will work with a real business challenge solving a development problem. The teams are expected to take ownership of their project and be responsible of the communication with the case companies.
The students are encouraged to find the case company and the challenge themselves right at the beginning of the semester!!

Further information

Teacher: Tuula Andersson (tuula.andersson@tuni.fi)