Content, progress and pedagogy of the module

The aim is to familiarise students working professionally with the theories, tools and methods required for the pre-product development phase in which the focus is on “what to design” and “why” in terms of specifying both product, context and use of product and target group. This also includes the business modelling, product market positioning, value proposition, mission and vision for the product and the relation to the client company’s brand and market position.

Students who complete the module:

Learning objectives

Knowledge

• Must be able to account for and evaluate models, methods and theories of the design process, with emphasis on the early phases
• Must be able to account for and reflect upon methods and models used for analysing the internal and external factors, which constitute a company’s business context, and account for the type of knowledge which derives usable in a product specification
• Must be able to account for and evaluate a range of market, user and trend oriented methods, which are applied to establish the basis of projects and to verify and test assumptions made during a design process
• Must be able to apply and explain methods and theories for defining the value base and business proposition of a given design concept

Skills

• Must be able to select and apply methods to analyse a company’s market position, product portfolio, competition as well as core competences and strategic strengths
• Must be able to select and apply market, user and trend based methods and processes for identifying potential new markets – on the basis of which a new product concept can be developed
• Must be able to generate a visual presentation of a conceptual proposal for a new product including the business perspectives
• Must be able to rapidly conceptualise and roughly sketch a product on the basis of a set of defined values, including the principles which lie behind its aesthetic expression, use and construction

Competences

• Must be able to independently plan and carry out a pre-phase design process including internal and external business analysis, leading to a strategic market position, and the development of a value proposition towards the end-user/customer and a conceptual/principle design
• Must be able to define a clear value basis and business case for the product to be developed, and specify it’s relation to the company’s present brand and market position

Type of instruction

See general description of the types of instruction described in the introduction to Chapter 3.

Exam

Exams