Course Syllabus
Contact Information
Course Overview
The focus of Product Design and Development is the integration of the marketing, design, and manufacturing functions of the firm in creating a new product. It is expected that each student will prepare for and attend all of the class sessions and will regularly enhance class discussions. Most important though are substantial and continuous contributions to the progress of the team project. Experience with project-based design courses suggests that students often develop high expectations for their projects and devote substantially more time than is required by the instructor. Faculty applaud this enthusiasm, but this course will not penalize students who establish a time constraint for their efforts.
Course Delivery
Synchronous Online: Learning occurs online and in real-time, using technology such as web-conferencing software for synchronous interaction. Live Sessions are held on a weekly basis during the course and attendance is expected.
Course Prerequisites
- Get familiar with Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Microsoft CoPilot, or other similar platforms)
Course Materials
- Ulrich, Karl, and Steven Eppinger. Product Design and Development. 3rd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003. ISBN: 9780072471465. (purchase or rent or ebook)
- Bowen, H. Kent, and Thomas Everett. “SweetWater.” Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Case 695026-PDF-ENG, October 1994.
- Buell, Ryan and Otazo, Andrew. “IDEO: Human-Centered Service Design.” Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Case 615022-PDF-ENG, October 2014.
- Cases are available in a Harvard Business Review course pack.
- Students should also acquire the following:
- A dedicated unlined sketchbook (any size that feels comfortable to you is great)
- Pencil with eraser
- A working knowledge of generative AI on the platform of your choice
Program Learning Outcomes (PLO)
- Conceive, launch and sustain successful ventures or corporate innovations through entrepreneurial thinking and action.
- Drive innovation by identifying opportunities, generating creative solutions, and implementing disruptive strategies to address new and existing business challenges.
- Strategically develop and scale new ventures or corporate innovations for long-term personal and business success.
- Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different entrepreneurial ecosystems and the role they play in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation.
- Effectively convey entrepreneurial ideas and initiatives persuasively to a variety of audiences through both written and verbal means.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) Alignment
| CLO | Description | PLO |
|---|---|---|
| A | Explain the role of multiple functions in creating a new product (e.g. marketing, industrial design, engineering, production) | 2 |
| B | Apply multiple tools and methods for product design and development | 1, 2, 3 |
| C | Apply specific knowledge from other courses through practice and reflection in an action-oriented setting | 3, 5 |
| D | Integrate multiple, interdisciplinary tasks in order to achieve a common objective | 1, 2, 3 |
| E | Create a new product, including communication and visualization techniques like sketching, AI, and prototyping | 1, 2, 3, 5 |
| F | Develop effective team working skills | 5 |
Grades
Breakdown
| Activity | Description | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Participation | Live Session attendance and engagement, and module activities completion | 35% |
| Individual Project Proposal | Project Proposal for Team Assignment | 10% |
| Team Assignments | Connected assignments to build toward the Final Project Presentation | 20% |
| Final Project Presentation | 20-minute Team Presentation describing and demonstrating the product | 35% |
| Total | 100% |
Scale
| Percentage | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 90–100% | A |
| 80–89% | B |
| 70–79% | C |
| 60–69% | D |
| Below 60% | F |
Course Components
Participation
Participation does not mean simply attending class but being an active participant. Simple attendance and being a silent observer or asking questions that show a lack of preparedness, not reading the text, or no preparation will result in a loss of points in this category.
Attending the course while you are in the car, walking, in a meeting, on a plane, in a restaurant, or in another location that would not be considered professional will count as a missed Live Session regardless of your participation in the class.
Contribution points are based on:
- Attendance at the weekly Live Session class
- Watching each week’s async video before that week’s Live Session
- Completing the module activities and assignments before the Live Session class
- The quality (not necessarily the quantity) of comments made during Live Sessions
Attendance at all Live Sessions (online) is expected. However, each student may miss one Live Session without penalty. Plan your schedule accordingly and discuss any potential missed class in advance with the faculty member to watch the recorded class video.
Life happens! Frequent communication avoids a lot of problems. If you encounter issues during the course, please communicate as soon as possible with the instructor.
Your Participation assignments will help you achieve CLOs A, B, and C.
Assignment Guidelines
Unless otherwise stated, assignments should be submitted in Word or PDF format, 12-point font, single-spaced. I encourage you to include photos, charts, figures, and tables as appropriate. I also encourage you to re-create charts, figures, and tables from the text if it is helpful.
Assignment 1 is broken down into three parts 1A, 1B & 1C, the first (1A) will be graded by a rubric on a percentage basis and the second two (1B & 1C) will be graded on a pass/fail (1/0) basis.
Assignments 2-5 will be graded on a pass/fail (1/0) basis. Since the assignments build on each other, I will provide feedback on these assignments so that each successive assignment will improve upon the last. Assignments that score a fail (0) may be re-done and re-submitted for grading one time and must be submitted before the next assignment is due. For any re-submitted assignments, you must attach an appendix in which you explain how you integrated the feedback into the new version. Submit corrected assignments quickly to avoid falling behind.
Successful assignments will be well-organized, incorporate external research as appropriate, integrate course materials and tools, and analytically support conclusions.
Assignment 6 will be scored on a 0-100 scale based on the rubric in Appendix 1.
You may use generative AI for all assignments as long as you note its use and list the prompts you used. Some AI points to consider:
- Generative AI is like a garbage in–garbage out process. The value of what you get out of it depends greatly on the prompts you put into it.
- Generative AI is currently mistake-prone so I suggest that you use it as a first-pass, then plan on reviewing and updating it so that you fix the errors. Only use AI to do work that you can easily verify.
- You may use generative AI for text, drawings, videos, etc. if it does not distract your audience.
- If you are currently employed, do not put any company data into AI without company permission.
Assignment 1: Individual Project Proposal (10% of final grade)
Assignment 1 is the only individual assignment for this class. Exercises 2 and 3 in chapter 4 of the textbook can serve as a starting point for project proposals.
Assignment 1a: Proposal Handout
Prepare a project proposal in any format that fits on one side of one sheet of paper. You should submit the proposal on Canvas prior to session 2. Your Individual Project Proposal will help you achieve CLO E.
Assignment 1b: Proposal Presentation
Prepare a 50-second presentation to be delivered in class. Showing one or two slides is recommended. However, note that the 50-second time constraint will be strictly enforced.
Assignment 1c: Project Preferences
After Session 2 presentations, review the one-page proposals submitted on Canvas. Then submit your project preferences as text on Assignment 1c. List the top ten projects you would most like to work on, in order of preference. If you would like to work with a particular group of classmates (up to 4), you should all list the exact same project preferences and note your preference on your submission. Your Individual Project Proposal will help you achieve CLO E.
Team Assignments (2 - 5 are 20% of final grade; 6 is 35% of final grade)
All team assignments must be submitted on Canvas by the beginning of the class session in which they are due. The assignments are intended to pace the development process for your product. Since there is virtually no slack in this schedule the assignments must be completed on or before the scheduled due date in order to maintain the project schedule. All of these team assignments are to be completed as a team. Team Assignments will help you achieve CLOs A, B, C, D, E, and F.
Please see the Project Guidelines for additional instructions on the team-based class projects.
Assignment 2: Mission Statement and Customer Needs List
In this assignment, each team will describe your team’s processes for getting organized and for identifying customer needs, write a mission statement for your project team as described in Chapter 3 of our textbook, and develop an organized list of customer needs for your product as described in Chapter 4 of our textbook.
Assignment 3: Concept Sketches, Target Specifications, and Patent Review
In this assignment, teams will describe some of the steps of your concept generation and target specifications processes, submit sketches and bullet-point descriptions of 10 to 20 alternative concepts for your product, choose a few (perhaps 3 or 4) critical customer needs from your list, and perform a preliminary patent review searching on the United States Patent and Trademark Office for any prior art and related ideas.
Assignment 4: Preliminary Concept Selection
In this assignment, teams will submit sketches of the two or three concepts you believe are most promising, show the concept selection matrix (screening or scoring) that you used to make these choices, and prepare a list of the key uncertainties or questions you still need to address to determine the viability of your product.
Assignment 5: Final Concept and Model
For this assignment, teams will prepare a 15-minute presentation of your (single) selected product concept. The presentation should include a review of your mission statement, customer needs, selected concept, and key target specifications. Teams will submit a one-page description and sketch of your selected concept, and include a bill of materials indicating whether the prototype parts would be purchased or fabricated, and a description of the assembly process.
Each team is required to produce some physical prototype, even if it is made of cardboard or foam, in order to impose some measure of physical realism on the project experience. You will present these to the class during our Live Session.
Assignment 6: Final Presentation
Prepare a 20-minute presentation describing and demonstrating your product. Your presentation should concentrate on the product itself, although you may wish to emphasize any particularly impressive portions of your development process. An effective presentation includes color drawings or renderings, or video presentation. While not required, you might also display the proof-of-concept if available. This presentation should be of the quality you would make to convince a top management group to purchase the rights to your product or to fund its final development and launch. Be prepared to answer questions about all aspects of your project.
You will submit your PPT online along with high-quality digital images or photos of the prototype. Be sure to include images or videos of the product in use.
The Final Project Presentation will help you achieve CLOs D, E, and F.
Team Surveys
At the end of the term, each student must fill out a survey of his or her team and its members. The survey is available on Canvas.
Course Policies
Communication
Please contact me through your OU email, rather than Canvas inbox. You can email me at tmoss@ou.edu. Include the course number in the subject line (e.g. ENT 5162). I typically reply to emails within 48 hours. I typically do not check email on the weekends.
Feedback
You can typically expect feedback within a week of the assignment's due date or before the following week's Live Session.
Late Policy
I do not accept late work unless previously agreed upon between student and instructor.
Some assignments can be resubmitted if the work is unsatisfactory. See the Course Components descriptions for specific guidelines on assignment resubmissions.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the most common form of academic misconduct at OU. There is no college-level assignment that can be satisfactorily completed by copying. OU's basic assumption about writing is that all written assignments show the student's own understanding in the student's own words. That means all writing assignments, in class or out, are assumed to be composed entirely of words generated (not simply found) by the student, except where words written by someone else are specifically marked as such with proper citation. Including other people's words in your paper is helpful when you do it honestly and correctly. When you don't, it's plagiarism.
For more information about plagiarism, watch the OU Libraries Plagiarism Tutorial video and take the short Avoiding Plagiarism Tutorial Canvas course offered by University Libraries.
University Academic Policies and Student Support
Access the University Academic Policies Document.
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|