Course syllabus

Prospective students need to be registered on the Master’s Program in Quality and Operations Management (MPQOM).

Aim

The aim of the course is to give the participants opportunities to develop and enhance their knowledge on customer centric product development, focusing on both doing the right things and doing them right. Several concepts and methods for understanding customer needs from the perspective of design and marketing will be introduced. Through practice and literature studies the participants will gain an ability to use some specific methods as well as an understanding of the theoretical basis for those methods.

Learning outcome

After the course, the students should be able to implement the methods taught in the course to support a customer centric product development process. The methods are focused on uncovering customer needs and translating them into product attributes which consider customer’s willingness to pay. The students should also be able to not only lead and guide applications of the methods, but also to critically reflect on their theoretical basis and on their applicability in various settings.

Contents

The course will cover customer centric product development focusing on both doing the right things and doing them right. There are three major steps introduced in the course. First, understanding the concept of customer needs and ways to prioritize them. Two often conflicting perspectives on customer needs (design vs marketing) will be described. The main methods here are Kano model and Quality Function Deployment (QFD). Second, capturing customer needs and translating them into product attributes which constitute a novel (improved) concept or prototype. Here, design thinking (DT) and QFD methods will be used together. Third, conducting market analysis for the proposed concept or prototype to assess the perceived utility of the product’s attributes and customer’s willingness to pay for them in a given market segment. The main methods here are Discrete Choice Models (DCM) and cluster analysis.

Organization

The course is based on lectures, literature seminars, case discussion, and practical exercises on the elements taught. Some activities are compulsory (see Schedule). The course webpage is used as the main communication tool – please check frequently.