New Product Development

Teaching Hours and Credit Allocation: 30 Hours, 6 Credits

Course Assessment: Exam & Coursework

This module aims to familiarize the student with product design and design ability. Students will be introduced to a conceptual framework encompassing major aspects of product design as a cognitive, professional, organizational and business process. Key concepts, such as design, the product life cycle, the product-development process, design methodology, user-centred design, etc., will be analysed. Design methods supporting various product design processes will be presented (user scenarios, function analysis, ethnography, QFD, creativity techniques, prototyping). Design thinking, the core creative process for any designer, will also be presented by a number of case studies. Finally, the uncharted potential of design thinking, as a human-centred approach to problem solving, in helping businesses and other organizations to become more creative and more innovative will be discussed.