School of Engineering and Technology, (SET)  
 
Semester Offering: January
 
AT77.67 : Telecom Product and Service Design (Management Component I)  2(2-0) [Elective course]
Course objectives:

Traditionally in the high-tech product and service development the major focus has been on technology and technical design issues. However, currently the focus is shifting more on usability of products and services. Also tightening competition requires more differentiated products and services where the user needs and customer segments are profoundly understood. This course outlines user-centered design approach to ensure appealing total customer experience of telecom products and services. The EVN students will carry out end-user and target client segment analysis for selected telecom product or service ideas (later called EVN cases). In the beginning of this course EVN cases will be innovated, assessed and selected together with the students. And later in the courses of Technology Road-mapping Strategies for Telecommunications and Project and Financial Management these cases can be analyzed more detailed from different perspectives.

 
Learning Outcomes:

Computer Supported Collaborative Work, Human-Computer Interaction, Commercialization of high-tech products.

 
Pre-requisite(s):

None.

 
Course Outline:

I  Innovating and Assessing the Relevant Cases for Telecom Product or Service Design (EVN related topics)

  1. Using creative design methods (e.g. brainstorming)
  2. Description of the topic and setting objectives and limitations
  3. Recognizing potential stakeholders (end-users, customers, partners, sub-contractors etc.)

II Set Business Goals

  1. Determining target markets, intended users and primary competition

III  Understand Users

  1. Understanding all segments of target users
  2. Understanding the compelling reason to buy the product

IV  Design the Total Customer Experience

  1. Designing all aspects of the system with the characteristics of the target users
  2. Multidisciplinary teams

V  Evaluate Design

  1. Gathering user feedback
  2. Usability tests

VI  Assess Competitiveness

  1. Identify competitors
  2. Competitive positioning of the product

 
Learning Resources:

Reference Books:

K. Vredeburg, S. Isensee, C. Righi: User-Centered Design: An Integrated Approach . Upper Saddle River , NJ : Prentice Hall PTR, 2002.
T. Korhonen, A. Ainamo (eds.): Handbook of Product and Service Development in Communication and Information Technology. Boston , MA : Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

 
Journals and Magazines:

CSCW journal
The Journal of Collaborative Computing
Research-Technology Management
Communication of the ACM

 
Evaluation Scheme:

The final grade will be computed from the following constituent parts:
Final exam (60%),
Case-analysis and presentations (40%)