Product Design Workshop

Explores the entire product development experience from framing through ideation to final concepts.

“

I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to hone their product design and craft skills, and develop tangible, innovative solutions, whether non-profit or for-profit.

—Todd Cooke, MDes-MBA 2020

Objective & Outcomes

This course allows students to work with entrepreneurial companies and social non-profits. Fall semester classes work with Mhub (the largest Midwest physical product incubator) start-ups and in the spring semester with social non-profits. Students apply their design knowledge throughout an entire product development experience, from framing through ideation to final concepts. The design process is rarely a clean linear path, and working with sponsors improves students’ ability to navigate the nonlinearity and the ambiguity that often accompanies it: something every experienced designer must be able to do.

Upon course completion, students can manage tasks across the various phases of the design process. They can incorporate various methods and tools during a design project and demonstrate their usefulness in a tangible product concept. The product concept will have an internal and consistent logic that reflects a deep understanding of the problem and solution areas explored.

Typical Schedule

Session 1: Research Company & Domain
Session 2: Research Company & Domain
Session 3: Primary Research
Session 4: Synthesis of Research
Session 5: Define Opportunity Areas
Session 6: Draft Presentation
Session 7: Present Opportunities & Concepts
Session 8: Concept Development
Session 9: Concepts & Prototyping
Session 10: Concepts & User Testing
Session 11: Detail Development
Session 12: Detail Development
Session 13: Presentation Draft
Session 14: Presentation