New product development: A prototyping experiential exercise using Human Centered Design methodology

Do you want to have your students work with prototypes so they can experience the process of new product development? Do you want to help them more fully understand the concepts of Minimum Viable Product (MVP), iterative development, and user testing? If so, this hands-on class exercise is a great choice for your students to learn important product development concepts through the nexus of thought and action. Students need to understand that having a good idea does not necessarily equate to a viable product or service. They need to learn how to gather critical feedback that can be used to test and hopefully improve their ideas, or make them acceptable to the market. This exercise is designed to be the second of two 90 minute sessions on new product development. The first 90 minute session is used for lecture and textbook material where we discuss topics such as resources, new product development process, MVP, and prototyping. If your class schedule does not allocate 90 minutes to a class, mold the lecture and exercise to fit your schedule.