User Centric Design and InnovationLaajuus (7 op)

Osaamistavoitteet

The objective of the track is to equip the students with concepts, methods and tools needed in product, service or process development. In particular the track focuses on User-centred design (UCD) and User-centred innovation (UCI) including Open Innovation (OI).

Sisältö

The track consists of separate study modules -courses. The courses may change from academic year to another.
Parallel with the theoretical parts i.e. (UCD), (UCI), (OI) run an integrative theses modules including: Literature Review, Research Design, Data Collection and Results and Conclusions. The theses modules are based on workshops and seminars and are aiming at completion by each individual students or pairs of students of a thesis work.

More details about UCD, UCI and OI:

User-centred design (UCD) is a framework of processes in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users of a product, service or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. User-centred design can be characterized as a multi-stage problem solving process that not only requires designers to analyse and foresee how users are likely to use a product, but also to test the validity of their assumptions with regard to user behavior in real world tests with actual users at each stage of the process from requirements, concepts, pre-production models, mid production and post production creating a circle of proof back to and confirming or modifying the original requirements. Such testing is necessary as it is often very difficult for the designers of a product to understand intuitively what a first-time user of their design experiences, and what each user's learning curve may look like.

The chief difference from other product design philosophies is that user-centered design tries to optimize the product around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing the users to change their behavior to accommodate the product.

User-Centered Innovation (UCI) practices vs. Manufacturer-Centric Innovation, as explained by Eric von Hippel:

"When I say that innovation is being democratized, I mean that users of products and services—both firms and individual consumers—are increasingly able to innovate for themselves. User-centered innovation processes offer great advantages over the manufacturer-centric innovation development systems that have been the mainstay of commerce for hundreds of years. Users that innovate can develop exactly what they want, rather than relying on manufacturers to act as their (often very imperfect) agents. Moreover, individual users do not have to develop everything they need on their own: they can benefit from innovations developed and freely shared by others. The trend toward democratization of innovation applies to information products such as software and also to physical products and services.
Open innovation is a term promoted by Henry Chesbrough, adjunct professor and faculty director of the Center for Open Innovation at the Haas School of Business at the University of California. The concept is also related to user innovation, cumulative innovation, know-how trading, mass innovation and distributed innovation.

“Open innovation is a paradigm that assumes that firms can and should use external ideas as well as internal ideas, and internal and external paths to market, as the firms look to advance their technology”.[2] Alternatively, it is "innovating with partners by sharing risk and sharing reward."[5] The boundaries between a firm and its environment have become more permeable; innovations can easily transfer inward and outward.

The central idea behind open innovation is that, in a world of widely distributed knowledge, companies cannot afford to rely entirely on their own research, but should instead buy or license processes or inventions (i.e. patents) from other companies. In addition, internal inventions not being used in a firm's business should be taken outside the company (e.g. through licensing, joint ventures or spin-offs).[6]

The open innovation paradigm can be interpreted to go beyond just using external sources of innovation such as customers, rival companies, and academic institutions, and can be as much a change in the use, management, and e

Esitietovaatimukset

First and Second Year Studies or Basic business studies. Previous studies in Management and Strategic management obligatory prerequisite.

Arviointikriteerit, tyydyttävä (1)

The general criteria of the competences that the Bachelor's Degrees awarded by Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences provide can be found on JAMK's web pages (http://www.jamk.fi/english/forstudents/studyguid e). The learning outcomes of individual courses are assessed in relation to the objectives of the course concerned. Assessment is based on knowledge, skills and competence in accordance with the National and European Qualifications Framework, level 6.
- Excellent (5) - The student shows exceptional theoretical knowledge of fundamentals of the subject. The student demonstrates the ability to apply the knowledge to assignments and presentations with excellent written and oral communications skills
- Very Good (4) - The student shows good knowledge of the subject fundamentals and concepts and is able to communicate these in an effective way
- Good (3) The students knowledge covers major parts of concepts and theories related to the subject. The student´s ability to apply the knowledge to assignments shows need for improvement, as well as there is room for improvement in oral and written communication
- Satisfactory (2)- The students knowledge covers restricted part of concepts and theories related to the subject and has deficiencies in showing the ability to apply them in assignments. Communication skills need improvement.
- Sufficient(1) - The student shows only a sufficient understanding of the subject and of relevant theories and methods and fails to show a convincing ability to apply the knowledge to real life situation nor to communicate the concepts in an effective manner.
Here is the class grademap.
Grade Minimum%
5 85
4 75
3 65
2 55
1 45
0 0