THIS IS 2019 VERSION. 2020 COURSE WILL RUN JANUARY 6-9.

Design of Web-Based Products and Services

Professor Karl Ulrich
OPTIONAL: Follow on Twitter @ktulrich

TA: Taylor Caputo (taycap@wharton.upenn.edu)

<< Click on "Modules" to see readings, assignments, schedule, etc. "Modules" is basically the equivalent of a conventional syllabus.

YOU MUST ARRIVE BY 9:00AM on Wednesday, January 2 (coffee and bagels available by 8:00am). You will be done by 4pm on Saturday, January 5. (We will have a celebratory gathering at Palomino 4:30pm - 7pm for those who can stay.) In most cases you will have some project work into the evening Tuesday - Thursday.

2020 COURSE WILL RUN JANUARY 6-9.

DIRECTIONS: Find the Hills Brothers Plaza (corner of Embarcadero and Harrison). Either enter via the doors at 2 Harrison Street or go to the interior courtyard and look for the lobby entry from that side. Take the elevator the 6th Floor.

IMPORTANT: There are several assignments due before the course starts on January 2. Please see this module for details: Before Course Begins

Course Materials: The required text is Innovation Tournaments (chapters 1-4 and 9). You can buy this on Amazon for ~$23. (WEMBA students get the book from their program offices.) All other required readings are available via Canvas. The text is to make sure you all are up to speed on the tournament logic and opportunity identification methods we will use in the course, but that will not be the focus of lecture/discussion.

Meals: We will provide breakfast (coffee and bagels) each day of the workshop. You are on your own for lunch and dinner.

Computing/Software Requirements (PLEASE PLAN AHEAD ON THIS AS SOME OF YOUR EMPLOYER POLICIES MAKE LAST-MINUTE INSTALLATIONS OF SOFTWARE TRICKY)

Laptop computer with wireless capability. (There are computers in the GSRs as well, but just one per room.)
(Optional) If you don't have your own preferred programs for editing photos and creating illustrations, you may also wish to download and install Photoshop and Illustrator. (Adobe provides free trials of these products.) The open-source and free versions of these tools are Gimp and Inkscape, which are very good. Don't panic if you don't know either of these programs... almost certainly someone on your team will know how to edit photos and create vector graphics using these or similar tools. Using graphics tools will not be a requirement for everyone.
A Google account. (If you have a gmail account, you have a Google account.)

Important Note on Time Zones: Assignments and due dates are listed based on the time in the time zone currently specified in your Profile. Be aware of this in case you set your profile to a time zone different from the one for your current location. The Profile button can be found at top right.

Relationship to Other Courses

Some of you have taken OIDD 614, and OIDD 654, and MGMT 806 -- possibly all three from me! There is some overlap in the "feel" of the course. We use tournaments and the Darwinator to identify opportunities. That tool is not the main focus of the course -- we're just using best practice to find opportunities. This course will also feel very entrepreneurial -- and so similar to other project-based courses focused on creating new things. (Personally, I use tournaments in entrepreneurial contexts almost weekly -- and don't think of those experiences as redundant -- I'm merely using great tools to do interesting things.) The substantive content of the course should have fairly limited redundancy, but there is some. For instance, we'll talk about user needs -- and you've probably been exposed to that idea a few other times. But, it's important and we really need to do it right, so I'm going to cover that topic. In sum, if you have taken 614 or 654 and really don't want to see tournaments, projects, or user needs again, then DO NOT TAKE 652.

Course Policies And Grading

Project Mission