ID455 PRODUCT MANAGEMENT FOR USER EXPERIENCE
| Course Code: | 1250455 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (2.00 - 2.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 5.0 |
| Department: | Industrial Design |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | Lecturer SILA UMULU |
| Offered Semester: | Fall and Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, students will:
- Acquire techniques to prioritise by making use of analytical tools for dynamically for recognising, defining, and developing the most appropriate items by making trade-offs given the availability of limited resources; building the right thing.
- Gain practical experience applying contemporary macro and micro level methodologies within iterative product development cycles through accountable practices that informs and justifies the design decisions; building the thing right.
- Develop business astuteness of managing cross-functional stakeholders with conflicting or shifting goals by building influence without direct authority to align user value with business outcomes.
- Building and deploying minimum viable products by using state-of-the-art tools in order to release them digitally, ready to be used by actual users and gathering usage data for future iterations.
Course Content
Fundamentals of product management; prioritisation frameworks and backlog management; agile methodologies and cross-functional product development processes; product discovery and problem framing; defining product goals, alignment of user needs with key results for business objectives; writing user stories and acceptance criteria; defining objective key results; case coverage and test cases for quality assurance; defining minimum viable product (MVP); dynamic roadmapping and planning with design inputs; data-informed decision making and success metrics; production cycles and development processes; go-to-market, deployment, and release steps; documentation of product knowledge; stakeholder communication and roduct vision alignment
Course Learning Outcomes
- Product-development foundations: Students will master the language and lifecycle of modern digital products, recognising how user value, technical feasibility, and business viability converge in industrial-design practice.
- Agile execution: They will plan sprints, groom backlogs, and write user stories within Agile (e.g., Scrum- or Kanban-based) teams, collaborating seamlessly with engineers, QA, and other cross-functional roles.
- Strategic framing: Using OKRs, opportunity trees, and impact mapping, students will translate problems into roadmaps (long-term and dynamic), define MVPs, and reprioritise features through structured trade-off methods.
- Stakeholder influence: They will craft evidence-backed narratives that secure resources, document product knowledge, and manage hand-offs that meet UAT and go-to-market standards.
- Data-driven iteration: Finally, students will set success metrics, capture qualitative and quantitative usage data, and iterate post-launch to balance business goals with user value.
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | Creative problem definition, developing solution-oriented ideas, critical thinking and creating solution proposals by synthesizing the knowledge gained | ✔ | |||
| 2 | Planning, managing and conducting the design process | ✔ | |||
| 3 | Planning and carrying out design-oriented research and transferring the results to the design process | ✔ | |||
| 4 | Thinking with basic design and visual organization elements and principles and being able to apply ideas in two and three dimensions | ✔ | |||
| 5 | Identifying the user's needs, predicting their expectations and integrating them into the design process | ✔ | |||
| 6 | Ability to work individually and to conduct team-work | ✔ | |||
| 7 | Understanding the relationship of the Industrial Design field with different disciplines and being able to carry out interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary studies | ✔ | |||
| 8 | Ability to communicate in international mediums using a foreign language and follow the professional agenda | ✔ | |||
| 9 | Developing an independent, lifelong learning approach by being aware of the ever-changing contexts of design | ✔ | |||
| 10 | Being aware of the socio-cultural, socio-economic and environmental context in design and considering the benefit of society and the environment | ✔ | |||
| 11 | Ability to interpret the issues related to art and culture affecting the historical development of industrial design on the local and global scale | ✔ | |||
| 12 | Having knowledge about business models, ethical principles, and laws and regulations that should be followed in professional practice | ✔ | |||
| 13 | Knowing the materials and production technology within the scope of Industrial Design and using them in the design process | ✔ | |||
| 14 | Having command of technological developments in the field of industrial design, being able to use the necessary technological tools | ✔ | |||
| 15 | Being able to present design ideas and solutions with relevant communication tools and methods | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution