Customer-Focused Product and Service Design

Description

Systems design is the process of defining and developing a system to satisfy specified requirements for product and service delivery.

Through the Cornell Customer-Focused Product and Service Design certificate program, students will learn a proven eight-step methodology and structured process that will allow them to take a project from conception to completion and execution. Students will also learn proper evaluation methods for systems design.

Authored by Professor Peter Jackson, Director of Systems Engineering at Cornell University, the certificate program goes beyond a textbook approach and uses a problem-based instruction.

The courses in this Certificate in Customer-Focused Product and Service Design will enable you to:

• Learn a structured methodology for designing products/services the right way.
• Avoid the pitfalls that can lead to “designs gone wrong”.
• Learn to effectively communicate design requirements across an organization.
• Understand how systems interact and “talk” to each other.
• Develop tools that can be applied to a broad range of initiatives.
• Gain confidence in developing new products/services.
• Learn how to lead new organizational initiatives.
• Focus on product/service design without needing expertise in math or engineering principles.
• Earn a professional credential from one of the top-10 engineering programs in the country.

Who Should Enroll in This Certificate?

Enrollment

Courses in this Certificate

• Getting Started on Product and Service Design

  • The commercial viability of a product or service is largely dependent on the integrity of its design process. System design begins with, of course, a bright idea. But it requires evaluation of that concept to determine its marketability, its potential for internal buy-in, and its technical feasibility before planning for production.

    This course introduces you to customer-focused design, where behavioral psychology meets product analysis and service usage. Learn how to brainstorm and choose a concept, write a mission statement, identify internal stakeholders, analyze the customer experience, and define functional requirements for your product or service. Engineers and technical specialists will learn how to determine if a product or service is worth developing, and if so, how best to apply talent and resources to its development.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Developing the Concept.
    • Select and Sketch the Concept.
    • Identify and Communicate to Stakeholders.
    • Define the Context.
    • Defining the Functional Requirements.
    • Collect and Prioritize Use Cases.
    • Derive Requirements from Use Case Behaviors.
    • Summarize and Finalize Requirements.
    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    Learners who complete this course will be able to:

    • Discuss the benefits of using the Getting Design Right Process.
    • Recommend when and how your organization can use this process.
    • Use this process to define a design problem.
    
    
• Targeting Product and Service Designs to Customers' Needs

  • Did you know that you can determine a product or service’s potential for commercial success before going to market? By properly identifying marketplace demand and setting up a rigorous evaluation and design process, you can develop a product or service that best serves your customers’ needs and desires and stands the greatest chance for commercial success.

    You’ll learn to identify and measure customer demand; benchmark the competition to gain market advantage; rank and weigh product objectives; and define technical requirements for production based on the potential market. This course introduces field-tested, repeatable methods for designing a commercially viable product or service that positions your company ahead of the competition.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Identify Customer Needs.
    • Where We Are in the Process.
    • Conduct a Contextual Inquiry.
    • Summarize Product or Service Objectives.
    • Measure the Needs.
    • Use the Goal-Question-Metric (GQM) Method.
    • Rank and Weight Product Objectives.
    • Benchmark the Competition.
    • Determine Technical Requirements and the Customer Value Proposition.
    • Use the House of Quality Technique.
    • Identify the Customer Value Proposition.
    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    Learners who complete this course will be able to:

    • Conduct a contextual inquiry to identify customer needs.
    • Quantify how well product or service requirements meet customer needs.
    • Use a step-by-step process to translate customer needs into technical requirements.
    • Generate a Customer Value Proposition (CVP).
    
    
• Exploring the Design Space and Optimizing the Design

  • Turn that brilliant concept and into a viable, market-ready solution by examining your design concept from multiple perspectives. Learn to review the requirements and components of your concept in greater detail. By optimizing the design space and streamlining the design process, you can increase efficiency and actually create more value for your customers.

    This course will teach you how to take a raw concept and create a polished design. Avoid the pitfalls of hurrying the process or neglecting to examine your concept from all angles. Learn how to research competitor products in depth; collaborate with customer experts; and perform patent searches—all of which help to move your design one step closer to market.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Explore the Design Space.
    • Where we are in the Process.
    • Reasons to explore.
    • Discover and Organize Concepts.
    • Clarify the Problem and Decompose Functions.
    • Brainstorm and Research.
    • Organize, Prune, and Expand Concept Fragments.
    • Combine Concepts to Create Solutions.
    • Generate Integrated Concepts.
    • List Subsystems.
    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    Learners who complete this course will be able to:

    • Explain the reasons for exploring a broad design space.
    • Generate integrated design solutions from initial concepts.
    • Avoid design flaws.
    • Use a trade study (tradeoff analysis) technique to optimize design choices.
    
    
• Thinking Through the Structure of System Design

  • Carrying a concept to completion is no simple task. Design and development teams need precise information about function, requirements, interfaces, and project components. A concept cannot be put into production until the system architecture has been reviewed for integrity and technical variables have been taken into account.

    Clear communication among design stakeholders can be especially challenging. Learn how to establish a common language and remove ambiguity from the process to ensure a smooth hand-off from the concept design group to the development team.

    Because an array of stakeholders, from engineers to managers, are typically involved in this transition, seamless communication and clear understanding of the design architecture are instrumental in developing a successful product or service.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Designing System Behavior and Functional Control.
    • Get the System Architecture Right.
    • Map Behaviors and Set Targets.
    • Extract Functional Requirements.
    • Design the Functional Control.
    • Designing the Structure.
    • Analyze Subsystem Interfaces.
    • Allocate Technical Performance Targets.
    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    Learners who complete this course will be able to:

    • Describe your product or service in a way that enables teams of people to work together on its design.
    • Apply the sequence of behavior-function-structure to the development of systems design.
    
    
• Ensuring the Success of Product and Service Design

  • Nothing about designing a product or service is entirely risk-free. In systems design, risk is always present, so it’s more a matter of identifying, quantifying, and properly managing it. To gauge a product or service’s potential for failure, first assess whether the design addresses requirements, then test and evaluate it to determine if it’s capable of reaching performance targets.

    Learn how to reduce the severity of negative outcomes and become a problem solver. Run a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) in order to quantify and manage risk and review real-life risk management scenarios. When flaws in concept or design processes are discovered, you’ll know how to deploy the FMEA to prioritize corrective measures.

    Risk will always be present. Prevent wasted development budgets, avoid future sales difficulties, product recalls, even bad press by identifying, quantifying and mitigating risk early in the development process.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Validate and Verify Requirements.
    • Where We Are in the Process.
    • Conduct Design Reviews.
    • Develop a Test Plan.
    • Manage Risks.
    • Risk and the Design Process.
    • Identify Risks.
    • Quanitify Risks.
    • Mitigate Risks.
    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    Learners who complete this course will be able to:

    • Use design reviews and test plans to validate and verify requirements.
    • Use time-tested risk management techniques to analyze potential design failures and implement corrective actions.
    
    
• Executing and Improving System Design

  • Be more creative, productive and efficient in your development projects. Create tight parameters in your project architecture and exercise rigorous control over processes and you’ll not only enjoy better performance; you’ll prevent wasted time, resources, and inventory.

    As you move to production, your improvements to the system design will be instrumental in reducing, if not eliminating entirely, quality problems, product recalls and lawsuits.

    As the final course in the certificate program, you will emerge with a functional and customized system design plan that you can apply directly to your business.

    Course Format

    eCornell takes a problem-based approach to learning, and our courses are built around realistic case studies and scenarios. All courses are self-paced, and are facilitated by an eCornell instructor, who leads the online discussions and is available to answer any questions about the course content.

    This course contains the following modules:

    • Executing the Design.
    • The Process of Getting Design Right.
    • Schedule the Project and Track the Progress.
    • Identify Dependencies and Deliverables.
    • Create the Schedule and Conduct Reviews.
    • Iterating and Tailoring the Design Process.
    • Iterate for Success.
    • Iterate by Level.
    • Develop a Systems View.
    
    
    Benefits to the Learner

    Learners who complete this course will be able to:

    • Execute a design through scheduling and tracking.
    • Use process iteration to refine and perfect the design.
    • Tailor the Getting Design Right process for your use.
    
    

Accreditation