Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society

Recommended Background

No specific background is required. Those with strong skills in visual expression (sketching, 3D modeling, model making) will find the design challenges easier than those who struggle a bit more with the mechanics of expressing an idea or building a prototype. Still, anyone with an interest in learning to be a designer (or to be a better designer) will be able to take this course. Indeed, the goal of the course is to reach both professionals as well as those who are just really interested in design. This is definitely not an engineering course. Although engineers who wish to become engineering designers will benefit from the course, this course will not include any specific domain knowledge in engineering (e.g., circuit design, design of structures, and so forth).

Course Syllabus

WEEK ONE: The Design Process
WEEK TWO: User Needs
WEEK THREE: Decomposition of User Needs
WEEK FOUR: Concept Selection
WEEK FIVE: Concept Testing
WEEK SIX: Aesthetics in Design
WEEK SEVEN: Brands 
WEEK EIGHT: Introduction to Supply Chain and Costing

Karl T. Ulrich is Vice Dean of Innovation and the CIBC Professor of Entrepreneurship and e-Commerce at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds an appointment as Professor of Mechanical Engineering. His research is focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and product development. He is the co-author of Product Design and Development (5th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2011), a textbook used by a quarter of a million students worldwide, and of Innovation Tournaments (Harvard Business Press, 2009). He is the winner of many teaching awards, including the Anvil Award, the Miller-Sherrerd Award, and the Excellence in Teaching Award at The Wharton School. At Penn, he co-founded the Weiss Tech House and the Integrated Product Design Program, two institutions fostering innovation in the university community. In addition to his academic work, Professor Ulrich has led dozens of innovation efforts for medical devices, tools, computer peripherals, food products, web-based services, and sporting goods. As a result of this work, he holds more than 20 patents. Professor Ulrich is a founder of Terrapass Inc. which the New York Times identified as one of the most noteworthy ideas of 2005, and he is a designer of the Xootr scooter, which Business Week recognized as one of the 50 coolest products of the 21st Century. Professor Ulrich holds bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT.