Compulsory

2

Teaching Hours and Credit Allocation: 30 Hours, 6 Credits

Course Assessment: Exam & Coursework

This module is specifically designed to introduce students to the principles and theories of Consumer Behavior as they apply to Strategic Product Design. Individuals frequently make decisions that systematically depart from the predictions of standard rational actor economic models. The scientific domain of Consumer Behavior explains these departures by integrating an understanding of the psychology of human behavior during the decision making process.

In markets, saturated with products of all kinds and new product launch failure reaching a disastrous rate of 90%, the need for managing, improving and assessing product design, becomes even more essential. The objective of this course is to illustrate how an understanding of Consumer Behavior can improve the value proposition of products through design and to enable students to think critically about the types of solutions that will best address the challenge of Product Design in modern international and highly competitive markets. As such, this course will develop and deepen students understanding of consumer behavior and will practice applying that knowledge to Product Design. Specifically it is configured to help answer the question “How can my understanding of the consumer’s thoughts, feelings and actions help me to become a successful product designer?”

The module focuses on the way real consumers think and interact in the real world, how sophisticated idiographic research can reveal the implications of these thoughts and interactions to design and how the design discourse can take advantage of these discoveries. The course content is designed to be maximally practical and to help students pursuing careers in product design, brand management, general marketing management, product and service consulting and crossovers of a number of these functional areas.