SEMESTER: Spring 2020

COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA290T.11

COURSE TITLE: Managing the New Product Development Process

UNITS OF CREDIT: 3

INSTRUCTOR: Mary Berk

E-MAIL ADDRESS: maryberk@berkeley.edu

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CAREER FIELD: The course provides visibility and experience in the fields of product development, product management, product marketing, program management, and careers in any business role within a product- or innovation-focused company.

CLASS FORMAT: This class entails the execution of a major team project with a limited budget. Teams are coached by faculty as well as by designers, engineers, and entrepreneurs from local firms. In-class time entails a mixture of lectures, case discussions, guest speakers, and group project work, while homework will include exercises as well as required reading and video content. In addition, the project requires a significant commitment to meet with one’s project team outside of class time, though regular lab sessions during class will provide some opportunities for teamwork.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Class attendance and participation, a set of small assignments, and the project will form the basis for the class grade. A panel of local design experts, technology leaders, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists will be invited to judge your final projects.

REQUIRED READINGS: Textbook and selected articles, posts etc.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE: Identifying customer needs and designing the right product to fill them are the cornerstones of building and growing successful businesses. This course provides an in-depth and hands-on exploration of the new product development lifecycle, covering topics like problem definition, strategy development, market and user research, design, prototyping, and testing. We will examine several approaches for executing on each stage of the product development process, including new approaches (such as prototyping and design thinking) and tried-and-true methodologies. With a small budget, students will form groups and practice course lessons by conceiving, researching, prototyping, and testing their own new products. Students will be able to interact with top industry professionals during guest lectures on key topics throughout the course.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Mary Berk is a product management leader who has worked at large tech giants (Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft) and startups alike.  She has led business lines across ads, ecommerce, and social media spaces, and specializes in marketplace management, monetization, privacy, and trust and safety.  Mary holds a Ph.D. in Moral Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University, and currently works in Product Management for Instagram.