Objective
This course combines the business perspectives of digital product management, beginning with an initial idea to a business model, assessment of the financial viability of a new digital product, and successfully managing a digital product. The course covers business model generation using the widely used and respected business model canvas with a particular focus on value proposition (product/service), business case analysis, the importance of design, communication, risk management, road mapping, and release planning. After passing this course, the student will:
- Be able to understand, analyze and develop a business model (using the business model canvas) for a digital product.
- Be able to understand the main concepts of business case analysis.
- Gain a basic understanding of how to successfully manage a digital product.
- Gain a good understanding of different disciplines related to a digital product manager (such as user experience, risk management, internal and external communications, road mapping, and release planning).
Lecturers
- Eduard Ševtšenko (eduard dot sevtsenko ät ut dot ee)
- Kateryna Kubrak (TA) (kubrak ät ut dot ee)
Structure
The course will be delivered to the students through the following channels:
All the lectures happen in Delta but they are also live-streamed through Zoom. For links and additional information, see Moodle. Please note that we use Moodle as the main tool in this course (all materials, assignments, quizzes, etc. are in Moodle).
- Lectures – Theory with examples are presented during sessions.
- Practical Sessions – The theory provided during the lectures is applied to case studies.
- Assignments – There will be a project assignment to be done in groups.
Assessment
This course consists of quizzes, brief seminar reports, one project assignment, and a final exam. The distribution of the points for each assessment type is as follows.
- Quizzes: The quizzes can give a total maximum of 30 points
- Project Assignment: The project assignment can give a maximum of 20 points
- Exam: The exam can give a maximum of 50 points
- Bonus points: A maximum of 2 points
For a passing grade, points are required from all assessment parts (at least 15 points from the exam). The grading follows the standard rules of the University of Tartu. For a passing grade, at least 51 points (grade E) are required. For a grade of D, 61 points are required. The same structure applies for grades C, B, and A where an A requires at least 91 points.
Commitment Expectations
The students are expected to dedicate an average of 8-9 hours per week of which 4 hours are in lectures and practical sessions every two weeks. It is expected that the workload increases about a week prior to the deadlines for the assignment.
Communication
The main forum for communication is a Slack channel for this course. Students can ask questions about topics covered, assignments or anything else related to the course or the contents taught and discussed in the course. The main reason for using an online community is to ensure that all students get access to responses and clarifications.
Acknowledgment
This course is developed in collaboration with Evgenia Trofimova.