Schedule

Strategies for Innovating Startups
A1 Ideas: generating many possible value propositions  
A2 Competitors: understanding the competitive landscape
A3 Scenarios: articulating, validating, and revising user scenarios
A4 Probes: prototyping to answer open questions
A5 Pitches: pitching your innovations to the world

This schedule is subject to change.
Week Tuesday Thursday
1 Jan 9
Lecture (Lecture PDFs posted here after class): Introductions, syllabus, service design, innovation process

Activities: enrollment, icebreakers

Review A1 (Generating Ideas). 
Jan 11
Lecture topics: PEST, value proposition

Activities: PEST historical analysis, value proposition diagrams, reading quiz

Required reading due today:
  1. Friedman (2013 Jul 20). Welcome to the ‘Sharing Economy’, NY Times.
  2. Cagan & Vogel, 2012, on Creating Breakthrough Products, Ch. 1.
    2 Jan 16
    In class:  A1 pitches; review A2; make teams

    DUE TODAY:
    A1 Pitches and all deliverables (PEST analysis, value propositions, novel concepts)

    		 Jan 18
    Lecture topics: competitive analysis, "jobs to be done", and startup examples

    In-class activities: reading quiz, online data gathering and competitive analysis 

    Required reading due today:
    1. Glushko, 2010, Seven Contexts for Service System Design
    2. Schwab, 2017, IDEO Studied Innovation In 100+ Companies–Here’s What It Found
    3 Jan 23
    A2 presentations:  sign up

    DUE TODAY:
    A2 pitches and all deliverables (information gathering competitive analysis, updated value propositions)

    By midnight on Jan 23rd, fill out the team formation survey.
    		 Jan 25
    Lecture topics: team building, idea generation, synthesis, and pivoting.

    In-class activities: review A3 (scenarios), "How might we" statements, group ideation, team contract, reading quiz

    Required reading due today:
    1. Patnaik and Becker, 1999, Needfinding
    2. Blank and Dorf, 2013, Customer Discovery
    4 Jan 30
    Lecture topics: user scenarios, storyboarding

    In-class activities: revise written scenarios, sketching exercises

    DUE TODAY:
    Declare topic area and present three 'How might we' statements to address perceived challenges for your stakeholders
    		 Feb 1
    Lecture topics: speed dating, role playing

    In-class activities: storyboard revisions, prepare online speed dating, reading quiz

    DUE TODAY:
    Draft of five storyboards and survey questions

    Required reading due today:  
    1. Davidoff, 2007, Speed dating
    2. Martin, 2012, Bodystorming and Role Playing
    5 Feb 6
    A3 presentations: sign-up

    DUE TODAY:
    A3 Presentations (final storyboards, feedback from speed dating, updated value proposition, role-playing skit for one scenario)  
      		Feb 8
      Lecture topics: branding and web marketing

      In-class activities: finish A3 presentations,
      review A4 (probes), review value proposition hypotheses/stakeholders, create moodboards
      6 Feb 13
      A4 group crit, reading quiz

      DUE TODAY:
      Draft of branding materials (      moodboards, type options, and two branding alternatives)

      Required reading due today:
      1. Stine 2013, 9 Principles of Branding


      		 Feb 15
      Lecture topics: MVPs, prototyping, service enactments
       
      In-class activities: Wizard-of-Oz prototyping activity, prepare online ad campaign and unbounce pages, plans for service enactments, reading quiz.

      Required reading due today:
      1. Ries, 2011, The Concierge MVP
      2. Dow, 2011, Parallel Prototyping (short)
      7 Feb 20
      Worksession 

      In-class activities: launch ad campaigns, practice service enactments, work on A4 presentations

      DUE TODAY:
      Two final branding alternatives, Unbounce landing pages, plan for service enactments      		 Feb 22
      In-class activities: group work session
      8 Feb 27
      A4 presentations

      DUE TODAY:
      A4 Presentations (updated value proposition, branding alternatives, data from ad campaign, video/photos from service enactments)       		 March 1
      Lecture topics: crowdfunding, video sketches

      In-class activities: review A5 (pitches), write elevator pitches, scripts for video
      9 March 6
      Lecture topics: budgeting and quantifying value hypotheses

      In-class activities: iterate on video scripts and storyboards, work on prototype wireframes, create crowdfunding pages, budgets

      DUE TODAY:
      Rough script and storyboard for final video
      Wireframes for key pages of UI prototype
        		 March 8
        A5 group crit

        DUE TODAY:
        Drafts of crowdfunding campaign, hi-fi prototypes, poster sketch, and video script/storyboards
        10 March 13
        In-class activities: group worksession
        		 March 15
        In-class activities: group worksession

        11 March 20

        		 March 22
         
        FINAL VIDEO MARATHON AND POSTER SESSION (3-6pm):
        A5 pitches (final video, hi-fi prototypes, posters to highlight final branding, value flow model, UIs, budgets); all materials must be in your team's folder by 3pm.  
        Comments