This course presents an end-to-end view of the design life cycle for information systems and services. It explains how design problems are conceived, researched, analyzed and resolved in different types of organizations and contexts, including start-ups, enterprises with legacy-systems, non-profit and government entities.

The course takes a comprehensive perspective on how these different contexts shape design activities and methods, including:

• Analyzing stakeholders and customers
• Building new vs. extending legacy systems
• Identifying customer segments and modeling different user types
• Analyzing and collecting data to identify and verify requirements
• Measuring usability and quality
• Prototyping and iterative implementation
• Personalization and configuration
• Designing for multiple channels (brick-and-mortar vs online)
• Designing for multiple platforms (cellphones, PDAs, PCs)

The course presents a framework for understanding and integrating the variety of design methods taught in more detail in other I School and MOT courses. Using a mix of theory and case studies, the course provides students with different backgrounds a unifying view of the design life cycle, making them more effective and versatile designers.