Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics

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    Multicultural IT 1 - Product Manager's Perspective

    A tantárgy neve magyarul / Name of the subject in Hungarian: Multikulturális IT 1. - A termékmenedzser szempontjából

    Last updated: 2010. november 12.

    Budapest University of Technology and Economics
    Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics

    Mérnök informatikus szak

    BSc képzés

    Course ID Semester Assessment Credit Tantárgyfélév
    VISZA088   0/0/2/f 4  
    3. Course coordinator and department Dr. Wiener Gábor,
    Web page of the course web.inc.bme.hu/csonka
    4. Instructors
    Name

     

    Position

     

    Department

     

    Tamás HAJAS

     

    Lecturer

     

    Department of Computer Science and Information Theory

     

    Gábor WIENER

     

    Assoc. professor

     

    Department of Computer Science and Information Theory

     

    5. Required knowledge No programming experience is required to complete the first part. Students should have a keen interest in creating IT solutions and have good and open communication skills to work with clients and peers. A keen interest in observing how people do things and an ability to reach satisfying compromises is important.

     

    7. Objectives, learning outcomes and obtained knowledge This course is recommended to students interested in the management or creation of commercial desktop or networked software applications intended for a global user base. Students will learn to identify features and capabilities key to success in their chosen application field and they will learn a methodology to effectively manage the product through its life cycle.

     

    8. Synopsis In the era of Internet marketing all IT products are globally accessible, but becoming a global standard is hardly an option for the majority of the products and companies. By observing cultural diversity and successfully adopting to local end-user needs increases the chances of an emerging IT player to become successful on the global marketplace. Based on the experience gained in the development of Graphisoft’s ArchiCAD the course will demonstrate how deeply a successful product must be diversified to meet local needs.

     

     

    Students will learn how to discover the true end-user requirements related to cultural differences, the right approach and timing to address the global IT market, how to manage the integration of diversity into an IT product, what tools and services are available to assist software engineers and what strategy should they follow. We will discuss the art and craft of balancing technical, marketing, personnel and budget constraints while delivering a great product for an international audience. Our focus will be on product marketing and in-house communication working with upper management, development and quality assurance.

     

     

    This course is the first of two parts, first part focusing on the perspective of the product manager while the second part’s focus is on the engineering perspective. While the two parts are independent of each other and can be attended separately, they both study the same problem from two different angles with little to no overlap. Often the key in product success is to master both angles of product development, therefore attending both parts is recommended.

    Session Outline (by week):

     

     

    Course introduction

     

    Lecture: Two ways of IT globalization – Setting Global Standards vs. Embracing Cultural Diversity

     

    Lecture: Elements of the task of internationalization

     

     

    Student presentation: National standards

     

    Lecture: Standard - to unify and to differentiate

     

    Forming of task groups to analyze i18n requirements of a chosen software solution

     

    Lab work: identifying requirements due to different national standards of the problem domain

     

     

    Student presentation: the art of writing – text input in software

     

    Lecture: the GUI and the language

     

    Group 1 presentation

     

     

    Student presentation: *(required field) – validating user input

     

    Lecture: Localization – how, who and for how much

     

    Group 2 presentation

     

     

    Lecture: Local content – static, scripted, add-on

     

    Guest lecturer: websites, localization

     

    Group 3 presentation

     

     

    Lab work: QA of localized versions

     

    Lecture: managing globalization efforts

     

     

    Discussion: Core feature / Business process modification

     

    Consolidating product manager and developer preferences

     

    Closing test

     

     

     

    9. Method of instruction

     Lectures will be based on concrete examples and personal experience.
     A guest lecturer will be providing detailed account of their firm’s experiences and failures in the topic.
     There will be a series of individual student presentations about selected topics related to the  problems  of internationalization. Volunteering students will prepare presentations based on their own research in the recommended reading and on the Internet.
     A team work will be prepared in small groups related to the analyses of a chosen IT solution regarding         internationalization and presented by each group.
     There will be two hands-on lab sessions on feature design and on quality assurance.
     Students will write a closing test to demonstrate their ability and acquired skills in successfully         managing an IT product development effort.

    10. Assessment The grades will be determined based on the individual student presentations (70%) and a closing test (30%)

     

    13. References, textbooks and resources Nuray Aykin: Usability and Internationalization of Information Technology, CRC Press (2005, reprinted in 2008) ISBN 0-8058-4479-1

     

    Other recommended reading:

     

     

    Bert Esselink: A Practical Guide to Localization, John Benjamins Publishing Co; revised ed. (September 2000) ISBN-13: 978-1588110060 

     

    John Yunker: Beyond Borders: Web Globalization Strategies, New Riders Press, 2002. ISBN-13: 978-0735712089

     

     

    14. Required learning hours and assignment
    Number of contact hours

     

    28

     

    Preparation to the classes

     

    20

     

    Preparation to the tests

     

    12

     

    Homework

     

     -

     

    Assigned reading

     

     -

     

    Preparation to the exam

     

     -

     

    Total

     

    60

     

    15. Syllabus prepared by
    Name

     

    Position

     

    Department

     

    Tamás HAJAS

     

    Lecturer

     

    Department of Computer Science and Information Theory