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RWTHx: Customer-Centric Innovation

4.4 stars
5 ratings

Learn to take on competition by creating successful and innovative ideas for your business through a thorough understanding of your customers’ needs.

6 weeks
6–8 hours per week
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

11,449 already enrolled! After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Starts Mar 19
Ends Dec 11

About this course

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Addressing the needs of your customers is the core factor of managing innovation successfully. Exactly this is the task of the first stages of an innovation project. In this course, you will learn about key concepts and methods of generating customer-centric business ideas and innovative concepts.

Often, the first stages of an innovation project are called "fuzzy", as they are considered to be less structured and less predictable. After this course, you will get a different perspective: You don’t need to rely on luck. Instead you’ll be able to manage the different stages of an innovation project:

Structuring the Innovation Process & The Frontend of Innovation

  • What are different perspectives of structuring the innovation process?
  • How to manage the “fuzzy” Frontend of Innovation?
  • What are the most important methods of Trend Analysis and Opportunity Recognition?

Starting an Innovation Project

  • What is most important in the Strategy Phase?
  • How to start an innovation project successfully?

Market Insights, Co-Creation & Evaluation methods:

  • What are the key methods to gain important Market Insights?
  • How to gather ideas by engaging in Co-Creation activities?
  • How to evaluate concepts based on concept testing with customers or rapid experimentation?

Besides the online lectures you will engage in a series of individual and group exercises to deepen your understanding of the topic at hand. Real-life case studies and examples from companies will be used to help you better prepare for real-life situations in your company.

After completing this course you will improve your career qualifications as Product Manager , Engineer , Process Manager and Marketing Manager. Learners from the industries of Product Management , Engineering , Innovation Management and Customer Relationship Management already completed the course as well as Consultants and Entrepreneurs.

This course is part of the "Managing Technology & Innovation: How to deal with disruptive change" MicroMasters program designed to teach the critical skills needed to be successful in this exciting field. In order to qualify for the MicroMasters Credential, you will need to earn a Verified Certificate in each of the six courses of the RWTHx MicroMasters program.

At a glance

What you'll learn

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  • The nature of successful innovation processes
  • How to manage the “fuzzy” Frontend of Innovation from opportunity recognition to concept validation
  • How to transfer trends and insights from the external environment into your business
  • How to understand what customers really want by identifying latent needs

Learner testimonials

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"Very interesting course. The lectures are well organized and the slides very comprehensible. In particular, I liked the weekly tasks. They really help to get a deeper understanding in customer-centric innovation. I can recommend the course for all people who want to get more knowledge about customer-centric innovation." - Previoous Learner

Frequently Asked Questions

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Our MicroMasters program consists out of six courses. To gain the MicroMasters credential you need to complete all of the courses. You’re free to choose in which order you would like to take the courses but the chronological order is recommended.

There are always several courses open for enrollment in different runs. To avoid any confusion you’ll find a list of all start dates for the future courses in the different runs following.

It’s not necessary to complete all six courses of the same run to receive the MicroMasters Credential. It only matters that you received a certificate in all six courses in general.

MTI001x : Managing Disruptive Change
MTI002x : Customer-Centric Innovation
MTI003x : Innovation and Creativity Management
MTI004x : Thinking & Acting like an Entrepreneur
MTI005x : Strategic Management: From Intuition to Insight
MTI006x : Strategic Management: From Insight to Decision

MTI – Run 4

MTI004x – 30 January 2019

MTI005x – 27 March 2019

MTI006x – 29 May 2019

MTI – Run 5

MTI001x – 14 November 2018

MTI002x – 16 January 2019

MTI003x – 13 March 2019

MTI004x – 15 May 2019

MTI005x – 17 July 2019

MTI006x – 18 September 2019

MTI – Run 6

MTI001x – 06 March 2019

MTI002x – 08 May 2019

MTI003x – 10 July 2019

MTI004x – 11 September 2019

MTI005x – 06 November 2019

MTI006x – 15 January 2020

MTI – Run 7

MTI001x – 12 June 2019

MTI002x – 14 August 2019

MTI003x – 16 October 2019

MTI004x – 15 January 2020

MTI005x – 18 March 2020

MTI006x – 13 May 2020

MTI – Run 8

MTI001x – 25 September 2019

MTI002x – 27 November 2019

MTI003x – 29 January 2020

MTI004x – 25 March 2020

MTI005x – 27 May 2020

MTI006x – 29 July 2020

MTI – Run 9

MTI001x – 08 January 2020

MTI002x – 11 March 2020

MTI003x – 06 May 2020

MTI004x – 08 July 2020

MTI005x – 09 September 2020

MTI006x – 04 November 2020

Who can take this course?

Unfortunately, learners residing in one or more of the following countries or regions will not be able to register for this course: Iran, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine. While edX has sought licenses from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer our courses to learners in these countries and regions, the licenses we have received are not broad enough to allow us to offer this course in all locations. edX truly regrets that U.S. sanctions prevent us from offering all of our courses to everyone, no matter where they live.

This course is part of Managing Technology & Innovation: How to deal with disruptive change MicroMasters Program

Learn more 
Expert instruction
6 graduate-level courses
Self-paced
Progress at your own speed
9 months
6 - 8 hours per week

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