Syllabus for HCDE 514: Strategies for International Product Management
We will work through a number of intriguing questions and showcase experts in the field who have solved
some of these issues. We will investigate localization as a business from a number of different
perspectives: marketing, legal/regulatory, cultural adaptation, payment models, product management,
and technology trends for different languages. While our focus will generally be on the world of software,
we will also explore medical device development as a unique and challenging area for any international
business. We will ask questions, talk about solutions, and discuss what could have been done differently.
Students will be asked to help problem-solve and bring their own solutions to the table. Note that this
class is open to all HCDE grad students; there are no pre-requirements necessary, except a passion for
international and willingness to jump in and practice your problem-solving skills.
Logistics
6 PM, UW main campus, Savery 130
Instructor
Carla Di Franco
Guest lecturers (in order of appearance)
Monika McGuffie
Cathy Wissink*
Kate Edwards
Julia Scheffer*
Manuela Noske
Orlagh Neary
Donna-Bea Tillman
Course objective
Students should be able to understand and use content discussed in the course to influence business
decisions for international; practically, students should be able to make a business case to their
management, make product decisions or even defend a bug.
Key takeaways from the course

Understand the diverse perspectives needed when crafting an international product strategy.

Have a good idea of how the software sector may differ from other business sectors when it
comes to this type of planning.

Be able to problem-solve in the diverse areas covered in the class.

Be able to perform useful and impactful research in the diverse areas covered in the class.
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This document
It’s alive. There may be some changes and tweaks to individual sessions as we go, and students will be
kept appraised of any changes as the course progresses. This content will also be posted online to the UW
Catalyst system, once I work through their mysterious UI.
Communication
The course forum is the preferred way to discuss and ask questions about the contents of the lectures or
any other items that come up when we are not actually in the classroom together. If you have a question
or concern that you’d prefer not to voice in the forum, send me an email. I will ensure a response within
24 hours.
Methodology
Each week in class, one facet of the international product planning puzzle will be presented in the form of
a lecture, case study or both. During class, students may be asked to work in small groups to perform
some ad hoc problem-solving related to the information presented.
At the end of each class, students will be split into groups and assigned a problem-solving question.
Students will be expected to work on a solution to this problem together in their groups over the course
of the week. The following week, time in the classroom will be allotted for groups to present their
solutions to the class. Here is a rough outline of each class session:

1.5 hours: lecture, Q&A & ad hoc problem-solving exercises, present the problem-solving exercise
for following week

30 minutes: break

1 hour: student presentations (from pre-assigned problem-solving exercise)
Final exam
The final exam questions will also consist of problem-solving exercises. All students will be asked to work
independently on this set of questions and prepare a final presentation (solo) covering one of the
questions, to be presented in the last class. Students will be asked to email the instructor their responses
to a subset of the other exam questions separately.
Grading

Overall participation in class (warm body in seat, asking questions, useful additions to class
discussions): 20%

Weekly group projects (content & presentation of technical puzzle work): 40%

Final paper & presentation of one solution: 40%
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Schedule
Date/Session/Speaker
March 26
Week 1
Localization cost
Speaker: Carla DiFranco
April 2
Week 2
International feature decisions
Speaker: Carla DiFranco
April 9
Week 3
User/market research
Speaker: Monika McGuffie
April 16
Week 4
The intersection between
government and technology
Speaker: Cathy Wissink
April 23
Week 5
Content culturalization
Speaker: Kate Edwards
Session content

Introduction to course

Localization supply chain & cost models

Deep dives: recycling & machine translation

Contracts and pricing for large loc projects
Agenda:

Group presentations

Highlights from loc cost lecture, cover post-class questions

International features

Cost of fix/no fix for international bugs

Enabling languages in a product; balanced with ROI

How to decide on potential markets

Case study: Getty Images site for Japan, the feasibility study, prototyping
& user research that went into this project



Technology marches ahead—how governments are trying to keep up
Privacy and internet/data access
What can governments regulate? What are some of the implications?

Taking geopolitical and cultural dimensions into account during product
development
Considering both the potential reactive issues and proactive
enhancements to content
Understanding the government- and public-relations dimensions of a
product release
Case study: LIP technology
What impact has LIP had on use of computing/language?
What impact do these markets have on the LIP program?


April 30
Week 6
Markets are shaped by technology
and vice-versa
Speaker: Manuela Noske
May 7
Week 7
Moving beyond localization to drive
business growth
Speaker: Orlagh Neary
May 14
Week 8
Ecommerce for international
Speaker: Julia Scheffer
May 21
Week 9
International concerns for medical
devices
Speaker: Donna-Bea Tillman
June 4
Week 10
Course presentations
Speaker: all






Audience segmentation
Reach vs. Revenue
Global vs. local marketing strategies

What is E-commerce?
Basics for enabling international commerce
“Going global” versus “staying regional”
Currency and payment models
How does development/product planning differ with medical devices
Impact of regulations and standards on international development of
medical devices
Impact of labelling


Final student presentations
Course wrap up & post mortem



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*co-contributors to this course planning, who provided invaluable feedback and assistance as this grew
from ideas to a schedule
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