Module 500430: Planspiel Web Engineering (WS 2020/2021)

What is the Planspiel Web Engineering?

Planspiel Web Engineering is the module that provides the following learning objectives:

• (Team) Skills Development – skills that cannot be learned from books, but have to be experienced.
• Modern Aspects of Software Development with a dedicated focus on development in a “Startup”, i.e. Planspiel helps students to better understand and experience the challenges of working in a startup -and- eventually even starting one. After the Planspiel, the students can continue their work by conducting a Master thesis project in the context of their Planspiel result. Moreover, they can even turn the Planspiel business idea to a real startup company with supporting from VSR Professorship and SAXEED funding.
• Experience the latest technology trends, industry-relevant challenges, and hot topics in the field of Web Engineering.

What are the prerequisites in order to participate in the Planspiel Web Engineering?

We strongly recommend you to take the module 500420 Vorbereitungsseminar Planspiel Web Engineering beforehand as it provides necessary knowledge for preparation.

Which assignments do we have to fulfil in order to pass the Planspiel with a good grade?

This module consists of two examinations:

• Planspiel reports (monthly reports and final report).
• Planspiel final presentation (30 mins).

Does the Planspiel focus on a working software implementation or on a business concept?

Both. Planspiel takes into account the entire life cycle of application development, and also focuses on the economic aspect of the business idea.

Do we have real lectures in Planspiel module?

Yes. There are two scheduled time slots for Planspiel: the main session (on Wednesday, 11:30 – 13:00) and the additional session (on Monday, 17:15 – 20:30). There are multiple introductory lectures in the first few weeks of the Planspiel module. Then, the remaining time slots will be used for team working, discussing and supporting.

Can I still participate even if I missed the registration or the first sessions?

Unfortunately not. So please pay attention to the date and time of the first session.

Can we make audio or video recordings?

No. Not without our prior permission.

Can we choose our own topic?

No. A set of topics will be provided by the VSR professorship. Then you and your team can choose a topic and develop your own business idea.

Whom can we ask for support?

Each topic will be supported by an Expert (Advisor), which is one of the VSR staff members.

What do we have to do in order to develop our own business idea?

First, you and your team need to choose one of the topics. Then you have to work as a team (brainstorms, team meeting, survey…) and apply the design thinking methodology from the first lectures. to develop your own business idea based on your team’s topic.

What happens, if our idea does not work or if we get new requirements?

We simulate a real-world scenario. So you should anticipate changes. You can discuss this with your team’s Advisor or the Professor to find an appropriate solution.

Do I have to pitch in each session?

There are 3 mandatory pitches (1st, 2nd and final Pitch). However, there are maybe other additional pitches during the semester. All the pitches’ date and time will be announced in advance. Therefore, you and your team need to be ready for the pitches.

In the first pitch, do we have to present our topic, our company or our idea?

In the first pitch, you can present your company/team (members, culture, working methodologies…), and your topic. It will be great if you can also present your business idea, but it is not mandatory.

What is the final pitch about?

In the final pitch, your team will have 20 minutes for presenting your final business, followed by a 10 minutes QandA session. This is a chance for your team to introduce your awesome company, your exciting business idea and the reason why somebody shall definitely invest in your company. We do not want to see a boring presentation and approach. We would like to see exciting and creative pitches.

What do we have to include in our monthly report?

The monthly report should cover your team current work state and all newly achieved results for this month. For example, for the first report, you can include information about your company, team members, your communication channel, and meetings note.

How do we submit the monthly report?

You can submit your team monthly report via OPAL. To avoid conflict content, please only upload the report once per team.

Which extent shall our final Planspiel report have?

The final report is NOT just a simple combination of all your monthly reports. You can restructure, or even rewrite some parts to improve your report quality. Avoid superficial or too general text! The Planspiel report shall at least cover information on: your company’s identity, the problem identification and ideation, design thinking aspects including requirement-, stakeholder-, SWOT analysis, Personae identification, Customer journeys, an iterative approach how you developed and evaluated your solution, details on your product concept and implementation, and optionally business considerations. The approx. length for your report should be from 75 to 90 pages but not more than 100 pages. Be aware of appropriate scientific literature references in your report and NO plagiarism!