Module 500430
Planspiel Web Engineering (WS 2025/2026)
Lecturer
Dr.-Ing. Sebastian Heil
senior researcher
Sandra Schaftner M.Sc.
researcher
Contact
If you have any questions concerning this course or the exam as a participant, please contact us via OPAL.
We also offer a Feedback system, where you can provide anonymous feedback for a partiular session to the presenter on what you liked or where we can improve.
Announcements
- The first lecture will be held on Tuesday, 14 Oct 2025.
- You have to register for the Planspiel via OPAL by 17.10.2025, 10:00 am, in order to participate.
- Team formation will be conducted via OPAL from 15.10.2025, 10:00 am, until 17.10.2025, 10:00 am.
- For further details see below.
Students
This module belongs to the master course Web Engineering. It is the module 500430 Planspiel Web Engineering and is scheduled for semester 2/4 (winter semester). We strongly recommend to take the module 500420 Vorbereitungsseminar Planspiel Web Engineering beforehand as it provides necessary knowledge for preparation.
Schedule
Main meeting:
Tuesday, 11:30 - 13:00
Additional sessions:
Monday, 17:15 - 20:30
Tuesday, 07:30 - 10:45
Registration
Participation is only possible after registration in OPAL.
Frequently Asked Questions
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 presentations (pitch, 20 minutes + 10 minutes Q and A).
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 and the additional sessions. Only sessions that are announced via OPAL and shown in the OPAL Course Calendar will take place.
Usually, 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 one or two topic experts (advisors), who are 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 4 mandatory pitches (1st, 2nd, 3rd and Final Pitch). 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 Q and A 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?
All monthly reports are one living document, which you start in the first month and extend/revise each month. For example, for the first report, you can include information about your company, vision and values, team members, team tools, and meeting notes. In the second month you then may add your team's current work state and all newly achieved results for this month to the report of the first month. All subsequent monthly reports follow this extensional approach.
What shall our final report include?
The final report is NOT just a simple combination of all your monthly reports. You can and should revise monthly report contents to improve the quality of your
final report. Avoid superficial or too general phrases! The final report should 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. Refer to scientific literature where appropriate in your report. Plagiarism will result in a 5.0 grading for the module.
How do we submit the monthly report?
You can submit your team's monthly report via OPAL. To avoid conflict content, please only upload the report once per team.
How is individual assessment assured, when only one report per team is submitted?
To assure individual assessment, it is required in each team report to highlight which section was written by whom of your team.
Which extent shall our monthly and final report have?
For the monthly reports there is no strict page limit given. These numbers can be used as a rough guide:
- October report: 2 pages per Person
- November report: 6 pages per Person
- December report: 12 pages per Person
- January report: 15 pages per Person
- February report: 20 pages per Person
- Final report: 20 pages per Person
Is there a template for the reports or any information on the format given?
There is no template given, however you may use your corporate design for creating one for your team. To align the style the reports we want you to address the following details for your page setups:
- Font-Size: Normal Paragraph 12 pt
- Page Margins:
- Top, Left, Right: 2,5cm
- Bottom: 2 cm
- Line Spacing: 1,3
- Text Align in Paragraphs: Justify
Is the Team Website mandatory?
Yes. Every team must create a team website that presents the company, including its vision, values, culture, and business idea. The website must be kept up-to-date throughout the duration of the Planspiel (until March 31, 2026). It is expected that the website will grow and evolve over the semester.
Which tools should be used to create the website, and where should it be hosted?
The tools and hosting solution are freely chosen by the teams.
Should the website look professional and authentic?
The team websites should look like exemplary company websites in terms of design and quality standards.
To avoid any misunderstandings, each website and all online presences must include the following disclaimer in a visible and prominent form:
"This website does not belong to a real company. It is a Planspiel Web Engineering project at University of Technology Chemnitz."
Each website must be GDPR compliant. The soon you use especially external services, js libraries or similar, you must inform every website visitor about correctly. Thus, get informed and see wether you miss something on your website.
Since you represent not only a team but also a company in the context of the Planspiel, each website should include an imprint (legal notice). Please inform yourself about the details, e.g., here.
Which social media accounts does our team need?
Social media accounts for your company are a welcome add-on. If you create social media presences, it is essential that you clearly include the same disclaimer as on the website:
"This website does not belong to a real company. It is a Planspiel Web Engineering project at University of Technology Chemnitz."
It is recommended to also add the phrase "University project account" to the account title/bio to make the educational nature obvious.
What are the guidelines regarding the code and implementation?
There are no overarching guidelines regarding the code and implementation. Individual guidelines specific to each topic will be formulated in the requirements and by the topic experts. In general, all code and implementation must meet the highest quality standards.
How will the code be submitted?
All code must be developed on the VSR Gitlab. The final code version that is available in each team's Gitlab repository on 31.03.2026, 10:00 am, will be evaluated.
How will the contribution of each team member to the code be measured?
The individual contributions of team members will be measured based on Gitlab commits. Additionally, a Markdown file must be provided that specifies which code files each team member was responsible for (either alone or jointly with other team members). It is crucial that this Markdown file clearly states if the Gitlab commits deviate from the team members' actual contributions.
Note that everyone in your team should do also everything during the Planspiel. Thus, there cannot e.g. not be someone like a PR Manager who is then giving alone the pitches or one backend dev who is programming mainly alone. Since you all have to have an assessment, all of you have to actively participate in the planspiel within your team. You can have certain roles on your website to give everyone some strengths and the page some character. However, especially roles like CEO, CTO and so on, are meaningless without a real company with stocks.
Material
Main Lecture Slides
Lecture slides will be provided in OPAL.