Duke Product Lab

At Duke’s Product Lab, we are not just building products – we’re building product leaders. Product Lab pairs Duke student product managers, designers, and builders with industry and university partners to design and deliver real-world technology products, including mobile applications, AI agents, hardware prototypes and more.

“I worked with student teams, as well as internal and external clients, to conceptualize a product, design and prototype the product and actually develop it. The experiences I’ve had here allowed me to see more of that pipeline, especially the brainstorming and ideating, actually developing a concept for a product before you go into engineering.”

Leslie Goloh Masters of Engineering ’23

Product Management Courses

Effective Product Management is the cornerstone of successful innovation. Product Management encompasses market research, strategic planning, user experience design, and agile development methodologies. In our courses, we teach students these fundamental skills and give them opportunities to apply them as they learn to build their own product using AI pair-programming tools.

I&E 283 Product Management

This course explores this intersection of the humanities and technology. Products are created in interdisciplinary teams through leadership, communication, experimentation, and critical thinking. Concepts covered include needs finding, ethical product development, market opportunity analysis, strategy, road mapping, & competitive analysis.

I&E 512 Applied Product Management

Product Management education experiences for students should anchor on apprenticeship-style, real world value delivery. In this course, student teams build usable software for real products using AI pair-programming tools. Prereq: I&E283

Co-Curricular Product Lab

The Co-Curricular Product Lab allows students to build upon their experiences in the PM courses and apply their skills to develop new products for industry partners. Students in the PM role lead customer discovery & problem definition as well as oversee a team of builders (coders and/or engineers). Interdisciplinary teams collaborate on wireframe prototyping and shipping code. Iteration allows for ongoing feature refinement & expansion.

Students laughing during discussion

Student-Led Innovation

Central to our approach is the integration of student talent into every facet of the innovation process. We believe in the untapped potential of our students and empower them to drive real-world impact through hands-on experience. Through experiential learning opportunities, internships, and mentorship programs, we provide students with the skills, resources, and support they need to transform their ideas into market-ready products.