Real challenges. Real products. Real Value.
Attention
The Product Lab program at HPI is your space to learn how to develop innovative tech products that truly resonate with customers. Over the course of the semester, you will work in agile teams to ‘hack’ an industry of your choosing and develop a solution for a relevant problem within it. The Product Lab is both a challenge and a space for experimentation that allows you to explore your ideas, learn how to create products and equip you with the business know-how to make it a reality.
Term(s)
Summer & Winter Term
Time investment
180 hours in total
ECTS
6
Module type
Elective module
Module selection at HPI
Module selection of the “Product Lab” at HPI (preliminary)
ITSE: HPI-MK, HPI-SSK-RW, HPI-SSK-ML
DE: HPI-PSK-EI
CS: HPI-DE-RWM, HPI-PSK-ML
DH: HPI-PSK-MLE
SSE: HPI-PSK-EI
ITSE BA: HPI-PSK
Grades
Yes
Enrollment deadline
Examination date
Teaching format
Project seminar: Every week, we will meet on Wednesday from 1:30 pm to 4:45 pm with workshops, coaching sessions and guest speakers
Teaching language
English
Registration requirements and link
Fee
Free
Team budget
tbd
HPI Founder Scholarship
Participants
Maximum number of Participants
20 master's students
Room (Location)
tbd
Key dates
14.10.2026
Kick-off event from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm
09.12.2025
Midterm Event
16.12.2026
Christmas Special
27.01.2027
Pitch Event
Learning and Teaching Methods
No idea yet? No problem - you’ll develop one during the first weeks.
No team yet? We’ll match you with like-minded innovators.
During this 15-weekseminar, a group consisting of three to five students will find a relevant industry problem and set out to hack it through innovative tech. They will develop a real product and their own pitch deck.
The seminar kicks off with an orientation session on October 14th, 2026, 1:30 pm at HPI during which participants will connect and form teams, receive an overview of the semester and begin working on finding relevant problems in three industries of their choosing. In the subsequent weeks, they will apply systems thinking and innovation methods to identify ways to hack these problems and select the challenge that they will work on during the semester.
The Product Lab will guide them through targeted and purposeful experimentation and prototyping to create a product that truly resonates with customers.
Students will receive the chance to visit Berlin’s tech start-ups, meet founders and professionals to get inspired. They can expect to receive feedback from external experts, enjoy a special Christmas event and finally pitch their ideas to an expert jury at the end of the semester to showcase their ideas.

■ 01
A 15-week course of extensive ideation, engineering, innovation, and user interaction.
■ 02
Find relevant challenges and explore real solutions.
■ 03
Combination of theory and practical work by learning and implementing.
■ 04
Self-reliant interdisciplinary teamwork partnering with students from various universities in the Berlin-Potsdam area.
■ 05
Intensive tutoring within a creative space in dedicated project rooms.
■ 06
Opportunities to meet real teach founders and get inspired.
■ 07
■ 08
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■ 12
The project seminar takes place every week according to the following schedule.
Coming soon
Week 1
Day 1
Week 2
Day 2
Week 3
Day 3
Week 4
Day 4
Week 5
Day 5
Week 6
Day 6
Week 7
Day 7
Week 8
Day 8
Week 9
Day 9
Week 10
Day 10
Week 11
Day 11
Week 12
Day 12
Week 13
Day 13
Week 14
Day 14
Week 15
Day 15
Week 16
Day 16
Week 17
Day 17
Week 18
Day 18
Week 19
Day 19
Week 20
Day 20
Week 1
Day 1
Week 2
Day 2
Week 3
Day 3
Week 4
Day 4
Week 5
Day 5
Week 6
Day 6
Week 7
Day 7
Week 8
Day 8
Week 9
Day 9
Week 10
Day 10
Week 11
Day 11
Week 12
Day 12
Week 13
Day 13
Week 14
Day 14
Week 15
Day 15
Week 16
Day 16
Week 17
Day 17
Week 18
Day 18
Week 19
Day 19
Week 20
Day 20
The assessment takes place via a presentation and associated project documentation and is consists of three components:
Date: tbd
A brief portfolio documenting how you analysed the selected industries and a statement about the chosen challenge.
Date: 27.01.2027
Presentation, pitch deck, final prototype account for 40% of your final grade.
Date: 3.02.27
A documentation of hypotheses/opportunities mapped out and explored during the semester through experiments. (This will be created over the course of the seminars.)
All grades are recorded as individual grades. Please contact the study department if you do not want to participate in the performance recording(2-day rule).
Requirements
Attendance at the lectures is not compulsory, but please be aware that this is a collaborative team effort, and you will be expected to actively participate in weekly workshops to develop your project. If you are unable to attend due to significant reasons, it is essential that you communicate this promptly with both your lecturer and team to ensure coordination and continuity.
We highly encourage teams to use our facilities at HPI, especially every Wednesday from 1:30 pm to 4:45 pm. If you are not in Potsdam at all during the three months, we cannot accept you for the program as at least the kick-off, Challenger Day and Demo Day are planned with on-site presence. We will not offer any hybrid or online sessions on Wednesdays during the course.
No need for that. In line with your chosen idea, you are to select between three and five team members, ensuring that each team includes at least two HPI students. Team formation is scheduled for the second lecture week.
Students pursuing a Master's in Digital Health at HPI have the option to choose this course as a mandatory elective module (HPI - DICR (-C, -T, -S)). The primary focus is to develop a concept for a digital health product. Nonetheless, Digital Health students also have the flexibility to enroll in the Product Builder course, where they can explore and work on product ideas beyond the digital health domain.
During our initial session, we will facilitate a workshop focused on the generation of innovative ideas pertaining to trending topics or the application of artificial intelligence tools.
There's no need for that. During the kick-off event, you'll have the opportunity to cultivate an idea through the idea-generation process or you may choose to collaborate on an idea proposed by another student while assembling your team.
Program Structure
We expect that participants will present a paper prototype, articulate a compelling value proposition, and deliver a pitch presentation on Challenger Day, which occurs after seven weeks. Furthermore, we anticipate a working clickable prototype, a business model and a final pitch in front of a jury during Demo Day after 15 weeks.
Data Rights
While we will keep all information within our support team, we cannot guarantee complete confidentiality of information leaking to the outside world.
We do not anticipate any intellectual property created as a direct result of our program. Furthermore, HPI does not consider use of office space and infrastructure as constituting a significant use of HPI resources with regards to IP.
Please use the registration form
You don’t need to formally apply to the Product Lab. Just come to the kick-off on October 14, 2026. Please use our provided form to register. You will meet the other participants and generate ideas and challenges to work on.
Since the Product Lab is a course within the curriculum of the Hasso Plattner Institute, we cannot guarantee whether and to what extent the ECTS points earned in this course will be recognized at another university. We therefore ask you to clarify with your respective study department whether recognition is possible. Of course, we will be happy to issue a certificate of achievement.