UX Pro­ject: sus­tain­able ideas for SAP busi­ness events

In a cooperative project between Neu-Ulm University and SAP AppHouse, 43 students gained practical experience in the area of sustainable user experience in the business environment in the "UX Project" lecture under the direction of Prof. Patricia Franzreb. The goal was: "Design sustainable event experiences in a corporate context". Patricia Franzreb explains the high value that cooperation with companies has for universities: "This gives problems a higher status, processes are understood and internalized in the application and are fun, abstract theory becomes tangible practice. This semester, the cooperation with SAP AppHouse enriched the 'User Experience Project' tremendously."

In various project phases, students in groups of up to seven first dealt with the general topic of sustainability and business events, conducted interviews for research purposes, and learned about various design thinking methods.

First place for product range that converts employee power into usable energy

The students gradually designed and optimized their prototypes, incorporated feedback from various test persons, and presented the final designs at a final presentation to SAP AppHaus employees Beate Riefer, Isabelle Paul, and Andre Biener, who were thrilled with the diverse ideas. The winning team developed a concept for an entire product range that helps employees convert their own power into usable energy. Second place went to a sustainable, modular furniture line, and third place impressed with a simple but ingenious solution to recycle trade show items. All three winning teams were rewarded with vouchers for openSAP courses (https://open.sap.com/).

Beate Riefer, SAP, is enthusiastic about the collaboration: "When collaborating with universities or colleges, such as with Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences, it is always exciting for us to see how diverse the students' ideas develop over the course of the project. As SAP, it is important for us to pass on our practical experience to students and give them good insights into the current working world and the culture at SAP" Prof. Patricia Franzreb adds: "The students gained valuable insights into the areas of business innovation and sustainability, they were able to develop visionary, people-centered ideas and convince with great pitch presentations at the end. Thanks for the great collaboration and appreciation, especially to Beate Riefer, Isabelle Paul and Andre Biener!"

Creative, sustainable ideas: Students report on their experiences in the "UX Project".

The following quotes from participants show how valuable working on real projects with companies is for the students. Andre Heiligmann from the winning team, says: "The SAP AppHouse is a pioneer in environmentally conscious thinking and action and integrates the topic of sustainability into business. Based on this, we had the opportunity to think creatively further and make a valuable contribution to ourselves and the environment with our developed solution. We had a lot of fun working on the subject UX project. We are grateful to HNU and SAP AppHouse for the opportunity to have had this experience."

Three other students talk about their final group ideas and how they got there. Annalena Wägerle says, "I thought it was cool that we were able to develop a sustainable solution for the SAP AppHaus company as part of UX. In our team, we focused on the food waste aspect. We wanted to reduce food waste, especially during workshops. Our basic idea here was food from 3D printers. In addition, we also developed a website that allows you to select the food and size in advance."

Robert Grau on his team's idea: "Brix is pursuing a vision; we want to redefine workshop experiences. In doing so, we are guided by the motto 'Build together - create together'. Therefore, based on several interviews and tests, we have developed a sustainable, adaptable and modular system of cubes or cubes. Our ecosystem consists of several cubes that can be connected horizontally and vertically with strong connectors. The cubes are complemented by other modules such as seating, whiteboard walls, drawers and rolling surfaces that can be easily stored on or inside the cube. With our system, the workstation can therefore be built individually for each workshop to meet current needs. Brix solves several problems that we have identified in interviews and tests: We create an adaptable workspace and avoid paper waste. We integrate storage directly into our cubes with five-sided access and reduce the space needed for furniture, plus we create an interactive building process and use sustainable materials."

Melina Krupp reflected on the following with her team, "Roll-ups are usually only used for one trade show because of the branding and then thrown away. As part of the UX Project course, we developed an idea to change that. Through our solution, "old" roll-ups can be transformed into bags and thus reused. Depending on the material, these bags are sewn or folded."