Join DPS and build a digital product that will help blind people. Be part of a cross-functional and diverse team—completely regardless of your eyesight: Sighted and non-sighted people will work together on a challenge and learn how digital products are developed.
The Digital Product School offers you a safe and inclusive environment for three months where you can enhance your skills and gain practical work experience to prepare you for a job and to increase your employability.
We from DPS designed the Incubator for Inclusion. This project is supported by the Christoffel Blindenmission e.V. and the Reinhard Frank-Stiftung. Our vision is to create an inclusive format for the development of digital products.
The aim is to solve problems of blind or severely visually impaired people through the development of digital products while at the same time functionally integrating those affected into the product team that solves this challenge.
The Digital Product School is part of UnternehmerTUM, Europe’s leading center for innovation and business creation. We are a training program for ambitious people who want to build digital products.
Since 2017, we have worked with over 1,000 participants on around 200 challenges and developed digital products that solve real user problems. We do this in a progressive startup environment where we work agile and lean and apply the latest design thinking methods and state-of-the-art technologies.
Our cross-functional and diverse teams act in a safe environment where we embrace a culture of error. We aim to learn and improve, and we can only do that by taking action.
The Christoffel-Blindenmission (CBM) is one of the leading international organizations for inclusive development. It supports people with disabilities in the poorest countries of the world and has been doing so for more than 115 years. Together with its local partners, CBM ensures that their lives are fundamentally and permanently improved. It provides medical aid to those in need and advocates for the equal participation in society of persons with disabilities. Its goal is an inclusive world in which people with and without disabilities can contribute and no one is left behind. Last year, CBM supported 379 projects in 40 countries.
The Reinhard Frank-Foundation helps in particular youths and young people who are unable to have an unrestricted course of education to find, begin, or finish the right training/studies. The foundation gives these people a chance to acquire a good education as a basis for their later lives. It is committed to the founder’s wishes inter alia for helping the blind.
The incubator will help you to expand your skills, especially in the practical application of your knowledge. You will work on a real project and solve a tangible user problem. You will learn how to work agilely in a cross-functional, diverse, and intercultural team with different roles and develop a digital product that users really love in a lean and iterative way.
The incubator consists of two parts:
An online course on Coursera
The three-month on-site program of DPS
The first step is the online course "From Zero to Hero - Digital Product Development From Scratch" on Coursera.
There, you will learn the key principles of agile digital product development. You will gain insight into the techniques and tools that you will later use during your participation in the DPS.
The course takes about 10 hours, and you can do it independently at your own pace. If you pass the short test in the end, you will receive a certificate of participation.
The second part of the program is the participation in the Digital Product School. This part lasts three months (Batch#27 from September 7 to November 27, 2026) and takes place at Unternehmertum's headquarters in Garching near Munich. You will be part of a cross-functional product team and can choose one of the team's roles depending on your training and future plans: Product Manager, Software Engineer, or Interaction Designer.
During your three months at the Digital Product School, you’ll work with your team on a specific problem. The goal is to create an MVP that solves this problem.
Within the Incubator for Inclusion, you and your team will tackle a problem that directly affects you: a challenge that visually impaired people face in their daily lives.
And the best part is:
You can help define it! You can actively participate in defining the problem space. Or feel free to bring your own ideas regarding a challenge for blind people that absolutely needs to be solved.
Housing: If you are not from Munich, we can offer you accommodation in Werk1 at the Ostbahnhof in Munich for your time at the DPS. Other participants in the batch are also regularly accommodated there.
Commute to the office: We offer help and assistance for learning how to get to and commute to our office in Garching.
Inclusive Infrastructure: We pay attention to an inclusive and accessible infrastructure with step-free paths, tactile markings, orientation aids and on-site assistance.
Technology & Tools: Participants use their own laptop with the software they are familiar with and all the necessary tools such as screen readers. When using additional applications within the DPS, we pay attention to accessibility and text-based alternatives to visual tools.
Inclusive Teamwork: Open-mindedness, patience, diversity and the ability to work in a team are core criteria for the selection of participants for the DPS. We ensure a clear division of responsibilities and barrier-free work processes, such as verbal descriptions of visual content.
Success Story Batch#24:
Grocery shopping is a stressful barrier for blind individuals. To solve this, Team IRIS—a unique team of sighted and blind members—developed BuddyUp. This platform connects visually impaired users with local volunteers for shopping trips. The app matches partners based on location through an accessible, voice-friendly interface. By leveraging the team’s firsthand insights, it transforms a risky chore into a safe, empowering experience.
Batch#27 - Sep. 7 to Nov. 27, 2026
How to apply:
Step 1:
Write us an email to hello@dpschool.io.
Please send us your resume and a brief statement explaining why you'd like to participate in the DPS.
Step 2:
A phone call to get to know each other better. On our end, the track lead for the track you’re interested in at DPS will be on the call and will ask you a few questions about yourself and your professional background. And you’ll also have the chance to ask any questions you may have.
Step 3:
We—and you—will decide whether we’re a good fit and want to work together for the next three months. If so, we’ll start by defining the challenge.
The application process is quick and easy. And you can contact us at any time to ask questions.
