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Identifying Customer Needs

Thomas A. Roemer

1

Generic Product Development Process

PlanningPlanning ConceptDevelopment

ConceptDevelopment

System-LevelDesign

System-LevelDesign

DetailDesignDetail

DesignTesting andRefinement

Testing andRefinement

ProductionRamp-Up

ProductionRamp-Up

MissionApproval

ConceptReview

System SpecReview

Critical DesignReview

ProductionApproval

2

Project Proposals

Mission & Customer NeedsConcept Generation& SketchesConcept Refinement& Schedule

Proof-of Concept

Detail Design

Financial Model & Patent ReviewDevelop Alpha PrototypeFinal Presentation& Demonstration

Class Projects: Gantt Chart1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 FP

Assignment Work Due Refinement

Class

3

Concept Development Process

Perform Economic Analysis

Benchmark Competitive Products

Build and Test Models and Prototypes

IdentifyCustomer

Needs

EstablishTarget

Specifications

GenerateProduct

Concepts

SelectProduct

Concept(s)

Set Final

Specifications

PlanDownstreamDevelopment

MissionStatement Test

ProductConcept(s)

DevelopmentPlan

PlanningPlanning Concept

DevelopmentConcept

Development System-LevelDesign

System-LevelDesign Detail

Design

DetailDesign Testing and

Refinement

Testing andRefinement Production

Ramp-Up

ProductionRamp-Up

MissionApproval

ConceptReview

System SpecReview

Critical DesignReview

ProductionApproval

4

Customer Needs ProcessDefine the Scope

Mission StatementGather Raw Data

ObservationInterviewsFocus Groups

Interpret Raw DataNeed Statements

Organize the NeedsHierarchy

Establish ImportanceSurveys

Reflect on the ProcessContinuous Improvement

5

Mission StatementProduct Description

An easy to use, portable device for removing bacteria and protozoan parasites from water

Key Business GoalsProduct introduced in Summer 199350% gross margin30% share of portable water filter retail sales within 2 years of introduction Becoming the recognized leader in usability

Primary MarketAvid outdoor enthusiasts

Secondary MarketsCasual recreationalistsHome emergencyAid organizations, military

AssumptionsHand-operatedBorosilicate glass fibers & charcoal filtering technology

StakeholdersUserRetailerSandy Platter forceJuan Rodriguez and VCs

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Customer Needs ProcessDefine the Scope

Mission StatementGather Raw Data

ObservationInterviewsFocus Groups

Interpret Raw DataNeed Statements

Organize the NeedsHierarchy

Establish ImportanceSurveys

Reflect on the ProcessContinuous Improvement

7

Gather Raw Data

Focus GroupsInterviews Observation

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Interviews vs. Focus Groups

From: Griffin, Abbie and John R. Hauser. “The Voice of the Customer”, Marketing Science. vol. 12, no. 1, Winter 1993.

One-on-One Interviews (1 hour)

Focus Groups (2 hours)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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100

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Number of Respondents or Groups

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How Many Consumers?

From: Griffin, Abbie and John R. Hauser. “The Voice of the Customer”, Marketing Science. vol. 12, no. 1, Winter 1993.

0 5 10 15 25 30

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Number of consumers interviewed20

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How Many Analysts?

From: Griffin, Abbie and John R. Hauser. “The Voice of the Customer”, Marketing Science. vol. 12, no. 1, Winter 1993.

0 1 2 3 6 7

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Number of analysts54

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Customer Needs ProcessDefine the Scope

Mission StatementGather Raw Data

ObservationInterviewsFocus Groups

Interpret Raw DataNeed Statements

Organize the NeedsHierarchy

Establish ImportanceSurveys

Reflect on the ProcessContinuous Improvement

12

Five Guidelines for Writing Needs Statements

Guideline Customer Statement Need Statement Need Statement

What Not How

Specificity

PositiveNot Negative

Product Attribute

Avoid “Must” & “Should

“Why don't they put a hook at the end of the outlet hose? “

“I often times drop the water filter on rocks.”

“the WF is difficult to hold.”

“I need to attach a virus filter to the WF.”

“The water should taste good.”

The outlet hose has a hook to connect to water containers.

The WF easily transfers water into a variety of different containers

The WF is rugged.The WF operates normally after repeated dropping.

The WF is not difficult to hold. The WF is easy to hold

A virus filter can be attached to the WF

WF accommodates a virus filter

The WF should deliver good tasting water

The WF delivers good tasting water.

WRONG RIGHT

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Needs Translation ExerciseThe water should not smell badlyYou need one hand to hold the filter, one hand to pump and one hand to make sure that that the attachment cap doesn't fall off the bottleDuring a winter trip the pump once froze solidI never want to have Giardia againI get tired when pumping water for the entire familyI cleaned the filter after every use, no matter how little water I pumped

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Customer Needs ProcessDefine the Scope

Mission StatementGather Raw Data

ObservationInterviewsFocus Groups

Interpret Raw DataNeed Statements

Organize the NeedsHierarchy

Establish ImportanceSurveys

Reflect on the ProcessContinuous Improvement

15

Structuring Needs

Primary Needs (Strategic Needs)Secondary Needs (Tactical Needs)Tertiary Needs (Operational Needs)

Must HavesDelighters (Latent Needs!)Linear SatisfiersNeutrals

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Kano-DiagramsDegree of Function Implementation

Sat

isfa

ctio

nD

issa

tisfa

ctio

n

Linear Satisfiers

Delighters

Must Haves

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Structuring NeedsA tendency that

Customers sort needs more evenlyCustomer ordering reflects actual useGroup ordering reflects engineering view

Professional teams only slightly outperform students

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Customer Needs ProcessDefine the Scope

Mission StatementGather Raw Data

ObservationInterviewsFocus Groups

Interpret Raw DataNeed Statements

Organize the NeedsHierarchy

Establish ImportanceSurveys

Reflect on the ProcessContinuous Improvement

19

Importance Surveys5,7,9 – point direct rating

How important is feature?Desirable, neutral, undesirable

Constant Sum ScaleAllocating fixed number of points to need levels

Anchored ScaleAttach 10 points to most important needUp to 10 points to all others

All seem to perform equally wellFrequency of mentioning a need is usually NOT a good measure for the importance of need

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Perceptual MapW

ater

Qua

lity

Ease of Use

First NeedKatadyne

Sweetwater’s Sweet Spot ?

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Normalized Perceptual MapW

ater

Qua

lity

per $

Ease of Use per $

First Need

Katadyne

Sweetwater’s Even Sweeter Spot?

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Company UpdateIntroduced in August 19931994, SW shipped ~54,000 units1994 Revenue of $2 millionMSR (REI-owned!) enters market before SW and takes 40% of market shareUS Army shows interest 1997, SW almost disappears?1998, Cascade Design [CD] acquires SW

CD had previously (1996) bought Platypus 2001, CD buys MSR

Sweetwater name on MSR productsSweetwater is still household name

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Take AwaysCapture “What, Not How”Meet customers in the use environmentCollect visual, verbal, and textual dataProps will stimulate customer responses.Interviews are more efficient than focus groupsInterview all stakeholders and lead usersDevelop an organized list of need statementsLook for latent needsSurvey to quantify tradeoffsMake a video to communicate results

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Visual Data Example

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MIT OpenCourseWarehttps://ocw.mit.edu

15.783J / 2.739J Product Design and DevelopmentSpring 2006

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