The New Product Development Process

Concept ScreeningFebruary 13, 2007

Concept Selection / Screening

The NPD Process

Phase 1:Opportunity

Identificationand Selection

Phase 2:Concept

Generation/Ideation

Phase 3:Concept

Screening & Testing

Phase 4:Development

“Fuzzy” Front End

Prioritizing Interpreted Needs Kano Classification (one approach)

L = Linear Satisfiers (“The more the merrier.”) N = Neutral/Indifferent (“No big deal.”) M = Must Haves (“I won’t buy without!”) D = Delighters (“What an unexpected treat!”)

Kano’s Model of (Non-Linear) Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfied

CustomerDissatisfied See (1) Matzler, et al.., 1996,

Journal of Product & Brand Mgmt (2) Matzler and Hinterhuber, 1998, Technovation (3) Center for Quality Mgmt

Must Have (M)Must Have (M)

Delighter (D)Delighter (D)

Linear Satisfier (L)Linear Satisfier (L)

RequirementFulfilled

RequirementNot Fulfilled

Indifferent (I)Indifferent (I)

Concept Selection How can the team choose the best

concept (even though the designs are still being developed)?

How can a decision be made that is embraced by the entire team?

How can the “good” attributes of “weak” concepts be identified and used?

How can the decision process be systematic?

Selecting Concepts All teams use some method

first concept considered; external decision; product champion; intuition; voting; pros & cons; prototype & test; decision matrices

Potential benefits of a structured method include: objectivity in decisions a customer-focused product a competitive design reduced time to product introduction effective group decision making and coordination documentation of process

Concept Screening & Scoring Prepare the selection criteria and

create the selection matrix Rate the concepts Rank the concepts Combine and improve the

concepts Select one or more concepts

Principles & Caveats Decomposition of concept quality

basic theory assumes selection criteria are independent and thus does not directly capture non-linear relationships between criterion

Subjective Criteria some criteria (eg, aesthetics) are highly subjective; the team’s

judgments on these dimensions should be supplemented with the opinions of representative consumers from the target market (perhaps using prototypes, mock ups)

To Facilitate Improvement of Concepts the team should make notes of any outstanding (+ or -)

attributes, as well as identify any features that might be used to improve the concept

Step 1 Prepare Selection Matrix:

What are possible criteria for evaluating your “automotive dining” concepts? Ability to meet each interpreted need Manufacturing costs Market need, growth, size Compatibility with firm’s other products/culture Compatibility with firm’s current

technology Market competitiveness

(cost to maintain position)

Step 2 Rate the Concepts

Using a reference point Relative performance

much worse than reference = 1 worse than reference = 2 same as reference = 3 better than reference = 4 much better than reference = 5

Step 3 Rank the Concepts

Use criteria weights (if multiple segments)

Total score for each concept

Next Steps4. Combine and Improve the

Concepts5. Select One (or More) Concepts6. Move on to Concept Testing

(Next Week…)

The New Product Theorem All commercially successful

new products are solutions to problems.