Chapter 4: Identifying Customer
Needs
Product Design and Development
Fourth Edition
by Karl T. Ulrich and Steven D.
Eppinger
Session Outline
• Introduction to Concept Development Phase and to
Customer Needs
• Benefits of Structured Methods
• Review of Customer Needs Method
• Discussion of Principles and Caveats
• Needs Interpretation Exercise
Objectives & Strategy
• The fundamental metric of product quality
– Satisfaction of customer needs.
• Teams must understand these needs in order to develop
the right product.
• Importance of structured methods
– Use of “generic instructions” for product development
– Basic procedures for identifying customer needs
• Philosophy: To make engineers, industrial designers and
developers to reach out to the customers
Benefits of structured methods
• Structured methods allow the team to maintain focus on the important
issues, in this case on the needs of the customers.
• Structured methods provide a decision process that the team can follow
and use to develop consensus throughout the project.
• Structured methods produce documentation of the development
process and its key decisions.
Goals of adopting need identification
methods
• Ensure that the product is focused on customer needs.
• Identify latent or hidden needs as well as explicit needs.
• Provide a fact base for justifying the product specifications.
• Create an archival record of the needs activity of the development
process
• Ensure that no critical customer need is missed or forgotten
• Develop a common understanding of customer needs among members
of the development team.
Product Development Process
Planning
Concept
Development
System-Level
Design
Detail
Design
Testing and
Refinement
Production
Ramp-Up
Concept Development Process
Mission
Statement
Identify
Customer
Needs
Establish
Target
Specifications
Generate
Product
Concepts
Select
Product
Concept(s)
Test
Product
Concept(s)
Set
Final
Specifications
Plan
Downstream
Development
Development
Plan
Perform Economic Analysis
Benchmark Competitive Products
Build and Test Models and Prototypes
Examples of products ?
…where the developers appear to have gotten the customer needs right
…where they have not got it right
Customer Needs Process
• Step 0  Define the Scope
– Mission Statement
• Step 1  Gather Raw Data
– Interviews
– Focus Groups
– Observation
• Step 2  Interpret Raw Data
– Need Statements
• Step 3  Organize the Needs
– Hierarchy (Primary, secondary and tertiary needs)
• Step 4  Establish Importance
– Surveys
– Quantified Needs
• Step 5  Reflect on the Process
– Continuous Improvement
Customer Needs Example:
Cordless Screwdrivers
Step 0  Define the scope
• Mission statement
Mission Statement
Example: Screwdriver Project
Product Description
•A hand-held, power-assisted device for installing threaded fasteners
Key Business Goals
•Product introduced in 4th Q of 2000
•50% gross margin
•10% share of cordless screwdriver market by 2004
Primary Market
•Do-it-yourself consumer
Secondary Markets
•Casual consumer
•Light-duty professional
Assumptions
•Hand-held
•Power assisted
•Nickel-metal-hydride rechargeable battery technology
Stakeholders
•User
•Retailer
•Sales force
•Service center
•Production
•Legal department
Step 1  Gather Raw Data
From the use environment of the product
• Interviews
• Focus Groups
• Observing the product in use
Choosing customers
– Quality over quantity
– Concept development teams
• Single segment
• Multiple segment
– Lead users
• Articulate emerging needs because of inadequacies
• May have invented solutions
– Extreme users
– Customer selection matrix (Exhibit 4.5)
How Many Customers?
Percent of Needs Identified
100
80
60
One-on-One Interviews (1 hour)
Focus Groups (2 hours)
40
20
0
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Number of Respondents or Groups
From: Griffin, Abbie and John R. Hauser. “The Voice of the Customer”,
Marketing Science. vol. 12, no. 1, Winter 1993.
10
Art of eliciting customer needs
–
–
–
–
–
–
When and why do you use this product?
Walk us through a typical session using the product.
What do you like about the existing products?
What do you dislike about the existing products?
What issues do you consider when purchasing the product?
What improvements would you make to the product?
General hints for effective interaction:
•
•
•
•
Go with the flow
Use visual stimuli and props
Suppress preconceived hypotheses about the product technology
Have the customer demonstrate the product and/or typical tasks
related to the product
• Be alert for surprises and the expression of latent needs
• Watch for nonverbal information
Document interactions with customers (Exh 4.6)
Step 2  Interpret Raw Data
Guidelines for writing Need Statements:
• Express the need in terms of what the product has to
do, not in terms of how it might do it.
• Express the need as specifically as the raw date
• Use positive, not negative, phrasing
• Express the need as an attribute of the product
• Avoid the words must and should
Five Guidelines for Writing Needs Statements
Guideline
Customer Statement
Need Statement-Wrong
Need Statement-Right
What Not
How
“Why don’t you put
protective shields around
the battery contacts?”
The screwdriver battery
contacts are covered by
a plastic sliding door.
The screwdriver battery
is protected from
accidental shorting.
Specificity
“I drop my screwdriver all
the time.”
The screwdriver is
rugged.
The screwdriver
operates normally after
repeated dropping.
Positive
Not
Negative
“It doesn’t matter if it’s
raining, I still need to
work outside on
Saturdays.”
The screwdriver is not
disabled by the rain.
The screwdriver
operates normally in
the rain.
Attribute
of the
Product
“I’d like to charge my
battery from my cigarette
lighter.”
An automobile cigarette
lighter adapter can
charge the screwdriver
battery.
The screwdriver battery
can be charged from an
automobile cigarette
lighter.
Avoid
“Must”
and
“Should
“I hate it when I don’t
know how much juice is
left in the batteries of my
cordless tools.”
The screwdriver should
provide an indication of
the energy level of the
battery.
The screwdriver
provides an indication
of the energy level of
the battery.
Step 3  Organize needs
– Hierarchy (Primary, secondary and tertiary needs)
Organized List of Customer Needs
The SD provides plenty of power to drive screws.
* The SD maintains power for several hours of heavy use.
** The SD can drive screws into hardwood.
The SD drives sheet metal screws into metal ductwork.
*** The SD drives screws faster than by hand.
The SD is e asy to set-up and us e.
* The SD is easy to turn on.
* The SD prevents inadvertent switching off .
* The user can set the maximum t orque of the SD.
!* The SD provides ready access to bits or accessories.
* The SD can be attached to the user for temporary storage.
The SD makes it easy to start a screw.
* The SD retains the screw before it is driven.
!* The SD can be used to create a pilot hole.
The SD power is convenie nt.
* The SD is easy to recharge.
The SD can be used while recharging.
The SD works with a variety of screws.
** The SD can turn philips, torx, socket, and hex head screws.
** The SD can turn many sizes of screws.
The SD can access most screws.
The SD can be maneuvered in tight areas.
**
The SD can access screws at the end of deep, narrow holes.
*** The SD recharges quickly.
The SD batteries are ready to use w hen new.
!** The user can apply torque manually to the SD to
drive a screw.
The SD las ts a long time.
** The SD tip survives heavy use.
The SD can be hammered.
* The SD can be dropped from a ladder without damage.
The SD turns screws that are in poor condition.
The SD can be used to remove grease and dirt from screws.
The SD allows the user to work with painted screws.
The SD feels good in the user's hand.
The SD is comfortable when the user pushes on it.
***
*** The SD is comfortable when the user resists twisting.
* The SD is balanced in the user's hand.
! The SD is equally easy to use in right or left hands.
The SD weight is just right.
The SD is warm to touch in cold weather.
The SD is e asy to s tore .
* The SD fits in a toolbox easily.
** The SD can be charged while in storage.
The SD resists corrosion w hen left outside or in damp places.
!* The SD maintains its charge after long periods of storage.
The SD maintains its charge when wet.
The SD preve nts damage to the work.
* The SD prevents damage to the screw
head.
The SD prevents scratching of finished surf aces.
The SD remains comfortable when left in the sun.
The SD has a pleasant sound w hen in use.
The SD is easy to control while turning screws.
*** The user can easily push on the SD.
*** The user can easily resist the SD twisting.
The SD can be locked "on."
!** The SD speed can be controlled by t he user while turning a screw.
The SD looks lik e a profess ional quality tool.
The SD is s afe.
The SD can be used on electrical devices.
Step 4  Establish importance
• Surveys
•
To establishes the relative importance of quantified needs
• Quantified needs
Step 5  Reflect on the process
Continuous Improvement:
• Have we interacted with all of the important types of customers in
our target market?
• Are we able to see beyond needs related only to existing products
in order to capture the latent needs of our target customers?
• Are there areas of inquiry we should pursue in follow-up interviews
or surveys?
• Which of the customers we spoke to would be good participants in
our ongoing development efforts?
• What do we know now that we did not know when we started? Are
we surprised by any of the needs?
• Did we involve everyone within our own organization who needs to
deeply understand customer needs?
• How might we improve the process in future efforts?
Caveats
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Capture “What, Not How”.
Meet customers in the use environment.
Collect visual, verbal, and textual data.
Props will stimulate customer responses.
Interviews are more efficient than focus groups.
Interview all stakeholders and lead users.
Develop an organized list of need statements.
Look for latent needs.
Survey to quantify tradeoffs.
Make a video to communicate results.
Principles and Caveats
•
•
•
•
•
•
Involve the Whole Team
Don’t just let the marketing representatives perform the needs process. Get the rest of the team
involved.
Capture the Use Environment
Video and/or still photography is valuable to document the environment in which the product will
be used. These images will come in handy during concept generation and for making
presentations later.
Identify the Lead Users
Seek out those who experience needs ahead of others and those who stand to benefit greatly
from new products. They often have useful innovations to share.
Look for Latent Needs
These are the needs that are most difficult to identify, however products which first are able to
satisfy such needs are often phenomenally successful. Students can debate whether the
structured approach presented here is capable of identifying latent needs. The Walkman
example is a classic one: There are several ways that Sony could have figured out that people
would like portable music.
"What Not How"
The most important guideline in translation of needs is to capture the essence of what the
customer needs, not how to accomplish it. Of course when useful solutions are suggested, the
team should make a note which can be saved for concept generation later.
Use Props
It is useful to bring props to customer interviews and focus groups. This can stimulate discussion
about needs and will reveal problems with existing products. Suggested props include existing
products, items related to the product use environment, etc.
Visual Information Example: Book Bag Design
Needs Translation Exercise:
Book Bag Design Example
“See how the leather on the bottom of the bag is all
scratched; it’s ugly.”
“When I’m standing in line at the cashier trying to
find my checkbook while balancing my bag on
my knee, I feel like a stork.”
“This bag is my life; if I lose it I’m in big trouble.”
“There’s nothing worse than a banana that’s been
squished by the edge of a textbook.”
“I never use both straps on my knapsack; I just
sling it over one shoulder.”