1 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo MSE-415: Product Design Lecture #3 Chapter 4 Identifying Customer Needs

2 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Lecture Objectives: Informal product choice introduction by groups Discuss methods for comprehensively identifying a set of customer needs.  5 Steps – Gather raw data from customers – Interpret the raw data in terms of custom needs – Organize the needs into a hierarchy of primary, secondary, and (if necessary) tertiary needs – Establish the relative importance of the needs – Reflect on the results of the process

3 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs Logically, the identification of customer needs comes early in development activities. Concept Development Process Perform Economic Analysis Benchmark Competitive Products Build and Test Models and Prototypes Identify Customer Needs Establish Target Specifications Generate Product Concepts Select Product Concept(s) Set Final Specifications Plan Downstream Development Mission Statement Test Product Concept(s) Development Plan

4 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs What is the difference between customer needs and target specifications? Identify Customer Needs Establish Target Specification

5 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs Step 1: Gather Raw Data from Customer  Interviews – One or more development team members discuss needs with a single customer.  Focus Groups – A moderator facilitates a two-hour discussion with a group of 8 to 12 customers. – Usually costs about $2,500  Observing the Product in Use – Watch customers use an existing product. *Research indicates that two 1-hour interviews usually provides the same amount of information as a focus group for a lot less money.

6 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs But how many interviews do you need to conduct? Somewhere between 10 and 50. Needs can be identified efficiently by interviewing a class of customers called lead users.  They are often able to articulate their emerging needs because they have had to struggle with the inadequacies of existing products.  They may have already invented solutions to meet their needs.

7 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs What if several different groups are your customer? Lead Users Retailer Sales Outlet Service Center Homeowner (Occasional use) Handyperson (Frequent Use) 310 Professional (Heavy Duty Use) 322 Customer Selection Matrix

8 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs The Art of Eliciting Customer Needs Data  Typically used in interviews. 1.Go with the flow. 2.Use visual stimuli and props 3.Suppress preconceived hypotheses about the product technology 4.Have the customer demonstrate the product and/or typical tasks related to the product 5.Be alert for surprises and the expression of latent needs 6.Watch for non-verbal information

9 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs Documenting Interactions with Customers 1.Audio Recordings 2.Notes 3.Video Recordings 4.Still Photography

10 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Interview Your Customer Spend 15 minutes discussing amongst your groups what the customer needs would be for a padlock on an Aircraft carrier. Customer Needs:

11 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs Step 2: Interpret Raw Data in Terms of Customer Needs  Each statement or observation may be ‘translated’ into any number of customer needs.  Have more than one ‘translator’ because customer needs can be interpreted differently.

12 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Guidelines for Writing Needs Statements Express the need in terms of what the product has to do, not in terms of how it might do it.  Voice of customer - “I want a car with a really big engine so it is not slow”  Translated need – “The car is fast” Express the need as specifically as the raw data.  Voice of customer - “A fast car can go from 0 – 60mph in 5 seconds.”  Translated need – “The car accelerates from 0 – 60mph in 5 seconds or less” Use positive, not negative, phrasing.  Voice of customer - “I don’t want a slow car”  Translated need – “The car is fast” Express the need as an attribute of the product.  Voice of customer - “I like big tires on my fast car”  Translated need – “The car has tires larger than standard tires” Avoid the words must and should.  Voice of customer - “The car must be fast”  Translated need – “The car is fast”

13 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Translate Needs

14 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs Step 3: Organize the Needs into a Hierarchy  A large list of needs is difficult to work with. Organize these needs into a hierarchical list. 1.Print or write out each need statement on a separate card or self stick note. 2.Eliminate redundant statements. 3.Group the cards according to similarity of the needs they express. 4.For each group, choose a label. 5.Consider creating super groups consisting of two to five groups. 6.Review and edit the organized needs statements. Guidelines for Organizing Needs Statements

15 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Organize/Group Needs

16 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs Step 4: Establish relative importance of needs. 1.Rely on the consensus of the team members base upon their experience with customers. 2.Base the importance on information obtained from further customer surveys.

17 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Establish Importance of Needs

18 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Identifying Customer Needs Step 5: Reflect on the Results and the Process. 1.Have we interacted with all of the important types of customers in our target market? 2.Are we able to see beyond the needs related only to existing products in order to capture the latent needs of our target customers? Others questions to ask?

19 Rev: 02/12/2007 MSE-415: B. Hawrylo Next Week – September 26, 2007 (Lecture #5) Homework #3  Chapter 4, pg. 69, Exercise #1  Chapter 4, pg. 70, Thought Question 2 Design and Development Project  Customer needs – Identify the customer – Product market – Product advantages and benefits over any competitor – Obtain and document customer needs (Interview, survey, etc) Read Chapter 5 – Product Specifications  Discuss the product specification process  -Setting specifications  -Refining specifications  -Reflecting on the results and the process Prepare for a potential quiz on:  Chapters 1-5, 16  Lectures #1, #2, #3 and Lecture #3  Lab notebook procedure  Handout reading from “Product Leadership Pathways to Profitable Innovation”