1. Copyright © 2005 Rochester Institute of Technology
Needs Assessment
prepared by Prof. Marcos Esterman (ISE)
Copyright © 2005 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.

2. Goals of Needs Identification
Provide basis for PD decisions
Elicit needs that may not be so obvious
Provide basis for engineering metrics
Ensure critical needs are elicited
Develop a common understanding of the needs
Archiving of needs
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

3. Steps in Identifying Customer Needs
Gather the raw data
Interpret the raw data
Organize the needs
Establish relative importance of needs
Sanity Check!
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

4. Pre-conditions: A Project Exists!
Mission Statement: Screwdriver Project
Product Description
A Handheld, power-assisted device for installing threaded fasteners
Key Business Goals
Q4 ’06 Product Introduction
50% Gross Margin
10% Market Share by ‘08
Primary Market
Do-it-yourself consumer
Secondary Markets
Casual consumer
Light-duty professional
Assumptions
Hand-held
Power-assisted
Nickel-Metal-Hydride battery
Stakeholders
User
Retailer
Sales Force
Service Center
Production
Legal Dept.

5. Methods for Gathering Raw Data
Brainstorming
Method best suited for your projects
Interviews
1-on-1
Dialog Directly w/Company personnel
Focus Groups
8-12 People (Typically Paid)
Moderator
Company personnel observe group
Observing the Product in Use
Direct Observation (Contextual Inquiry)
Virtual Observation
Use Cases
Task Oriented
Simulate and document the steps to accomplish the task
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

6. Affinity Diagram: KJ Method
Structured brainstorming and analysis
Developed by Prof. Jiro Kawakita (U. Of Kyoto)
Basic steps
Collect narrative data and compile into cards
Sort and label cards (clustering)
Develop the KJ diagram and present to team
Ishii, K.,“Introduction to Design for Manufacturability (DFM)", ME317A dfM: Product Definition, Stanford University, Lecture 1/7/2004
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.

7. Hair Dryer Example
Ishii, K.,“Introduction to Design for Manufacturability (DFM)", ME317A dfM: Product Definition, Stanford University, Lecture 1/7/2004

8. KAWAKITA Jiro (KJ) Method
First come up with anything...
Colorful
Dries
Fast
Quiet
Operating
Cost
Easy to Hold
Portable
Reliable
Good
Style
Easy to
Use
Safe
Long
Lasting
Fan
Motor
Weight
Heater
Control
Switch
Handle
Heat
Grip
Airflow
Casing
Ishii, K.,“Introduction to Design for Manufacturability (DFM)", ME317A dfM: Product Definition, Stanford University, Lecture 1/7/2004
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.

9. Then Sort and Cluster... Functional Ergonomic Esthetic Colorful Dries
Fast
Quiet
Operating
Cost
Easy to Hold
Portable
Easy to
Use
Good
Style
Reliable
Long
Lasting
Safe
Fan
Motor
Weight
Heater
Control
Switch
Handle
Heat
Grip
Airflow
Casing
Product Characteristic
Structural Attribute
Ishii, K.,“Introduction to Design for Manufacturability (DFM)", ME317A dfM: Product Definition, Stanford University, Lecture 1/7/2004
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.

10. Choosing Customers Sample Size Always gather from end user
Ulrich & Eppinger Recommend, 10 < n < 50
Always gather from end user
Don’t forget other key customers/stakeholders from CVCA
Know your market space & sample appropriately*
Level of abstraction of the need
Nokia 9300?, Nokia Phones?, Cell Phones?, Voice Communication?, Communication?
Type of User
Lead?, Satisfied?, Dissatisfied?, Former?, Customers Never Had
*Burchill, G., Concept Engineering: an Investigation of Time vs. Market Orientation in Product Concept development. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D. Thesis, 1993.

11. What is a Lead User? (Eric Von Hippel is a much cited author in this area)
Innovators: a couple of percent
Early adoptors: %
Early Majority: ~1/3
Late Majority: ~1/3
Laggards: the rest
Note: life cycle model says basis of competition changes from early adopters to laggards
Early
Need Users
Early
Majority
Late
Majority
Laggards
Time
LEAD USERS
Burchill, G., Brodie, C., Voices into Choices: Acting on the Voice of the Customer. Center for Quality Management, pg. 54
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.

12. Lead User Characteristics
Big need for capability of your product
Their needs foreshadow the market
Have extended current product beyond their intended limits
They often have solutions Conceptualized or Implemented
Burchill, G., Brodie, C., Voices into Choices: Acting on the Voice of the Customer. Center for Quality Management, pg. 54

13. Eliciting Customer Needs
Prepare an interview guide
Elicit dialog on a particular task or problem
Have them walk through a specific instance
Don’t ask them to generalize!
Better yet, have them show you
Go with the flow
Use visual stimuli and props
Avoid leading questions
Avoid yes/no questions
Be prepared for latent needs
Focus on the customer pain
What’s the underlying problem that needs to be solved
Document, Document, Document
HP Example

14. Contextual Inquiry Needs expressed in action
Observe customer using products in normal context
Allows the team to better Support, Extend, and Transform customers’ activities
Important aspect of context
Location
People
Culture
Values
Clausing, D., Total Quality Development,: A Step-By-Step Guide to World Class Concurrent Engineering, ASME Press, NY 1994, pp

15. Levels of Contextual Awareness
Interviews
site
interview
phone call
to customer
High
Process Participation
field
service calls
Intervention
with User
human
performance
lab
Participant Observation
field
observations
Low
Far
Distance from
User Environment
Close
Burchill, G., Concept Engineering: an Investigation of Time vs. Market Orientation in Product Concept development. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D. Thesis, Pictorial Representation from K. Ishii.
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.

16. Sources of Existing Data
External Sources
Customer Complaints
Technical Specifications
Market Research Reports
Customer Surveys
Customer Profiles
Industry Benchmarking Studies
Competitor Assessments
Journals
Internal Sources
Benchmarking Studies
Company Policies
Employees Surveys
Suggestion Systems
Customer Profiles
Internal Publications
Burchill, G., Brodie, C., Voices into Choices: Acting on the Voice of the Customer. Center for Quality Management, pg. 42

17. Developing Needs Statements: Guidelines for Interpreting the Data
Understand the value proposition
Your product is solving some problems
What are they?
What value do you allow your customer to deliver?
Stay close to the customer language
What, not how
Specificity equal to the raw data
Positive, not negative
Product Attribute
Avoid “must” & “should”
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

18. Need Statements Guidelines (pg. 63)
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

19. Organize the Needs Hierarchically (pg. 64)
Perfect Application for Affinity Diagrams
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

20. Establish Relative Importance of Needs
Development Team Consensus
Customer Surveys
Characterize the need

21. Development Team Consensus
Rating
Weight
Very Important 9
Important 3
Somewhat Important 1

22. Customer Surveys Only a subset will be practical to prioritize
N ~ 50 is reasonable
Customer Needs to Focus on
Technical Trade-Offs
Can eliminate needs that are obviously important
Costly Features
Can eliminate needs that are easy to implement
Importance Rating
Mean, Standard Deviation, Number of Responses in Each Category, etc.
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

23. Importance Rating Survey Example (pg. 67)
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

24. Characterize the Need: Kano Diagram
Degree to Which Need is Met
Customer Satisfaction
Must Have
Linear Satisfier
Delighter
The SD maintains charge for several hours of heavy use
The SD automatically orients screws
The SD can turn Phillips, Torx, socket, and hex head screws
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004

25. Sanity Check All customer types? Latent Needs? Any follow-up areas?
What do we know now that we didn’t before? Surprises?
Did organization participate in process?
Process improvement.