Understanding and Identifying Customer Needs

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Understanding and Identifying Customer Needs
Considering the customers desires will pull
product development into better direction and
amplify success
Technologists Problem product development
undertaken with no basis for market acceptance.
Very common in engineering community.
Akia Morita (1986), founder of Sony Corp., our
plan is to lead the public to new products rather
than ask them what they want. The public does not
know what is possible, we do
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Customer Expectations
Customer expectations increase over time, it is
very important to stay in touch with customers
and to understand their preferences. The more
customer expects, the harder it is to keep
delighting the customer. Example Cup holder in
cars.
Customer Population
The customer is a statistical concept. The design
team should define the customer population using
the product. Example Bicycle
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Types of Customer Needs
General categories based on how easy the customer
can express them and how rapidly they
change. Example Digital Camera

• Direct Needs customers have no trouble
  declaring those needs they are concerned about.
• Cost, good pictures, ease of operation
• Latent Needs not directly expressed by the
  customer without probing.
• Obtaining prints, easy viewing on PC

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Types of Customer Needs

• Constant Needs these needs are intrinsic to the
  task of the product and always will be. When
  product is used, this need is always there.
• Nighttime picture taking, number of digital
  images.
• Special needs apply only to a smaller market
  segment within the entire population.
• Under water application

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The Process

• Collecting raw data from customers
• Interpreting the raw data
• Grouping the needs into primary, secondary,
  needs
• Establishing the relative importance of the needs
• Documenting the results for the entire design team

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The Goals of the Process

• Ensure that the product is focused on customer
  needs
• Identify all needs, explicit and hidden
• Make sure that no critical need is missed
• Creating a comprehensive list of the needs for
  the design team

The idea is to create a high-quality information
channel between the customers in the target
market and the developers of the product.
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Gathering Customers needs

• Interviews Discuss the needs with a single
  customer, one at a time in the customers
  environment where the customer uses the product.
• Guideline for interviewing
• Introduce yourself and state the purpose of the
  interview.
• When and why do you use this product?
• Walk us through a typical session using the
  product.
• What do you like about the existing product?
• What do you dislike about the existing product?
• What issues do you consider when buying this
  product?
• What improvements would you make to the
  product?
• What would be a reasonable price tag for the
  product?

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Guideline for interviewing

• Go with the flow Wherever the customer takes
  you, follow along, and ask why and how questions
• Use visual stimuli and props Bring models of
  new product, competitors products.
• Suppress preconceived notions about the product
  technology do not bias the customer with any
  concept or technology. Uncovering a need that is
  independent from the solution used helps in
  concept engineering.

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Guideline for interviewing

• Have the customer demonstrate dont just ask
  about the product, observing the customer in
  action provides helpful information.
• Be alert for surprises and latent needs pursue
  any surprise answer with a question.
• Watch for nonverbal information look for facial
  and body language.

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Gathering Customers needs
Questionnaires use the same guideline as for
the interview to develop a list of questions.
Prepare the questions carefully. Then organize
the responses provided. Make the list short.
Focus groups a moderator facilitates a session
with a group of customers in the product
developers environment. The design team may
observe the session behind a two-way mirror. Very
common in food industry. Look for facial and body
expressions.
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Comments on Gathering Customers needs
Questionnaires provide the lowest quality
information. The responses only pertain to the
questions asked, not necessarily what the
customer wants to tell the design team. Low
percentage of returns. Focus groups are more
costly to attain the same amount of
information. Conducting interviews is the most
efficient way of gathering quality information.
Hauser (1993), reports that interviewing nine
customers for one hour each will obtain over 90
of the customer needs that would be uncovered
when interviewing 60 customers in a focus group.
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Example Electric Wok
An electric wok redesign is desired. Current
electric woks are inadequate and do not satisfy
the demands of customers to conveniently cook
authentic Chinese food. The original wok is a
six-quart electric wok. A competitive wok is a
traditional wok, used over a gas flame.
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Interview Data Template Elect. Wok
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Product feel Industrial Design
In addition to the activities of a product, it is
also important to capture the desired feel of a
product. Industrial designers emphasizes the
important human qualities of comfort, safety ,
and aesthetic appeal.
Semantic Inquiry
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Organizing Customer Needs
The design team reviews the interpreted needs and
sort them into a list - Affinity Diagram Method
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Determining Need Importance

• Interview Data Method the subjective importance
  ratings (good, must, ) are converted into
  numerical equivalents. Then the importance is
  calculated using the average equation.
• Questionnaire Method a questionnaire is sent to
  customers asking for the importance of each need.
  Costly but more accurate.

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Determining Need Importance Interv. Data Method
Must 9 Good 7 Should 5 Nice 3
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Determining Need Importance Quest. Method
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Cluster Analysis Method
In previous method the importance ranking of each
customer need resulted in a constant weight. It
may be desirable to obtain a correlation between
needs.

• Construct a preference structure over the values.
  For example, noise generated by a product and
  price (decibels vs. dollar).
• Construct a preference structure not over the
  values of the needs but rather over the the
  different product configurations. Show customers
  different prototypes and include customer needs
  in the design.

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Cluster Analysis Method Blender Face
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Comments on Customer Needs Process

• The process of identifying and evaluating
  customer needs is not an exact science.
• The knowledge, intuition and experience of the
  design team is important.
• The result of the customer needs process is used
  to establish product specifications.
• The process ensures that the product is focused
  on customer needs.
• The results should be organized and documented
  for the design team to use.

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Homework assignment 2Due Thursday Sept. 25

• Select one product from your list of ideas in
  HW
• assignment 1.
• Interview 10 potential customers.
• Organize a customer needs list, use the
  Affinity
• Diagram Method.
• Determine the needs importance, use the
• Questionnaire Method.