Identifying Customer Needs

Chapter 4: Ulrich and Eppinger

Identifying Customer Needs

• Goals– Ensure product is focused on customer needs– Identify both explicit and latent/hidden needs– Provide fact base for justifying product

specifications– Create archival record of the needs activity– Ensure no critical customer need overlooked– Team understands customer needs

Customer Needs Process• Define the Scope

– Mission Statement• Gather Raw Data

– Interviews– Focus Groups– Observation

• Interpret Raw Data– Need Statements

• Organize the Needs– Hierarchy

• Establish Importance– Surveys– Quantified Needs

• Reflect on the Process– Continuous Improvement

Mission Statement

Product Description: ----

Key Business Goals: ----

Primary Market: ----

Secondary Market(s)? ----

Assumptions: ----

Stakeholders: ----

Project Definition

Customer Needs Example:Cordless Screwdrivers

Mission StatementExample: 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

Identifying Customer Needs

The process:1. Gather raw data from customers2. Interpret raw data in terms of customer

needs3. Organize needs into a hierarchy (primary,

secondary, etc.)4. Establish relative importance of each

need5. Reflect on the results and the process

Identifying Customer Needs

1. Gather raw data from customers– Interviews– Focus groups– Observing product in use

Meeting With The Customers

Proposed Outcomes Prioritized Outcomes

Prioritized Design VariablesValidated Outcomes

& New Outcomes

How Many Customers?

From: Griffin, Abbie and John R. Hauser. “The Voice of the Customer”, Marketing Science. vol. 12, no. 1, Winter 1993.

One-on-One Interviews (1 hour)

Focus Groups (2 hours)

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0

20

40

60

80

100P

erce

nt

of

Nee

ds

Iden

tifi

ed

Number of Respondents or Groups

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.”

Identifying Customer Needs

2. Interpret raw data in terms of customer needs

– Express need as “what”, not “how”– Express the need as specifically as the

raw data– Use positive, not negative, phrasing– Express the need as an attribute to 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

Specificity

Positive Not

Negative

Attribute of the

Product

Avoid “Must”

and “Should

“Why don’t you put protective shields around the battery contacts?”

“I drop my screwdriver all the time.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s raining, I still need to work outside on Saturdays.”

“I’d like to charge my battery from my cigarette lighter.”

“I hate it when I don’t know how much juice is left in the batteries of my cordless tools.”

The screwdriver battery contacts are covered by a plastic sliding door.

The screwdriver battery is protected from accidental shorting.

The screwdriver is rugged.

The screwdriver operates normally after repeated dropping.

The screwdriver is not disabled by the rain.

The screwdriver operates normally in the rain.

An automobile cigarette lighter adapter can charge the screwdriver battery.

The screwdriver battery can be charged from an automobile cigarette lighter.

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.

Identifying Customer Needs

3. Organize needs into a hierarchy

(one method)• Print each need on separate card/post-it• Eliminate redundant statements• Group cards according to similar needs met• Choose a label for each group• Create supergroups (2 to 5 groups) where

possible• Review / edit the organized need statements

Identifying Customer Needs

4. Establish relative importance of each need

• Develop a weighting system for customer needs:– Rely on consensus of the team based on

their experience with customersOr– Use further customer surveys

Identifying Customer Needs

5. Reflect on the results and the process

– Are results consistent with results of team’s interaction with the customers?

– Have all important types of customers in target market been interacted with?

– What do we know that we didn’t know when we started? Any surprises?

– How can we improve the process?

Kano Diagram for Customer Satisfaction

Disgusted

Fully Implemented

Delighted

Basic Expectations(unspoken)

Performance Wants(revealed)

Exciters – “wow”(unspoken)

Cu

stom

er

Sati

sfact

ion

Product Function

Absent

Expected, Requested, and Surprising Performance

Expected Performance

Surprising Performance

Requested Performance

Design Variables

Benefit Derived =Differentiating Outcome

Establish Hierarchy, Relative Importance

Summary: Identifying Customer Needs

The process:1. Gather raw data from customers2. Interpret raw data in terms of customer

needs3. Organize needs into a hierarchy (primary,

secondary, etc.)4. Establish relative importance of each

need5. Reflect on the results and the process

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.

End