Identifying Customer Needs

1. Identifying Customer Needs How the rest of engineering does it! From Product Design and Development, Chapter 4 Karl T. Ulrich and Steven D. EppingerThird Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2004.

2. Product Development Process Concept Development System-Level Design Detail Design Testing and Refinement Production Ramp-Up Planning (Typically with reviews after each) (Initial) Identifying Customer Needs

3. 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

4. Types of Customer Needs • Direct Need • concern about product, easy to determine • Latent Need • requires probing to find • maybe not product related but use/system related • Constant Need • intrinsic to the product • Variable Need • removed by a technology change • General Need • applies to all customers • Niche Need • small market segment

5. 1. Define the Scope Mission Statement and Technical Clarifications • Focus Design Efforts • Define Project Goals (measurable) • Involve development/design team in business case/analysis • Project Schedule • Tasks, timelines, milestones • Provide guidelines for design process

6. Above – Mars One, a mission requiring plenty of planning! From: Product Design Otto and Wood, Prentice-Hall (2001)

7. Customer Needs Example:Cordless Screwdrivers ?

8. 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

9. 2. Gather Raw Data Gather Data From Customers • Interviews • In customer environment • Focus Groups • Groups of 8-12 customers • Observing Product in Use What Did Ideo Do ??

10. Data Gathering Methods and Outcomes From: http://www.betterproductdesign.net/guide/users.htm, accessed June 6, 2004

11. One-on-One Interviews (1 hour) Focus Groups (2 hours) How Many Customers? 100 80 60 Percent of Needs Identified 40 20 10 to 50 Sessions 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 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.

12. Choosing the ‘Customer’ • Often the case that: • One person buys it, • Another uses it, • Someone else services it, • Etc. • Talk to each group ! If you were doing this project “Agile,” which one would you pick as the customer who hangs around with the team regularly? What Did Ideo Do ??

13. Identify Lead Users • Customers who experience needs before the majority of the market. • Benefit from product innovations, • Can clearly state emerging needs, • Have already invented solutions. What Did Ideo Do ??

14. Ambiguity Choice of Words What we want vs. What we don’t want Exploring Requirements From: Gause and Weinberg, Exploring Requirements Dorset House Publishing, 1989.

15. Context Free Questions • Context-free Product questions • When and why do you use this product ? • Walk us through using it. • What do you like about it? • What issues do you consider in purchasing? • What improvements would you recommend? From: Gause and Weinberg, Exploring Requirements Dorset House Publishing, 1989.

16. Context Free Questions • Context-free Process questions • What is a solution worth to the client? • How much time do we have for the project? • How should we organize the teams? From: Gause and Weinberg, Exploring Requirements Dorset House Publishing, 1989.

17. Context Free Questions • Metaquestions • Am I asking too many questions? • Is there anything else I should be asking you? • Is there anyone else I should be talking to? From: Gause and Weinberg, Exploring Requirements Dorset House Publishing, 1989.

18. Documenting Customer Data • Audio, Video Recording • Notes • Photography What Did Ideo Do ??

19. 3. Interpret the Data Raw Data –to– Needs Statements • What not How. • Express need as specifically as raw data. • Use positive, not negative phrasing. • Express need as attribute of the product. • Avoid ‘must’ and ‘should’.

20. Examples – Typical Use Customer statement: • I need to drive screws fast, faster than by hand.. Interpreted need: Hey – this looks like a user story!

21. Examples – Typical Use Customer statement: • I sometimes do duct work and use sheet metal screws.. Interpreted need: Ditto

22. Examples – Current Tool Likes Customer statement: • I like the pistol grip…it feels the best. Interpreted need: Could you make this look like user story?

23. Examples – Current Tool Likes Customer statement: • I like the magnetized tip… Interpreted need: Ditto?

24. Examples – Current Tool Dislikes Customer statement: • I don’t like it when the tip slips off the screw… Interpreted need: Ditto?

25. Examples – Current Tool Dislikes Customer statement: • I would like to be able to lock it so I can use it with a dead battery.. Interpreted need: Ditto?

26. Examples – Current Tool Dislikes Customer statement: • Can’t drive screws into hard wood.. Interpreted need: Ditto?

27. Examples – Suggested Improvements Customer statement: • A point so I can scrape paint off screw heads.. Interpreted need: Ditto?

28. Five Guidelines for Writing Needs Statements Customer Statement Need Statement-Wrong Need Statement-Right Guideline “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. What Not How “I drop my screwdriver all the time.” The screwdriver is rugged. The screwdriver operates normally after repeated dropping. Specificity 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.

29. 4. Organize the Needs Organized List of Customer Needs How would we do the organization differently if they were software user stories? What Did Ideo Do ??

30. 5. Establish Importance Establish Relative Priorities • Consensus of Team Members • Further Surveys of Customers • Establish Rankings on 1 to 5 Scale • 1. feature is undesirable – would not consider a product with this feature • …… • 5. feature is critical – would not consider a product without this feature Ditto?

31. Summary • 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.

32. Visual Information Example: Book Bag Design

33. 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.”

34. And, did we get close to what Ideo would do? • Here’s the latest trend in backpacks – My wife has one similar: