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Engineering Design and Technology

Identifying customer needs

Dr Ashraf Afifi
BSc, MSc, PhD, FHEA

Senior Lecturer
of Engineering Management
Outline
• The customer needs activity
• The importance of latent needs
• The process of identifying customer needs
– Gather data from customers
– Interpret the data in terms of customer needs
– Organise the needs into a hierarchy
– Quantify the relative importance of the needs
– Reflect on the results and the process
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The customer needs activity
• Customer needs:
Concept System-Level Detail Testing and Production

– Voice of the
Planning Development Design Design Refinement Ramp-Up

Mission Concept System Spec Critical Design Production

customer Approval Review Review Review Approval

translated into
proper form
Mission Development
Statement Identify Establish Generate Select Test Set Plan Plan

• Product
Customer Target Product Product Product Final Downstream
Needs Specifications Concepts Concept(s) Concept(s) Specifications Development

specifications:
– Customer needs Analysis of customer needs begins the development process.

translated into The customer needs activity in relation to other concept

measurable terms development activities (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2016)

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The importance of latent needs
Stable seat • Easy for customers to express
• Widely known and
Explicit understood
• Likely to be already fulfilled

Compact folding • Easy for customers to express

Unfulfilled • Known to be difficult to
address
• Generally not fulfilled

Mobile camera • Hard for customers to

Latent express
• Not yet widely understood
• Currently unaddressed

A classification of customer needs

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The process of identifying customer needs
• Benefits of using a • Main steps:
structured approach:
– Gather data from
– Allow the design team to customers
maintain focus on the
needs of the customers – Interpret the data in
terms of customer needs
– Provide a decision process
that the team can follow – Organise the needs into
and use to develop a hierarchy
consensus throughout the
project – Quantify the relative
importance of the needs
– Produce documentation of
the development process – Reflect on the results and
and its key decisions the process
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The process of identifying customer needs
• Philosophy behind the method: • Goals of the method:
– Create a high-quality – Ensure that the product is focused
information channel that runs on customer needs
directly between customers
and designers – Identify latent or hidden needs as
well as explicit needs
– Ensure that the designers
interact with customers and – Ensure that no critical customer
experience the use need is missed or forgotten
environment of the product – Develop a common understanding
of customer needs among
• Enable identifying important members of the design team
customer needs, making
technical tradeoffs correctly, – Provide a fact base for justifying
discovering innovative the product specifications
solutions to customer needs,
and developing a deep – Create an archival record of the
commitment to meeting needs’ activity of the development
customer needs process
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Mission statement

A typical example of mission statement for a thermostat

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Step 1: Gather data from customers
• Involves contact with customers
and experience with the use 100
environment of the product

Percent of Needs Identified

• Commonly used methods: 80

– Interviews: Conducted in the 60

One-on-One Interviews (1 hour)
customer’s environment and Focus Groups (2 hours)
typically last one to two hours 40

with a single customer

20

– Focus groups: A two-hour

discussion with a group of 8 to 0
12 customers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of Interviews or Groups
– Observation: Watching Comparison of the percentages of customer needs that
customers while using the are revealed for focus groups and interviews as a function
product in the actual of the number of sessions (Griffin and Hauser, 1993)
environment
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Customer needs and markets
• Lead or extreme users may
experience needs more
strongly than others
Mainstream Customers
– Lead users: Customers who
experience needs months or

Market Size
years ahead of the majority of
the market
Lead/Extreme Users
– Extreme users: Customers
who use the product in
unusual ways or who have
special needs
Common Special
• Customers with specific Specificity of needs
needs may be in small market
segments, but their needs Importance of lead and/or extreme users
may indicate important
directions for larger markets
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Step 2: Interpret the data in terms of customer needs
• 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
– Express the need as specifically as the raw data
– Use positive, not negative, phrasing
– Express the need as an attribute of the product
– Avoid the words must and should
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Step 2: Interpret the data in terms of customer needs
Needs Statement - Needs Statement -
Guideline Customer Statement
Right Wrong
“What” not I would like my iPhone to The thermostat can be The thermostat is
“How” adjust my thermostat. controlled remotely accompanied by a
without requiring a downloadable iPhone
special device. app.
Specificity I have different heating and The thermostat can The thermostat is
cooling systems. control separate heating versatile.
and cooling systems.
Positive not I get tired of standing in The thermostat can be The thermostat does not
Negative front of my thermostat to programmed from a require me to stand in
program it. comfortable position. front of it for
programming.
An Attribute of I have to manually override The thermostat An occupant’s presence
the Product the program if I’m home automatically responds triggers the thermostat
when I shouldn’t be. to an occupant’s to automatically change
presence. modes.
Avoid “Must” and I’m worried about how The thermostat controls The thermostat must be
“Should” secure my thermostat are secure from secure from
would be if it were unauthorized access. unauthorized access.
accessible online.

Examples illustrating the guidelines for writing needs statements (Ulrich and Eppinger, 2016)
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 Step 3: Organise the needs into a hierarchy
** The thermostat is easy to install. ** The thermostat controls are precise.
*** The thermostat works with my existing heating and/or cooling ** The thermostat maintains temperature accurately.
system. The thermostat minimizes unintended variability in temperature.
** The thermostat installation is an easy do-it-yourself project for a The thermostat allows temperatures to be specified precisely.
novice.
** The thermostat can control separate heating and cooling systems. *** The thermostat is smart.
* The thermostat can be installed without special tools. *** The thermostat can adjust temperature during the day
The thermostat is easily purchased. according to user preferences.
Secondary needs ** The thermostat can be programmed to a precise schedule.
* The thermostat lasts a long time. ! The thermostat automatically responds to occupancy.
Hierarchical list of The thermostat is safe to bump into. ! The thermostat prevents pipes from freezing in cold months.
customer needs for the The thermostat resists dirt and dust. Latent needs The thermostat alerts the user when a problem arises.
! The thermostat exterior surfaces do not fade or discolor over time. The thermostat does not require users to set time or date.
thermostat (Ulrich and The thermostat is recyclable at end of life.Primary needs The thermostat adjusts automatically to the seasons.

Eppinger, 2016) *** The thermostat is easy to use. * The thermostat is personal.
** The thermostat user interaction is easy to understand. * The thermostat accommodates different user preferences for
Importance ratings are indicated by * The thermostat is easy to learn to use.Importance ratings comfort.
the number of *’s, with *** * The thermostat does not place significant demands on user The thermostat accommodates different user preferences for
memory. energy efficiency.
denoting critically important needs. ! The thermostat can be programmed from a comfortable position. The thermostat controls are secure from unauthorized access.
Latent needs are denoted by !. The thermostat can be controlled remotely without requiring a The thermostat provides useful information.
special device.
! The thermostat works pretty well right out of the box with no set up. *** The thermostat is a good investment.
The thermostat’s behavior is easy to change. ** The thermostat is affordable to purchase.
The thermostat is easy to control manually. *** The thermostat saves energy.
The thermostat display is easy to read from a distance. * The thermostat tracks cost savings.
The thermostat display can be read clearly in all conditions.
The thermostat’s controls accommodate users with limited dexterity. ** The thermostat is reliable.
The thermostat accommodates different conventions for The thermostat does not require replacing batteries.
temperature scales. The thermostat works normally when electric power is suspended.
The thermostat accommodates different preferences for
representing time and date.
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Steps 4: Quantify relative importance of the needs
• The relative importance of the customer needs must be established
to enables the design team to make tradeoffs and allocate resources
in designing the product
– Two approaches can be used:

• Consensus of the team members – Inexpensive and efficient

• Further customer surveys – More accurate

• In most cases, the customer survey is important and worth the time
required to complete it
– The needs in the hierarchical list of the thermostat are rated
according to a survey data
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Steps 5: Reflect on the results and the process
• The team must challenge its results to verify that they are consistent with the knowledge
and intuition the team has developed through interaction with customers

• Some questions to ask include:

– Have we interacted with all important customers in our target market?

– Are we able to capture the latent needs of our target customers?

– Did we involve everyone within our own organisation who needs to deeply understand
customer needs?

– How might we improve the process in future efforts?

• A good way to summarise the results of the process is to list the most important needs and
the latent needs
– Important needs are an excellent reminder of the critical few needs that must be addressed
for a great product

– Latent needs provide insights that can drive the creative process of generating product
concepts
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Summary
• The satisfaction of customer needs is a fundamental metric of product
quality, and the design team must fully understand these needs in order to
develop the right product
• The ability to recognise latent needs is a critical capability in product design
• Customer needs should be expressed in terms of what the product has to
do, and not in terms of how the product might be implemented
• The key benefits of the customer needs analysis method are
– Ensuring that the product is focused on customer needs and that no critical
customer need is forgotten
– Developing a clear understanding among members of the design team of the
needs of the customers in the target market
– Developing a fact base to be used in generating concepts, selecting a product
concept, and establishing product specifications
– Creating an archival record of the needs phase of the development process
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 Thank You

Comments and questions to:

Teams, discussion forum, or
Ashraf.Afifi@bristol.ac.uk

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