CHAPTER 3

IDENTIFVING CUSTOMER
NEEDS
Developed in coll aboration with Jonathan Sterrett.
EXHIBIT 1 Exisl ing producls used lo drive screws : manual screwdrivers. cordless screw-
driver, screw gun, cordless drill with driver bit. (Stuart Cohen)
Asu ccessful hand tool manufacturer was explo ri ng the growing market for
hand-held power tools. Ate r performing initial res earch, the firm decided lO
enter th e market with a cordless screwdriver, Exhibit 1 shows several existing
produces uscd to drive screws. Arrer sorne initial concept work, the manufactur-
e r 's d evclopment team rabi icated and field-r estcd severa] prOlotypes. The results
were d iscoui aging. Although so rne of th e products were liked bettcr than others,
each o ne had SO IlH' Icature i hat cus romers object ed to in u ne way o r another,
The rc sults were quite m)"stil )'ing slice th e company li ad been su cc essful in relat-
ed consumer products 1'01' years. Aft er much discussion, the team decided that
it s process for id entifying custorner nceds was inadequate.
This chapte r presents a methodol ogy for comprehensively id entifying a set 01'
cus to rner needs. The goal s 01' th e methodology are lo:
Ensure that the product is focused on cus tomer needs
Id entify latent o r hidden necds as well as explicit needs
Provide a fact base rol' justifying th e product specificatio ns
Cr ea re a n archival r ecord of th e needs activi ty o f the development proces s
Ensure that no critical customer need is missed or forgotten
Develop a common understanding 01' cus to mer needs a mong the develop-
ment team members
The philosophy behind the methodology is 10 create a hi gh-quality informa-
tion channel that runs di r ectly between customers in the target market and the
d evelopers of the product. This philosophy is built on the premise that those
who directly control the details 01' the product, including the engineers and
industrial d esigners, must interact with cus tomers and experience the use envi-
ronment 01' the product. Without this emphasi s on direct experience, technical
trade-offs are not likely to be made corr ectly, innovati ve solutions 10 cus torner
needs may never be discovcred, and the development team may never develop a
deep co mmitme n t to meeting customer needs.
The process of identifying customer needs is an integral part of the larger
product development process and is most dosely rclated to concept generation,
concept sel ectio n, co mpe ti tive benchmarking, and the establishment of product
specifications. The cus to mer-needs activity is shown in Exhibit 2 in relation to
th es e other early product d evelopment activities, whi ch collec tively ca n be
thought 01'as th e ronrei)! druelopment phase .
The coucept developrucm phase illusuated in Ex h ibit 2 implies a di stinction
between customer needs and product speci fications. This distinction is subtle
but important. Needs are largely independent of any particular product we might
develop; they are not specific to the conce pt we eventually choose to pursue. A
team sh ould be able to identify custorner n eeds without knowing if 01' how it will
eventually address those needs. On the other hand, specifi cations do depend on
the concep t we sel ect. The specifica tio ns for the product we finall y choose to
d evelop will depend on what is technically and economically feasible and on
34
e H APTER 3 : I DE NT I FYI NG e U3 TOMER NE o s 35
.1
Plan
Remaining
Devel opment
Projeet
r:; I
Specifications !
I
r
Seiact a
Produ et
Concep
r--
r . Perform
Econornic
Analysis
Esl abhsh H
'
Generare
Targe! Prcduet
Spscifi cat icns I Concepts
L--_--.J
1
_ _ __L
Ail a,yz;l
Cornpeti tive
Produets
Idenlify
Custo rner
Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT --- - --- - --- -
I
I
l.
Mission
statomcnt
EXHI BIT 2 The custorner-needs activity in relation to other concepl development activities.
what uur competitors o fc r in th e marketplace, as well as un custorn er needs.
(See the chapter "Establishing Pr oduct Specifi cations" for a more detailed dis-
cussion of thi s di stinction.) Also note th at we choose to use th e word need to label
any attr ibute of a potential product th at is desired by the cus to mer ; we do not
di stingui sh he rc betwecn a want ancl a neecl . Other terms uscd in industrial prac-
tice to refer l o customer ne cds include customer auributes and customer require-
ment s.
Identi fyin g custo rner needs is itself a process, for whi ch we pres ent a six-stc p
methocl ology. We believe th. u a little str uct urc goes a long \Vay in fac ilita ti ng
effective product development practi ces, and we hope and expect that thi s
rnethodology will not be viewe d as a ri gid process by th ose wh o ern ploy it but
rather as a stan ing poin t for co utinuous improvement and refinement. The six
ste ps are :
1 Define th e scope of the e ffor t.
2 Gather raw data frorn cus to rners.
3 Interpret th e raw data in terms of cus to rner needs.
4 Organize i he necds into a hi erarchy of primal) ', seco ndary, and (if neces-
sa ry) terti .uv n ce rls.
5 Est ahli sh lile re la rivc- illlporl;lllc e of rhc- I ]( '( ds.
ti Refl cct on 1he results and th e process.
We treat each of th e six steps in turn and illustrat e the key points with th e
cordles s screwdriver exa mple . \Ve chose the scr ewd river because it is simple
enough that the methoclology is not hidden by the co mplexity of the example.
However, note th at th e same methodology, with minor adap tation , has been suc-
cessfull y a pplied to hundreds of products ranging fr orn kitcheri utensils cos ting
less than $10 to machin e tool s costi ng hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The cordless screwclriver caregory of product s is alr eady reJativel y well devel-
36 PAODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
o ~ e d . Su ch products are parti cularl y well sui ted to a structured process for gath
en ng custorner needs, One could re asonably ask whether a structured method-
ology is effectivc for cornple tely new categories of products with which customers
have no experience , Satisfyirig necds is just as important in revolutionary prod-
\ICL'\ as in inciemental products. A nccessary condition for product success is that
a product offer perceived benefits to the custorner. Products offer benefits when
th ey satisfy needs. This is true whether the product is an incremental variation
on an cx isti ng product 0 1' whether it is a completel y new product based on a rev-
olu tio nary invcntion. Developing an en tirely new category of product is a risky
undertaking, and to sorne extent the only real indication of whether customer
needs have been identified correctly is whether customers like the tearn's first
prototypes. Nevertheless, in our opinion, a str uctured methodology for gather-
ing dat a from customers remains useful and can lower the inherent risk in
devel oping a radicalIy new product. Whether or not customers are able to fuIly
art iculate th eir latent needs, inte raction with customers in the target market will
help th e deveIopment tearn develop a personal understanding of the us er's envio
ronment and point of view. This information is always useful, even if it does not
re sult in the identification of every need the new product wiII address.
STEP 1: DEFINE THE SCOPE OF THE EFFORT
For completeness we inelude defining the scope of th e product development
effort as pan of the customer needs phase of development, although this step is
usualIy performed as part of a product planning activity preceding formal prod-
uct development. In defining the scope of the development effort the firm spec-
ifies a particular mark et opportunity and lays out the broad constraints and
objectives for the project. This information is frequently formalized as a mission
statement (also sorne times called a charter or a design lniej) . The mission statement
specifies which direction to go in but generally does not specify a precise desti-
nation or a particular way to proceed. The mission statement for the cordless
screwdriver is shown in Exhibit 3. The mission statement may in elude sorne or
all of the following information:
Brief (one-sentence) description 01 the product: This description typically
ineludes the key customer benefit of the product but avoids implying a spe-
cifi c product concept.
Key business goals: Often these goals in elude th e timing of th e new product
in tro duction, market sh are targets, and desired financial performance.
Target market(s) larthe product: There may be several target markets for the
product. This part ofthc mission statement identifies the primary market as
well as any secondary markets that should be considered in the deveIop-
ment effort.
Assumptions that constrain the deuelopment effort: Assumptions must be made
CHAPTER 3 : IDENTI FYING CUSTOM ER NE EDS 37
Miss ion S!atement : Screwdriver Project
Product
Description
Ksy Business
Goals
Primary Market
Secondary Markets
Assumptions
Stakeholders
A hand-held. power-assisted de,..ice ' ~ i:l stall ing threadeci
Iasteners
Product introducsd in tourth quarter of 1997
50% gross margin
10% share ot cordless screwdriver market by 1999
Do-it-yourself consumer
Casual consumer
Liqht-duty professiona l
Hand-held
Power-assi sted
Nickel-metal-hydride rechargeable battery technology
User
Retailer
Sales torce
Service center
Production
Legal department
EXHIBIT 3 Mission statement tor the cordless screwdriver.
ca re fu lly; alt ho ugh th ey restri ct the range of possibl e product concep ts,
they help to maintain a manageabl e project scope. We have already implie d
o ne assumption in our example by cal!ing the product a cordless screwd riv-
el'. The implication is that th e screwdriver will be powered but wil! not use
a corded power supply.
Stakeholders: One way to ens urc that many of the subtic development issues
are add ressed is to explicitly list al! of th e product' s stakeholders, th at is, al!
01' the gro llps 01' peoplc wh o are affect cd by th e product's a u rib u tcs, Thc
stakeholder list begins " 'Ih 1111" end u se- r (the ulr ima tr-. c xtcrn al (' 11"" '1 11<' 1 '
.uu t lil e ex te rna! cus to me r wh o makes th e buying deci sion about th e prod-
uct. St akeholders also include the customers of the product wh o reside
within th e firm, such as the sales force, the service organization, and th e
production departments. Although this chapter is primarily about identify-
ing the needs of external chst omers, the list of st akcholders serves as a
rerninder to consid er th e needs of eve ryone who will be influenced by th e
product.
38 PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
STEP 2: GATHER RAW DATA FROM CUSTOMERS
Consistent with our basic philosophy of creating a high-qual ty information
channel directly frorn the customer, gathering data involves contact with cus-
tomers and experience with the use environrnent of the product. Three meth-
ods are commonly used:
1 Interviews: One or more dcvelopment tearn mernbers discuss needs with a
single customer. Interviews are usually conducted in th e customer's envi-
ronment and typi cally last one to two hours.
2 Focus groups: A moderator facilitares a two-hour discussion with a group of
8 to 12 customers. Focus groups are typically conducted in a special room
equipped with a two-way mrror allowing several members of the develop-
ment team to observe the group. The proceedings are usually videotaped.
Parti cipants are usually paid a modest fee ($50 to $100 each) for their atten-
dance. The total cost of a focus group, including rental of the room, par-
ticipant fees, videotaping, and refreshments is about $2,000. In most U.S.
cities, firms that rent focus group facilities are listed in the telephone book
under "Market Research."
3 Obseroing the product in use: Watching customers use an existing product or
perform a task for which a new product is intended can reveal important
details about customer needs. For example, a customer painting a house
may use a screwdriver to open paint cans in addition to driving screws.
Observation may be completely passive, without any direct interaction with
the customer, or may involve working side by side with a customer, allowing
members of the development team to develop firsthand experience using
the product. For sorne products, such as do-it-yourself tools, actually using
the products is simple and natural; for others, such as surgical instruments,
the team may have to use the products on surrogate tasks (e .g., cutting fruit
instead of human tissue when developing a new scalpel) .
Sorne practitioners also rely on written surveys for gathering raw data. While
a mail survey is quite useful later in the process, we cannot recommend this
approach for initial efforts to identify customer needs; written surveys simply do
not provide enough information about the use environment ofthe product, and
they are ineffective in revealing unanticipated needs.
Research by Griffin and Hauser shows that one 2-hour focus group reveals
about the same number of needs as two l-hour interviews (Griffin and Hauser,
1993) . (See Exhibit 4.) Because interviews are usually less costly (per hour) than
focus groups and because an interview often allows the product development
team to experience the use environment of the product, we recommend that
interviews be the primary data collection method. Interviews may be supple-
mented with one or two focus groups as a way to allow top management to
observe a group of customers or as a mechanism for sharing a comrnon customer
experience (via videotape) among the members of a larger team. Sorne practi-
tioners believe that for certain products and custorner groups, the interactions
among the participants of focus groups can elicit more varied needs than are
,
U
Q)
Q)
z 40
e
Q)
o
Q;
Q.
20
CHAPTER 3. iDENTIFYING CUST:JMER NEEDS 39
o One-on-One Interview (1 hour)
o Fccus Group (2 hour)
o 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of Interviews or Groups
EXHIBIT 4 Comparison 01 the percentages 01customer needs that are revealed ter locus groups and inter-
views as a lunction 01 the number of sessions. Note that a locus group lasts two hours, while an
interview lasts one hour. (Abbie Griffin and John R. Hauser, "The Voice 01 the Customer,"
Marketing Science, Vol. 12, No. 1, Winter 1993.)
revealed through interviews, although this belief is not strongly supported by
research findings.
Choosing Customers
Griffin and Hauser have al so addressed the question of how many custorners
should be interviewed in order to reveal most of the custorner needs. In one
study, they estimated that 90 percent of the custorner needs for picnic coolers
were revealed after 30 interviews. In another study, they estimated that 98 per-
cent of the custorner needs for a piece of office equipment were revealed after
25 hours of data collection in both focus groups and interviews, As a practical
guideline for most products, conducting fewer than 10 interviews is probably
inadequate and 50 interviews are probably too many. However, interviews can be
conducted sequentially and the process can be terminated when no nc-w needs
are revealed by additional interviews, Teams containing more than 1() pcoplc
usuallv collect data frorn plcnty of customers simplv by involving ever;( .ue in the
1,j(Jl('" FuI' ,,,-,lI"Jk, .. t i n u.uu is di\lllcd I,u tin J<tirs ,tjHi Clcl . ',lir JI1-
ducts {) interviews, the team will conduct 30 interviews in total.
Needs can be identified more efficientiy by interviewing a class of customers
called lead users. According to von Hippel, lead users are custorners who experi-
ence needs months or years ahead of the majority of the marketplace and stand
to benefit substantially from product innovations (von Hippel, 1988). These cus-
tomers are particularly useful sources of data for two reasons: (1) thev are often
able to articulare their emerging needs, because they have had to struggle with
the inadequacies of existing products, and (2) they may have airead" invented
40 PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
I
I
!
I
Retaller or
5e;vlce I
Lead users Users S a l ~ ; ; Outiet
i
Centers
r--
!
I
I Homeowner
D 5
(occaslonal use) I
- -
2
I
Handy person
3 10 3
(frequent use)
Professional
3 2 2
(heavv-dutv use)
EXHIBIT 5 Customer selection matrix lar the cordless screwdriver project.
solutions to meet their needs. By focusing a portion of the data collection efforts
on lead users, th e team may be abl e to identify needs which, although explicit
for lead users, are still latent for th e majority of the marketplace. Developing
products to meet these latent needs allows a firm to anticpate trends and to
leapfrog competitive products.
The choice of which customers to interview is complicated when several dif-
ferent groups of people can be considered "the customer." For many products,
one person (the buyer) makes the buying deci sion and another person (the
user) actually uses the product. A good approach is to gather data from the end
user of the product in all situations, and in cases wherc other types of customers
and stakeholders are clearly important, to gather data from these as well.
Furthermore, ifthere are multiple market segments to be addressed by th e prod-
uct, it is important to gathcr data from each segment in order to understand the
differences in th eir re spective needs.
A cus tomer sel ection matrix is use ful for planning exploration of both market
and customer vari ety. Burchill suggests that market segments be listed on the left
side of th e matrix while the different types of customers are listed across the top
(Burchill et al. , 1992) , as shown in Exhibit 5. The number of intended customer
contacts is entered in each cell to indicate the depth of coverage.
ActualIy locating customers is usualIy a matter of making telephone calIs . In
developing industrial products within an existing manufacturing firm, a field
sales force can often provide names of cu stomers, although the team must be
careful about biasing the sclection of customcrs toward those with alIegiances to
a particul ar manufacturer. The tel ephone book can be used to identify names of
sorne types of customers for sorne classes of products (e.g., building contractors
or insurance agents) . For industrial products that are integral to a customer's
job, getting someone to agree to an interview is usualIy simple; these customers
are anxious to discuss their needs. Also, most consumers are frustrated quite reg-
ularly by products that do not fulfilI their needs-much more often than they are
bothered by surveys and interview requests.
C HAPT ER 3 : I D ENTI F YI NG CUST Oiv1 ER NEE DS 41
The Art of Eliciting Customer Needs Data
Thc tcc.hniqucs wc p resenl hcre a re aimcd primaril v .u intclv iewini-\" e nd U,'itTS,
h ut t hcse metho cls d o a p p '" l O ,d I 0 1' the th rec d a ta -!-',a he - in i-\" l1I o d es a nd 1<: ,tl!
IYH'S 01' sta keho ld crs. The b.i- ic app ro.rch is to he recc pti \'c lo in o rmauo n pro-
\'ided by c u sto me rs .ui d I () avoi d co n rroll ta l io n s 0 1' dcfensi ve p ostu r ing
( ;a lh (Tin i-\" necds d .u a is ,,'el\ d ift e rell t Irom a s a k ~ . ca ll: t h goal is lo rlici t ; lI l
hom-st c xp rr-ssio n u f nf,'l' d s, no t lO cu n\'IlCe a t'US{OIl1l:' r o wh: he o r slu : n ('<' d s,
In most cases CUSlo nHT in u-r. ut io ns will he ve r bal; in ter vi ewers as k q uestions .u irl
the custorne r res po nd s. A prc pa rcd in tcrview g ll iele is va lua ble 1' 0 1' suuctu ring
i h is d ial o gue , Sorne h elplul q uesti ons and pro mpts rol' use a ter th int e rvi c wc-rs
introduce t he msc lves a ud c xpla in i he p u r pose 0 1' i h in tc rvi ew are :
Walk LI S throllgh a typica l sessi o n llsing rhe procluct .
\ Vhat elo vou like abou r t he cxisting p ro duct x?
\Vhat do vo u d isl ikc a bo u : t h t: exisl ing p rocluc tx-
What issucs do yo u consider whe n p u rc hasing the p ro duct -
\Vhat improvern e uts would yo u rnake to the product?
Here are so rn e ge neral hin ts [01' cffective inte racti on with c usto rn c rs:
Co with the flow. Ir the cus to mer is provi ding in te resting in forrna ti o n , d o not
WOIT Y a bou t confo rrning lo th e in terv iew g uide . T h e goal is to gather in te r-
esting a nel important elata on c ustome r n eeds, not lo com p le te the in te r-
view guide in thc allotted time ,
Use visual stimuli aud props. Br in g a collection 01' e xi sli ng an d co m pc tiio rs '
pr oducts, 0 1' even prod uc ts t hat a re tangcn tia lly rcla ted to the product
lindel' deve lo pmcnt. AL the e nd of a sessio n, t h e interviewc rs rn ight evc n
show so mc prelirnin ary product co ncep ts 10 ge t cus to rners' ca rl y reac t ions
to var io us a p p roaches.
Suppress preconceived hypotheses about the product techllOlogy. Frequently ClI S-
torn ers will ma ke as su mptio ns a boli t the p roduc t eo ncep t th ey expe ct would
meet thei r need s. In these si tuati o ns, the in tervi ewe r s sh ould avo id bi asin g
the eliscussion with assu m p tio ns abou t how th e produc t will e ve n tually be
elesigned 01' produce el. When cus torners menr io u specific le chnol ogi cs 01'
prorl uct fc a tur c-s. i h inu-rvi cwr-r shou ld pro be t.... r t li e- 1IlHlerl yin g ne-ed t l n:
cust o rn r-r beli c\'('s t1 1(' k ; , 11IH' \" l) l il rl s:l i -;f\ ' ,
Have the eustomer demonstrate the product and/or typical tasks related to the
producto If the inte rvi e w is co nelucte el in the use e n viron ment , a d emonstra-
ti on is usually co n venie n t an d invariab ly reveaIs new information.
Be alert [or surprises and the expression of latent needs. 11' a custorne r men ti o n s
something su r p r ising, pu rsue the leael wi th fo llow-u p questio n s. Fre qll e nll y,
an unexpeeted line oI' q uestion ing wi ll reveal latcnt ncc ds- im portan t
42 PROOUCT DESIGN ANO OEVELOPMENT
dimensions of the custorners' needs which are neither fulfilled nor corn-
monly articulated and understood.
Watch [or nonuerbal irformation. The described in the chapter is
aimed at developing bettei physieal producrs. Unfortunately, words are not
always th e best \Vay to communicate needs related to the physical world.
This is particularly true 01' needs involving the human dirnensions of the
product, such as cornfort, irnage, 01' style . The developrnent tearn must be
constantly aware of the nonverbal messages provided by customers. What
are their facial expressions? How do they hold competitors' produets?
Note that many of our snggested questions and guidelines assume that the
customer has sorne farniliarity with products similar to the new product under
developrnent. This is alrnost always true. For example, even before the first cord-
less screwdriver was developed, people installed fasteners. Developing an under-
standing of custorner needs as they relate to the general fastening task would still
have been beneficial in developing the first cordless tool. Similarly, understand-
ing the needs of customers using other types of cordless appliances, such as elee-
trie razors, would also have been useful. We can think of no product so revolu-
tionary that there would be no analogous produets 01' tasks from which the
development team could learn. However, in gathering needs relating to truly
revolutionary products with which customers have no experience, the interview
questions should be focused on the task 01' situation in which the new product
will be applied, rather than on the product itself.
Documenting Interactions with Customers
Four methods are commonly used for documenting interactions with customers:
1 Audiotape recording: Making an audiotape reeording of the interview is very
easy. Unfortunately, transcribing the tape into text is very time-eonsuming,
and it can be expensive to hire sorneonc to do it. Also, tape recording has
the disadvantage of being intimidating to sorne customers.
2 Notes: Handwritten notes are the rnost eomrnon method of doeumcnting an
interview. Designating one pcrson as the primary notetaker allows the other
person to concentrate on effeetive questioning. The notetaker should strive
to capture sorne of th e wording of ever)' eustomer staternent verbatim.
These notes, if transcriben imrnediatelv aft er the interview, can be used to
creare a description of the interview that is very close to an actual transeript.
This debriefing immediateIy after the interview also facilitates sharing of
insights between the interviewers.
3 Videotape recording: Videotape is almost always used to doeument a foeus
group session. It is al so very useful for doeumenting observations ofthe cus-
tomer in the use environment and/or using existing produets. tape is
usefui for bringing new tearn rnembers "up to speed" and is also useful as
raw material for presentations to upper managcment. Multiple viewings of
CI-IAPTER 3 ' I DE NTI FY I NG CU8TOM E R N E El' S 43
a vid eo tape of r ustome rs in acti on une n Iar ilita te rh e id eruifi cation of
Iaic nt cllslo me r ne, 'd s, \'ideolaping is !Iso lI SC[uI for t:aptlll many
aspe cts of th e crid uscr's c nvi r on mcn t,
4 Still pllOtog1"!lply: T;lking slides 0 1' photograph-, providcs o " t hc benc-
fil S0 1\ it!CUI"pc ITco "(ling, Thc pri mary ,\Ch'Ullages (,1' still p!1otugraphy are
case o f di spl av o f t hc: photos, excellern image q uality, a nd r ead ily avai lab le-
cqlliplncnl. The priuuuv disacl\'al1ta ge is he rclati v iuability to record
dvnamic informat iou .
T he fin al result 0 1' rh c daia-gathcring phase of th e proce ss is a se t of raw d ata,
usu all y in thc form uf custo rn c r suucments hut fr equen tly supplemented by
video ta pe 01' phol ographs, A data templare implcmeuted with a sp r eadshee t
software package is useful 1'01' o rga n izi ng th cse raw data. Exhibir 6 shows an
example of a portion 01' such a templare. v\'e rcconnuend that th e template be
fill ed in as soon as possibl aft e r the int eract ion wit h the cusiorn cr an d c di ted by
th e ot her d evelopmen t tc.uu members present during th c interaction. The first
column in th e main body 01'the templare indicates the question or prompt that
eli cited th e cus to mer data. The se co n d colu mn is a list o f ve r ba t im st a ternents
the custorner made 01' a n observation of a custorncr action (frorn a videotape or
from direct observation) . The third colu mn co n ta ins the custo rner need implied
by the raw data. Some e m phas is should be pl aced o n in vestigating clues whi ch
may identify potential late nt n ecds, Such clues may be in th e forrn of humorous
remarks, less serious su ggestions, nonverbal inforrnation, 01' o bse rva tio ns and
d es criptions of th e use e nviron mc n t. Techniques or interpreting the raw data
in terms of custo mer n e ecls are gi\' e n in the next se ctiou.
The fin al task in step 2 is ro write t ha nk-you not es to th e customers involved
in th e process . Invariablv, th e tc am will ne ed to so licit further cus to rner infor-
mation, so devel oping a nd maintaining a good rapport with a set of users is
important.
STEP 3: INTERPRET RAW DATA IN TERMS OF CUSTOMER NEEDS
Customer needs a re expressed as written st aternents an d are the result of inter-
preting th e need underlying the raw data gat he red frorn the custorners. Each
starement 01' observati ou (as list ed in tlre- second colu rn n of the d ata template )
may be translated into Iro rn zero 10 seve ra l cus to mer needs. Griflin and Hauser
f " I I I HI tlL 11 mult i pl. : ; \l ; I! : ' h 11'; llhbl l' 111<.' <.uu: i l li l '!'\i( ' \ \ ' 11o l ( ' s into d ill c l l' n l
needs, so it is useful to have more than one team member co n d ucti ng th e trans-
lation process. Below we provide five guidelines for writing need statements. The
first two gllidelines are fundamental and are critical to effective translation; the
remaining three guidelines ensure consistency of phrasing and style among team
mernbers, Exhibit 7 provides exarnples to iIlu strate each guideline.
Express tite need in terms of what the product has to do, not in terms of how it
might do it. Customers express their preferertces by describing a solu-
44 PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVE LOPMENT
Cn, ..srnan Model A3
8
Interviewer(s): Jonathan and Lisa
Date: 19 December 1994
CUirenily uses:
f
Bill Esposito
10C Memorial Orive
Cambridqe, MA 02139
617- 864-1274
Customer:
Address:
Telephone:
Willing to do Type o user: uilding rnaintenance
follow-up? ves
Qucstion/Prompt Customer Statement Interpreted Need
Typi cai uses I need to drive screws fast, The SO dr ives screws faster
i
fast er lhan by hand . lhan by hand .
I sometimes do ducl work; use The SO drives sheet metal
sheel metal screws. screws into metal duct work.
A 101 of eleclrical : switch covers, The SO can be used lar
outl ets, fans, kilchen appliances. screws on eleclrical devices.
Likes-currenl tool I like lhe pistol grip; it leels the The SO is comfortable to grip.
bes!.
I
I like lhe magnetized lip. The SO lip retains lhe screw
I belore JI is driven,
Oislikes-currenl 1001 I don't Iike il when lhe tip slips The SO lip remains aligned
I
off the screw. wilh lhe screw head wthout :
slipping.
I would like lo be able lo lock il The user can apply torque
so I can use il wilh a dead manually lo lhe SO lo drive a
!
battery. screw.
I
Can't drive screws into hard The SO can drive screws into
I
wood. hard wood.
i
Sometimes I strip tough screws. The SO does not slrip screw
. heads,
Suggested An attachment to allow me to The SO can access screws at I
improvements reach down skinny hales . the end al deep, narrow hales. l'
A point so lean scrape paint off The SO allows the user to
I
al screws. wor k with screws that have
i
been painled over.
Would be nice jI it could punch The SO can be used to creal e \
a pilot hale. a pilol hale.
EXHIBIT 6 Customer data template filled in with sample customer statements and interpreted needs. SO is
an abbreviation lar screwdriver. (Note thal this template represents a part ial Iist lrom a single
interview. A typical interview session may elicit more than 50 customer statemenls and nter-
preted needs.)
CHAPTER 3: IDENTIFYING CIJSTOMER N!::EDS 45
Guideline Customer Statement Need Statement-Right Need Statement--Wrong
"What" not "how' "Why don't you pul The screwdriver battery is The screwdriver battery
protective snields around Ihe protected trorn accidental contacte are covered by a
batery contacs?' shortinq. piastic slidng door.
speclclty "1 drop my screwdriver ail TI:8 screwdriver operales The screwdriver is rugged.
Ihe time" normally atter repealed
droppinq.
Positive not "il doesn't matter il it's The screwdriver operales The screwdriver is nol
negative raining, I slill need lo work normally in Ihe rain. disabled by Ihe rain.
outside on Salurdays."
An attribute of the "l'd Iike lo charge my battery The screwdriver battery can An automobile cigarette
product trom my cigarette lighler." be charged frorn an lighler adapler can charge
autornobile cigarette lighler. Ihe screwdriver battery.
Avoid "must" and "1 hale it when I don't know The screwdriver provides an The screwdriver should
"should" how much juice is left in Ihe indicalion 01 Ihe energy level provide an indication 01Ihe
batteries 01my cordless 01 Ihe battery. energy level 01Ihe battery.
lools."
EXHIBIT 7 Examples illustratinq the guidelines lar wriling need statements.
tion concept 01' an implementation approach; however, the need statement
should be expressed in terms independent of a particular technological
solution.
Express the need as specifically as the raw data. Needs can be expressed at
many different levels of detail. To avoid loss of information, express the
need at the same level of detail as the raw data.
Use positive, not negative, phrasing. Subsequent translation of a need into a
product specification is easier if the need is expressed as a positive state-
mento This is pot a rigid guideline, because sometimes positive phrasing is
difficult and awkward. For example, one of the need statements in Exhibit
6 is "the screwdriver does not strip screw heads." This need is more natu-
rally expressed in a negative formo
Express the need as an attribute of the producto Wording needs as statements
about the product ensures consistency and facilitates subsequent transla-
tion into product specifications. Not all needs can he cleanlv expressed as
auributes of the product, however, and in most 01 these cases the needs can
be expressed as attributes of the user of the product (e.g., "the user can
apply torque manually to the screwdriver to drive a screw") .
Avoid the words must and should. The words must and should imply a level of
importance for the need. Rather than casually assigning a binary impor-
tance rating (must versus should) to the needs at this point, we recommend
deferring the assessment of the importance of each need until step 5.
46 PRODUCT DFSIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
The !ist of custorner needs is the superset of all thc needs elicitee! frorn all the
interviewed customcrs in th e target market. Sorne of th ese needs my be con-
tradictory. Sorne needs may not be technologi cally realizable. The cons train ts of
te chn ical and ecunumic feasibility are inc. 'pora ted into the pruccss of estab-
lishing product specifications in subsequent developmeru st cps. (See the chap-
ter "Esta blishing Product Specifica tions.")
STEP 4: ORGANIZE THE NEEDS INTO A HIERARCHY
The result of ste ps 1 through 3 should be a list of 50 to 300 n eed statements.
Such a large number of detailed needs is awkward to work with and difficult to
summarize for use in subsequen t development activities, The goal of step 4 is to
organ ize these needs into a hierarchical list, The list will typically consist of a set
uf primary needs, eac h one of whi ch will be further characterized by a set uf sec-
o ndary needs. In cas es of very co mplex products, the secondary needs may be
broken down into tertiary needs as weIl . The primary needs are the most gener-
al needs, while the secondary and tertiary needs express needs in more deta il.
Exhibit 8 shows the resulting hierarchical list of needs for the screwdriver exam-
pIe . For th e scrcwdriver, there are 15 primary needs and 49 secondary needs.
Note that two of the primary needs have no associated secondary needs.
The procedure for organizing the needs in to a hierarchical list is intuitive,
and many teams can successfully comple te th e task without detailed instructions.
For cornpleteness, we provide a step-by-step procedure here. This activity is best
performed on a large table by a group of six 01' fewer team mernbers.
1 Print or write each need statement on a separate card or selfstick note. (A print
macro can be easily written to print th e need statements directl y frorn th e
data template. A nice feature of thi s approach is that the need can be print-
ed in a large font in the center of the card and then the original custorner
statement and other relevant information can be printed in a smaIl font at
the bottom of th e card for easy reference. Four "cards " can be cut frorn a
standard printed sheet.)
2 Eliminate redundant statements. Those cards expressing redundant need
statements can be stapled together and treated as a single cardo Be careful
to consolidate only th ose staternents th at are identical in meaning.
3 Group the cards according to the similarity ofthe needs they exprese. At thi s point,
ihc team sh ould ~ l L t e m p t to crea re groups uf roughly th ree tu sevcn cards
that express similar needs. The logic by which groups are created deserves
special attention. Novice development teams often create groups according
to a technological perspective, c1ustering needs relating to, for example,
rnaterials, packaging, or power. 01', they create groups according to
assumed physical components such as enclosure, bits, switch, and battery.
Both of th ese approaches are dangerous. RecaIl that the goal of the process
is to creare a description of the needs of the customer. For this reason, the
groupings should be con sisten t with the way customers think about their
CHAPTER 3: IDENTIFYING C U S T O M ~ R NEE DS 47
The SO provides plenty of power to drlve screws.
3 l il e SO maintains power tor several hours 01 heavy
use
3 Trie sr) can drive s 3'1.'S into hardwood.
The SD drives sheet metal screws int o metal ducl
work.
The SO drives screws Iaster than by hand.
The SO makes it easy to start a s::rew.
3 l he SO retains the screw bele re it is driven.
3 The SO can be used to create a pilot hale.
The SO works with a variety of screws.
4 The SO can lu rn ohillips, torx, socket, and hex
head screws.
4 l he SO can turn rnany sizes 01 screws .
The SD can access most screws.
Tne SO can be maneuvered in li ghl areas .
4 The SO can access screws al the end 01 deep,
narrow holes.
The SO turns screws that are in poor condition.
The SO can be used l o remove grease and di rt lrom
screws.
The SO allows the user l o war k wilh painled screws.
The SO feels good in the user's hand.
The SO is comlortabl e when the user pushes on it.
The SO is coml ortable when the user resists
Iwisl ing.
The SO is balanced in Ihe user' s hand.
The SO is equally easy l o use in righl or left hands.
The SO weighl is jusI righ!.
2 The SO is warm to touch in cold weal her.
lhe SO remaips comlortable when left in Ihe sun.
The SO is easy to control while turning screws.
The user can easily push on the SO.
The user can easily resist the SO twisting.
2 The SO can be locked " on."
4 The SO speed can be controlled by the user while
turning a screw.
The SO remains aligned wit h the screw head
without slipping.
The user can easily see where the screw is.
The SO does not strip screw heads.
The SO is easi ly reve rsible.
The SO is easy to set-up and use.
The SO is easy to turn en.
i he SD prevente inadvcrtent swilcn ing ol f.
3 The mximum torqu e 01 tn SO can be set by
l he user .
Th8 SD provides ready access to bits or
access ories .
The SO can be attached to the user la r l emporary
slorage.
The SO power is convenient.
The SO is easy to reeharge.
3 The SO can be used while recharging.
5 lhe SO recharges qui ckly.
2 The SO batt eries are ready to use when new.
The user can apply torque manually lo lhe SO l o
drive a screw.
The SO lasts a long time.
The SO tip survives heavy use.
2 The SO can be hammered.
The SO can be dropped Irom a ladder withoul
damage.
The SO is easy to store.
The SO l its in a toolbox easily.
The SO can be charged whil e in storage.
2 The SO resist s corr osion when left outside or in
damp places .
3 The SO mai ntains its charge after long periods
01 storage.
The SO maintains its charge when we!.
The SO prevents damage to the work.
The SO prevenls damage l o the screw head .
The SO prevenls scral ching 01 l inished surlaces.
3 The SO has a pleasant sound when in use.
The SO looks Iike a professional quallty tool.
The SO is safe.
The SO can be used on electrical devices.
The SO does not cut Ihe user 's hands.
EXHIBIT 8 Hierarehicallist 01primary and seeondary customer needs lor the eordless screwdriver. Impor-
tance ral ings are shown lar some 01Ihe needs (using the ranking seheme given in Exhibil 9).
necds and not with the way th e development team thinks about the prod-
uct. Thc groups should correspond to necds customers would vicw as sirni-
lar. In fact, sorne practitioners argue that cus to mers should be th e ones to
organize the need staterne nts.
48 PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVEI.OPMENT
4 For each group, choosea label. The label is itself a statement of need that gen-
eralizes all of the needs in the group. It can be selected frorn one of the
needs in lhe group, 01' lile team can write a new need statement.
:> e.nsider creating "supergroups" consisting of tuio to five groups. If there are
fewer than 20 grOLlps, ihen a two-level hierarchy is probablv snfficicnt lo
organize the dala. In this case, the group labels are primal)' needs ami the
grcmp ruernbers are seconrlary needs. However, if there are more than 20
groups, th e team may consider creating sllpergroups, and therefore a third
level in the hierarchy. The process of creating supergroups is identical lo
the process of creating grollps. As with the previous stcp, cluster groups
according lo similarity of th e need they express and then creare or select a
supergroup labe!. These sllpergroup labels become the primary needs, the
group labels become the secondary needs, and the mernbers of the grollps
become tertiary needs.
6 Review ami edil the organized needs statements. The arrangement of needs in
a hierarchy is not unique in terrns of being "correct." Al this poinl, the team
may wish to consider alternative groupings or labels.
STEP 5: ESTABLlSH THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEEDS
The hierarchical list of needs does not provide any information on the relative
importance that customers place on different needs. Yet the development team
will have lo make trade-offs and allocate resources in designing the product. A
sense of the relative importance of the various needs is essential to making these
trade-offs correctIy. Step 5 in the needs process establishes the relative impar-
tance of the customer needs identified in steps 1 through 4. The outeome of this
step is a numerical importanee weighting for a subset of the needs. There are
lWO basic approaches to the task: (1) relying on the consensus of the team mem-
bers based on their experience with customers, or (2) basing the importanee
assessment on further customer surveys. The obvious trade-off between the two
approaches is cost versus accuracy: the team can make an educated assessment
of the relative importance of the needs in one meeting, while a customer survey
takes a minimum of two weeks and more realistically one or two months. In gen-
eral, we believe the custorner survey is important and worth the time required lo
eomple te it. Other development tasks, such as concept generation and analysis
of cornpe titive products, can hcgin before the relativc importance survevs are
complete.
The team should at this point have developed a rapport with a group of CllS-
tomers. These same customers can be surveyed to rate the relative importance of
the needs. The survey can be done in person, by telephone, or by mai!. Few CllS-
tomers will respond to a survey asking them to evaluate the importance of 100
needs, so typically the team will work with only a subset of the needs. A practical
limit on how many needs can be addressed in a customer survey is 20 to 30. This
limitation is not too severe, however, becausc many of the needs are either obvi-
CHAPTER 3 : D ENT I FY I NG C UST OME R NEEDS 49
Cordless Screwdriver Survey
Fcr eac h 01 ol lowi : screwdriver teat ures. please indicats en scale 01 I l o 5 hQW
import an: the tsat ure is lO YOIJ. h ease use the lollcwi ng sca!e:
1. Feature is undesirable. I would not ccnsider 3 product with this l eal ure.
2. Fealure is nol irnport ant , but I would not rnmd havinq it
3. Feature would be nice lo have, bul is nol uec essar y.
4. Fealure is highly desirable, but I would consider a product without it.
5. Fea!ure is critica! I would no! consider a product wilhout this leature.
_ _ _ _ The screwdriver can drive screws into hardwo od.
___ _ The screwdriver can turn phillips, torx, soc ket , and hex head screws .
___ _ The screwdriver can acce ss screws al lhe end 01dee p, narrow holes.
And so forth.
EXHIBIT 9 Example importance survey (partial).
o us ly irnportant (e .g., th e uscr ca n easily se e wh er e the screw is) or a re eas)' lo
imple rnent (e .g. , thc screwd rive r prevcnts in advertent switc h in g off) . The te am
ca n therefore lirni t th e scope o f the su l've)' by o n ly querying customers abou t
ne ecls th at are likely lo give rise to d ifficult te chnologi cal trade-offs or costl y fe a-
tu res in th e p roduct d esigno Such n eeds wo u lcl inclucle th e ne ed lO val')' speed,
th e n cecl lO drive sc rcws in to hardwood, and th e nc ed lo have rhe scre wd ri ve r
c rn it a pl easant souncl . Alternatively th e team cou lcl c1evel op a se t 01' sul'veys lo
as k a va riety 01' cus io mers each about d ifferen t su bse ts 01' th e needs list. There
a re many su rvey e1esigns fo r cs tablishi ng th e rel ative impo rtan ce 01' custome r
ne ecls. One good c1esign is illu strated by the portion of the corclless screwdriver
su rve y shown in Exhibit 9.
The surve y responses for each ne ed state rne n t ca n be characte r ized in a vari-
e ty of ways: by the mean, by sta nd a rd dcviat io n , o r by th e numbe r 01' respo nses
in each ca tegory. The responses ca n then be use el lo ass ign an importance
we ighling lo th e need sta te me n ts. T h e sa me scale of 1 lo 5 ca n be used lO SU Ill-
marize th e irnportancc elat a, So rn e ofrhe nceds in Exhibir Hare wci ghted ac cord-
in g lo th c su rvev d at a.
srEP 6: REFLECT ON THE RESULTS AND THE PROCESS
The final ste p in the methodology is to r efl ect on the resu lts ancl the process.
While the process o f id entifying customer needs ca n be usefully st ructu r ed, it is
not a sci ence. The team must continually challenge its r esults to vcrify that they
are consistent with the knowl edge and intuition the team has devel oped th rough
many hours a l' inte racti on with custo rne rs . Some questi ons lo ask include:
SUMMARV
SO PROOUCT OESIGN ANO OEVELOPMENT
Have we interact ed with aIl of the important typt:s of cus tomers in our tar-
get ma rke t?
Ar e we abl e to see beY011d needs related on!y to existing products in o rder
to ca plm-e the Iatent ne c ' ,'; of o ur target c us torncrs ?
Ar e th ere al eas of inq uiry we should pursue in Iollow-up interviews ol' su r-
veys?
Wh ich o f the custo me rs we spoke to would be good parti cipants in o u r o n-
going development efforts?
Wh at do we know I ~ O W th at we didn' t kn ow when we star ted? Are we su r-
prised by a ny of th e needs?
Did we invol ve everyone within our own o rgani za tion who needs to d eepl y
understand custorner needs?
How might we irnprove the p rocess in futu re cfforts?
Id entifying custome r needs is an integral pan ofthe concep t d evel opment phase
of the product development process. The resulting cus to mer n eeds are us ed to
guidc the team in establish ing product specificatio ns , ge ncr ati ng product co n-
ce pts, and sc1ec ting a p r oduct concept for further d evel opment.
The process of identifying customcr needs inc1udes six st eps:
1 Define the scope of the product development effor t,
2 Ga ther raw d ata fr o m customers.
3 Interpret the raw dala in terms 01" customer needs,
4 Organize th e necds into a hi era rchy of prirnary , secon dary, a nd tertiary
needs.
5 Establish the rel ative importancc of the needs.
6 Reflect on the r esults and the process.
Creating a high-quality infor matio n channc1 fr om custo me rs to the product
developers ensures that those who directly control the details of the prod-
uct, inc1uding the product designers, fuIl y understand the needs o f the cus-
tomer.
Lead users a re a good so urce of custo mer needs bec ause th ey experience
IH'W n ccds mo nt h s or ye ars uhc.id o f t he hulk o f th markctpl acc a nd
because they stand lo benefit substantially from new product innovations.
Furthermore , they are frequently able to articulate their needs more clear-
ly than typical custo mers.
Latent needs are fr equently as important as explicit needs in determining
cus tomer satisfacti on. Latent needs are those that many customers recog-
nize as important in a final product but do not or are not able to articula te
in advance .
CHAPTER 3: IDENT IFYING CUSTOMER NEI::DS 51
Cus tn me r n eeds should he expr essed in tcrms of wh at th e product h as to
do, not in terms o f how rhc p roduct mi ght he implernented . Ad hcrcncc to
thi s principle lcaves rhe dcvel opment team with maxirnurn lexibili ty to ~ e n
U " c a nd scl cct produrt co nccp ts.
~ T he key bencfi ts of th e methodology are: ens uri ng t hat th c pi oducr is
ocused on custorn er nceds a no th a l no critica ! cu si omcr ueed is fo rgoueu:
d evcloping a clca r underst anding alilong mcuibcrs 01" th e dcvclopmeru
tc am 01" the n ecds of the cus to mcrs in th e largel marke t: d eveloping a fact
bas e to be us ed in generating con cep ts, sel e cting a product concept, a n d
es ta blish ing product spccificati ons; and crcati ng an archiva] record of th e
n eeds phase of th e developmcnt process.
REFERENCE5 AND BIBLlOGRAPHY
Con cept ('//gi l/f'ering IS a methodol ogy devel oped by rhe Ce nter for Quality
Manag crn cnt. This chapter benefits frorn our observations of th e development and
appli cariou of concepl engineering. For a complet e and detail ed description of con-
cept e ngine ering, see:
Burehill, Gary, et al., Concept Engineering: Th e Key to Operationall Defining Your
Customer's Requ irements, Cerner for Quality Managernent, Cambr idge, MA,
Document No. 71, September 1992 .
The research by Griffin and Hauser is only one of th e rigorous efforts to validate dif-
ferent methods for extracti ng needs fr om intervi ew data. Their study of the fra ction
of needs identified as a furiction of the nurnber of cus tomers intervi ewed is parti cu-
larly interesting.
Gr iffin , Abbie, and John R. Hauser, "The Voice of the Cus to mer," Marketing
Scienre, Vol. 12, No . 1, Winter 1993 .
Kinnear and Taylor th oroughly di scuss data colle cti on methods and survey design in:
Kinnear, Thomas e., and j ames R. Taylor, Marketing Research: An Applied Approach,
MeGraw-HiU, New York, NY, 1991. ISBN 0-07-034757-3.
Payne ' s book is a detailcd and interesting discussion of how to pose questions in sur-
veys.
Payne, Stanley L. , The A ,.t o/ Asking QlII'StiOIl S, Princeton University Press,
Princet on, N.T, 1951.
Tor al qualir v man agenwnl (TQ\f) providr-s a valua ble- pe-rspr-cr iv on ho\\" idenrifv-
ing cus to mer needs fits into an overall c fort LO improve the quality of gaods and se r-
VIces .
Shiba, Shoji, Ajan Craham, and David Walden, A NeioAmmcan TQM: Four Pra ctical
Reuolutions in Management, Produetivity Press, Cambridge, MA, and The Center for
Quality Managernent, Cambridge , MA, 1993. ISBN 1-56327-032-3.
Urban and Hauser provide a thorough discussion of how to ereate hierarehies of
needs (along with many other tapi es) .
52 PRODUCT DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
Urban, Cien L., andjohn R. Hauser, Design and Marketing o/ Neui Products, second
ed itio n, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1993. ISBN 0-13-201567-6.
\'on Hippei describes many years of research on the rol e of lead users in innovaiion.
He provides uscul guideiines for idcntifying' lead users.
von Hippel, Eri , The Sources o/Innouation, Oxord University Prcss, Nev.. York, NY,
i 988. ISBN 0- 19-504085-6.
EXERCISES
Translate the following customer statements about a studen t book bag into prop-
er needs statements:
a "See how the leather on the bottom of the bag is all scratched; it's ugly."
b "Wh en I'm st anding in line at the cashier trying to find my checkbook while
balancing my bag on my kn ee, I feel like a stork."
e "This bag is my life ; ifl lose it I'm in big trouble."
d "Theres nothing worse than a banana that's been squished by the edge ofa
textbook. "
e "1 never use both straps on my knapsack; 1just sling it over one shoulder."
2 Using a camera, document user frustration with an everyday task of your own
choice.
3 Choose a product that continually annoys you. Identify the needs the developers
of this product missed. Why do you think these needs were not met? Do you think
the developers deliberately ignored these needs?
THOUGHT aUESTIONS
1 How would the needs methodology change if a development team wished to pur-
sue two very different market segments with the same product?
2 One of the reasons the methodology is effective is that it involves the entire devel-
opment team. Unfortunately, the methodology can beeome unwieldy with a team
of more than six people. How might yo u modify the methodology to maximize
involvement yet maintain a focused and decisive effort given a development team
of 12 or more people?
3 Can the process of identifying customer needs lead to the creation of innovative
produet eoncepts? In what ways? Could a struetured process of identifying cus-
torner needs lead to a fundament alIy new product concept like the Post-It note?