Transcript Needs Assessment prepared by Prof. Marcos Esterman (ISE) Copyright © 2005 Rochester Institute of Technology All rights reserved. EDGE™

Needs Assessment
prepared by Prof. Marcos Esterman (ISE)
Copyright © 2005 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.
EDGE™
Goals of Needs Identification
•
•
•
•
•
•
Provide basis for PD decisions
Elicit needs that may not be so obvious
Provide basis for engineering metrics
Ensure critical needs are elicited
Develop a common understanding of the needs
Archiving of needs
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004
EDGE™
Steps in Identifying Customer Needs
•
•
•
•
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Gather the raw data
Interpret the raw data
Organize the needs
Establish relative importance of needs
Sanity Check!
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004
EDGE™
Pre-conditions: A Project Exists!
Mission Statement: Screwdriver Project
A Handheld, power-assisted device for installing threaded
fasteners
Product Description

Key Business Goals

Primary Market

Secondary Markets

Assumptions

Stakeholders

Q4 ’06 Product Introduction
50% Gross Margin
10% Market Share by ‘08
Do-it-yourself consumer
Casual consumer
Light-duty professional
Hand-held
Power-assisted
Nickel-Metal-Hydride battery
User
Retailer
Sales Force
Service Center
Production
Legal Dept.

EDGE™
Methods for Gathering Raw Data
• Brainstorming
– Method best suited for your projects
• Interviews
– 1-on-1
– Dialog Directly w/Company personnel
• Focus Groups
– 8-12 People (Typically Paid)
– Moderator
– Company personnel observe group
• Observing the Product in Use
– Direct Observation (Contextual Inquiry)
– Virtual Observation
• Use Cases
– Task Oriented
– Simulate and document the steps to accomplish the task
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004
EDGE™
Affinity Diagram: KJ Method
• Structured brainstorming and analysis
– Developed by Prof. Jiro Kawakita (U. Of Kyoto)
• Basic steps
– Collect narrative data and compile into cards
– Sort and label cards (clustering)
– Develop the KJ diagram and present to team
Ishii, K.,“Introduction to Design for Manufacturability (DFM)", ME317A dfM: Product Definition, Stanford
University, Lecture 1/7/2004
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.
EDGE™
Hair Dryer Example
front housing
rear housing
thermostat
rear
screen
front
screen
motor
& fan
heater rack & coils
switch & wires
Ishii, K.,“Introduction to Design for Manufacturability (DFM)", ME317A dfM: Product Definition, Stanford
University, Lecture 1/7/2004
EDGE™
KAWAKITA Jiro (KJ) Method
• First come up with anything...
Dries
Fast
Colorful
Quiet
Easy to Hold
Reliable
Easy
to
Use
Long
Lasting
Operating
Cost
Portable
Safe
Good
Style
Fan
Control
Weight
Heat
Grip
Airflow
Motor
Heater
Switch
Handle
Casing
Ishii, K.,“Introduction to Design for Manufacturability (DFM)", ME317A dfM: Product Definition, Stanford
University, Lecture 1/7/2004
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.
EDGE™
Then Sort and Cluster...
Functional
Ergonomic
Dries
Fast
Quiet
Reliable
Easy to Hold Easy
to
Long
Use Safe
Lasting
Esthetic
Colorful
Operating
Portable
Cost
Good
Style
Fan
Control
Weight
Heat
Grip
Airflow
Product Characteristic
Motor
Heater
Switch
Handle
Casing
Structural Attribute
Ishii, K.,“Introduction to Design for Manufacturability (DFM)", ME317A dfM: Product Definition, Stanford
University, Lecture 1/7/2004
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.
EDGE™
Choosing Customers
• Sample Size
– Ulrich & Eppinger Recommend, 10 < n < 50
• Always gather from end user
– Don’t forget other key customers/stakeholders from CVCA
• Know your market space & sample appropriately*
– Level of abstraction of the need
• Nokia 9300?, Nokia Phones?, Cell Phones?, Voice
Communication?, Communication?
– Type of User
• Lead?, Satisfied?, Dissatisfied?, Former?, Customers
Never Had
*Burchill, G., Concept Engineering: an Investigation of Time vs. Market Orientation in Product Concept
development. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D. Thesis, 1993.
EDGE™
What is a Lead User?
(Eric Von Hippel is a much cited author in this area)
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
Early
Need Users
Early
Majority0.10
Late
Majority
Laggards
0.05
-4.00
-3.00
-2.00
-1.00
0.00
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
Time
LEAD USERS
Burchill, G., Brodie, C., Voices into Choices: Acting on the Voice of the Customer. Center for Quality
Management, 1997. pg. 54
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.
EDGE™
Lead User Characteristics
• Big need for capability of your product
• Their needs foreshadow the market
• Have extended current product beyond their
intended limits
• They often have solutions Conceptualized or
Implemented
Burchill, G., Brodie, C., Voices into Choices: Acting on the Voice of the Customer. Center for Quality
Management, 1997. pg. 54
EDGE™
Eliciting Customer Needs
• Prepare an interview guide
• Elicit dialog on a particular task or problem
– Have them walk through a specific instance
• Don’t ask them to generalize!
• Better yet, have them show you
• Go with the flow
• Use visual stimuli and props
• Avoid leading questions
– Avoid yes/no questions
– Be prepared for latent needs
• Focus on the customer pain
– What’s the underlying problem that needs to be solved
• Document, Document, Document
• HP Example
EDGE™
Contextual Inquiry
• Needs expressed in action
• Observe customer using products in normal
context
• Allows the team to better Support, Extend, and
Transform customers’ activities
• Important aspect of context
–
–
–
–
Location
People
Culture
Values
Clausing, D., Total Quality Development,: A Step-By-Step Guide to World Class Concurrent Engineering,
ASME Press, NY 1994, pp. 116- 117
EDGE™
Levels of Contextual Awareness
High
site
interview
phone call
to customer
Interviews
field
service calls
Intervention
with User
Process Participation
human
performance
lab
field
observations
Participant Observation
Low
Far
Distance from
User Environment
Close
Burchill, G., Concept Engineering: an Investigation of Time vs. Market Orientation in Product Concept
development. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ph.D. Thesis, 1993. Pictorial Representation from K. Ishii.
Copyright © 2007 Rochester Institute of Technology
All rights reserved.
EDGE™
Sources of Existing Data
• External Sources
–
–
–
–
–
–
Customer Complaints
Technical Specifications
Market Research Reports
Customer Surveys
Customer Profiles
Industry Benchmarking
Studies
– Competitor Assessments
– Journals
• Internal Sources
–
–
–
–
–
–
Benchmarking Studies
Company Policies
Employees Surveys
Suggestion Systems
Customer Profiles
Internal Publications
Burchill, G., Brodie, C., Voices into Choices: Acting on the Voice of the Customer. Center for Quality
Management, 1997. pg. 42
EDGE™
Developing Needs Statements:
Guidelines for Interpreting the Data
• Understand the value proposition
– Your product is solving some problems
• What are they?
• What value do you allow your customer to deliver?
•
•
•
•
•
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Stay close to the customer language
What, not how
Specificity equal to the raw data
Positive, not negative
Product Attribute
Avoid “must” & “should”
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004
EDGE™
Need Statements Guidelines (pg. 63)
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004
EDGE™
Organize the Needs Hierarchically (pg. 64)
Perfect
Application for
Affinity
Diagrams
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition,
2004
EDGE™
Establish Relative Importance of Needs
• Development Team Consensus
• Customer Surveys
• Characterize the need
EDGE™
Development Team Consensus
Rating
Weight
Very Important
9
Important
3
Somewhat Important
1
EDGE™
Customer Surveys
• Only a subset will be practical to prioritize
– N ~ 50 is reasonable
• Customer Needs to Focus on
– Technical Trade-Offs
• Can eliminate needs that are obviously important
– Costly Features
• Can eliminate needs that are easy to implement
• Importance Rating
– Mean, Standard Deviation, Number of Responses in
Each Category, etc.
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004
EDGE™
Importance Rating Survey Example (pg.
67)
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004
EDGE™
Customer
Satisfaction
Characterize the Need: Kano Diagram
Delighter
Linear Satisfier
Degree to Which Need is Met
Must Have
• The SD maintains charge
for several hours of heavy
use
• The SD automatically
orients screws
• The SD can turn Phillips,
Torx, socket, and hex head
screws
Ulrich,K.T. and S. Eppinger, Product Design and Development, Third Edition, 2004
EDGE™
Sanity Check
•
•
•
•
All customer types?
Latent Needs?
Any follow-up areas?
What do we know now that we didn’t before?
Surprises?
• Did organization participate in process?
• Process improvement.
EDGE™