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Preliminary Research on Customers Needs
One way to understand needs of thetargeted customers is for the
developmentteam to use their own experience andresearch to
date.
Brainstorming is a natural idea generationtool that can be used
in the process.
As a first step, the team brainstormed to
develop ideas for possible improvementsto the product.
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Example: CD Case Design Improvements
A student design team selected the familiar jewel case
thatprotects compact discs (CD) in storage as a product
needingimprovement.
The following ideas were generated in response to thequestion:
What improvements to the current CD case wouldcustomers want?
1. Case more resistant to cracking
2. Easier to open
3. Add color
4. Better waterproofing
5. Make it lighter
6. More scratch-resistant
7. Easier extraction of CD from the circular fastener
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8. Streamlined look
9. Case should fit the hand better
10. Easier to take out leaflet describing the CD
11. Use recyclable plastic
12. Make interlocking cases so they stack on top of each
otherwithout slipping
13. Better locking case
14. Hinge that doesnt come apart
Next, the ideas for improvement were grouped intocommon areas by
using an affinity diagram
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Gathering Information from Customers
1. Interviews with customers
2. Web-based research
3. Mail surveys
4. Online respondents
5. Questionnaire
6. Customer complaints
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Steps for creating an effective survey
1. Determine the survey purpose
2. Determine the type of data-collection
method to be used
3. Identify what specific information is
needed
4. Design the questions
5. Arrange the order of questions
6. Pretest the survey
7. Administer the survey
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1. Determine the survey purpose
Write short paragraph stating the purposeof the survey
What will be done with the results
Be clear about who will use the result
Be clear whether customer want hardstatistics from surveys
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A group of students in PI 2 is attempting toimprove the design
and usefulness of thestandard storage case for compact discs
(CD).
2. Determine the type of data-collectionmethod to be used
Interviews with customers
Web-based research Mail surveys
Online respondents
Questionnaire
Customer complaints
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3. Identify what specific information isneeded
Each question should have a clear goal
The following ideas were generated in theresponse to the
question: What functions of
attributes of a CD case need improvement? Case more resistant to
cracking
Easier to open
Add color
Better waterproofing
Make it lighter
More scratch resistant
Case should fit the hand
Use recycle plastic
Better locking case etc.
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4. Design the questions
Each question should be unbiased,unambiguous, clear and
brief
There are three (3) categories of question:
1. Attitude questions: how the customersfeel or think about
something
2. Knowledge questions: questions askedto determine whether the
customerknows the specific about the product orservice
3. Behavior questions: usually contain
phrases like how often, how much,when
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5. Arrange the order of questions
Arrange the order of questions so that theyprovide context to
what are trying to learnfrom customer
Group the questions by topic and start witheasy ones.
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6. Pretest the survey
Before distributing the survey to the customer,always pretest it
on a smaller sample
Avoid poorly wording that may lead
misunderstanding or questionnaire too long
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7. Administer the survey
Whether the people surveyed constitute arepresentative sample
for fulfilling the purposeof survey
What size sample must be used to achievestatistically
significant result
Requires special expertise and experience
Example: questionnaire
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Evaluating Customer Surveys
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Only questionswith more than40% responserate are shown
Conclusions from Customer Survey
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Ranking of questions customers are concerned
crack resistant case (question 1)
Convenience features of being able to stack the case in astable,
interlocking easy (question 14)
Making it easier to extract the leaflet (question 10)
Making it easier to extract the CD from the case (question
9)
Information gathered from customer survey contributes tocreating
a ranked list of customer needs.
