PDD C5

Question 1

What are some characteristics of customer needs?

Answer 1

• Needs are independent of any product
• Solution neutral and not specific to any concept
• Identifiable without a plan to address the needs

Question 1

What are latent needs?

Answer 1

• Needs not recognized by customers and not addressed by existing products
• Great potential for customer satisfaction
• Often become “must haves” once recognized
• Ex: cameras on phones or smart speakers

Question 2

What is the 5 step process for identifying customer needs?

Answer 2

1. Gather raw data from customers
2. Interpret the raw data in terms of customer needs
3. Organize needs into a hierarchy of primary, secondary, and tertiary needs
4. Establish the relative importance of the needs
5. Reflect on the results and process

Question 3

What are methods of gathering raw customer data?

Answer 3

1. Interviews
2. Focus groups
3. Observing product in use

Question 4

What is the ideal range of number of interviews?

Answer 4

• More than 10 and less than 50 often reveals the majority of needs

Question 5

What are lead users?

Answer 5

• Customers that experience needs ahead of the majority of the market and stand to benefit the most from innovation
• Often useful sources of data

Question 6

What are extreme users?

Answer 6

• Customers that use a product in unusual ways or have special needs
• Useful for identifying more niche needs that general customers could benefit from

Question 7

What are the 4 common methods of documenting customer interactions?

Answer 7

1. Audio recording
2. Notes
3. Video recording
4. Still photgraphy

Question 8

What are 4 basic questions/prompts used in interviews?

Answer 8

1. Typical uses
2. Likes of current model
3. Dislikes of current model
4. Suggested improvements

Question 9

What are the 3 components of an customer data table?

Answer 9

1. Questions/prompts
2. Customer statements
3. Interpreted needs

Question 10

What are the 5 guidelines for interpreting needs?

Answer 10

1. “What” not “how”
2. Specificity
3. Positive not negative
4. An attribute of the product
5. Avoid “must” and “should”

Question 11

How are the 6 steps for organizing needs into a hierarchy?

Answer 11

1. Write each need on a separate card
2. Eliminate redundant statements
3. Group cards based on similarity
4. Label each group
5. Consider creating supergroups
6. Review and edit the statements

Question 12

How is the relative importance of needs established?

Answer 12

• Interviewed customers are surveyed and asked to rank the importance of features or if it is new/exciting

Question 13

What are some reflection questions?

Answer 13

• Have we interacted with all the important types of customers?
• Have we captured latent needs?
• Are there topics we should follow up on?
• What customers would be useful in product development?
• What information did we gain?
• Did we involve everyone internally?
• What ways can we improve?