Improve Differentiation and Gross Margin

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1 Rethink Your MRD *& Improve Differentiation an Gross Margin How to optimize your MRD process to improve customer value & achieve margin uthors: Jose Campos Bob Buxton Jean-Claue Ballan Ph.D.. * MRD: Market Requirements Document The process that establishes an efines a ocument that contains the prioritize customer requirements for a new prouct. It is the process that the marketing organization uses to communicate the priority an substance of requirements that will result in ifferentiate new proucts. Purpose This article focuses on the opportunities for collaboration between the Marketing an R&D professionals using the MRD as a ocument of reference to protect the integrity of the voice of the customer from initiation to public announcement, an create alignment within functions. groun Market-riven companies have aopte new methos to better iscover customer requirements in orer to evelop innovative proucts faster an better than their competitors; these methoologies share the same framework : It starts with the Investigation phase, the ability to select the right iniviuals to interview, obtain an capture the right information from your customers. Next in the framework is the Interpretation of the message from the customer; this requires a set of tools an methos to ecipher customer input an translate it into prioritize customer requirements. The output of this step is the MRD. (Market Requirements Document) The next phase in the framework is Innovate; once customer requirements have been efine, ocumente an prioritize, the opportunity to innovate sets in. This is where R&D, in collaboration with Marketing, can create innovative solutions that eliver high value to the customers naturally, using the MRD as the guie. The final part of the framework is Incorporate; this is the ability to translate the innovation into a viable prouct that customers will value Click here for aitional etails on the framework ppenix ). Introuction In most prouct evelopment organizations, the marketing organization communicates customer requirements to the R&D team through a ocument generally calle the MRD (Market Requirements Document). It may go by ifferent names, but regarless of the name, in many cases, the ocument simply oes not serve its purpose, which is: to effectively communicate the prioritize customer requirements to the engineering team so that they can evelop innovative solutions. The avent of gile has cause some organizations to o away with the MRD. The principles outline in this article are vali regarless of the name given to the ocumentation to capture an communicate customer requirements from Marketing to R&D.

2 Rethnik Your MRD & Improve Differentiation an Gross Margin In aition this innocent-souning ocument often creates frustration, confusion, an internal battles because the R&D team oes not fin what it nees. That leas to proucts that are late, poorly execute, an fail more frequently than they shoul. One stuy associate % of faile proucts with eficient or missing market stuies (customer requirements). This article will iscuss the problem, its causes, an make four simple recommenations for changes that will buil an effective brige between Marketing an Engineering groups, create an environment better suite to respon to market an customer nees, an increase the chances of success for your new proucts.. Misunerstanings In some organizations there a misunerstaning about the very wor requirement an consequently what shoul be in the MRD. Many MRDs toay o not inclue actual requirements, but rather a list of features generate by Marketing. These features are selom justifie in terms of why they are neee, let alone what customers are striving to achieve click here for more on the topic of requirements ppenix B. To further a to the misunerstaning, in a BB environment, it takes more than a single ocument to effectively communicate customer requirements to R&D; in reality it shoul be treate as a succession of activities; i.e., a process. s a result, we avise moving from thinking about a single ocument to a full-flege process, The Market Requirements Process. Take a process view, where Marketing an Engineering (R&D) collaborate from the start (please see Figure on page for aitional context on the MRD Process). Further on the misunerstaning, the protocol associate with the MRD is either not known or has eteriorate over time, specifically: Marketing leas the effort to obtain customer requirements, in collaboration with R&D Marketing creates the MRD an then teners it to R&D Marketing an R&D collaborate to ensure complete clarity an priority R&D respons with the PRD (Prouct Requirements Document) or similar vehicle Trae-offs an collaboration follow in orer to achieve value creation an meet the business objectives of the organization Why the Misunerstaning? The conventional MRD is a result of the silo mentality that prevails in some organizations; where, the MRD is the way of communicating between the Marketing silo an the Engineering silo with little or no collaboration. In aition, R&D often oes inee request a list of features to o its work. The new tren is for Engineering (R&D) to fully partner with Inboun Marketing to obtain, process an prioritize customer requirements. Least likely is the case where requirements come from an actual analysis of what customers want to achieve an the problems they are trying to solve. Consier that if your MRD is simply a list of features, you have stifle Engineering s ability to innovate. The role of Engineering is to unerstan the customer problems an then esign innovative solutions that create value; thus, when Marketing merely elivers a set of features it efeats the purpose of creating innovative new proucts. Yet another reason for inaequate MRDs is that some marketing people o not clearly unerstan the intent of the MRD. The purpose of the MRD: To effectively establish clarity an a common unerstaning between Marketing an R&D of a prioritize set of customer requirements The outcome of an MRD: To enable the R&D organization create customer value through innovative proucts For a White Paper on the concept of Inboun an Outboun Marketing, please contact the author with your request: info@rapiinnovation.com

3 Prouct Proposal Initial customer investigation MRD V.0 First raft of the MRD Secon customer investigation MRD Final Final raft of an MRD Tenere to R&D by Marketing Marketing an R&D collaborate on innovative solutions PRD R&D respons with the PRD (Prouct Req. Document) Development continues Figure (The above representation is a simplifie version of the traitional New Prouct Development Process (NPD). You may nee to extrapolate to ientify the corresponing milestones to match your NPD) The above iagram shows the suggeste Market Requirements Process (MRD) incorporate into a traitional initiation or fuzzy-front-en in the New Prouct Development Process (NPD). See item an notice the first raft of an MRD, subsequent versions shoul be expecte as more information about the customer is obtaine. Version.0 is expecte to be incomplete, with many gaps, which point the way for further investigation with the customer See item which represent subsequent versions of the MRD. The numbers of versions vary epening on the complexity of the prouct being evelope, the number of rouns of customers interviews neee. Marketing an R&D collaborate along the way to ensure the best-possible MRD, until there is alignment on a FINL version. Item represents a perio of time where innovation, breakthroughs an collaboration take place to satisfy the set of prioritize requirements containe in the MRD. Note that item happens after there is clarity about the priority an escription of the customer requirements. See item which represents the response to the MRD by engineering. Collaboration between Marketing an R&D continues as the esire outcome is to evelop a solution that your customers will value. The PRD contains a number of features an capabilities neee to respon to the set of customer requirements. Please note that the intent propose in this article is to focus the MRD an the MRD process on the list of prioritize customer requirements; where all other information is containe in other ocuments so as not to buren the MRD or confuse the stakeholers. Click here if you have questions or comments about this iagram. Marketing sees it as the way to convey a list of features for a new prouct without unerstaning the context or the problem facing the customer. Few companies have mastere the art an science of this process; it is ifficult an takes both tenacity an a robust framework (process). Toay s Situation Moern prouct evelopment (BB) is too complex to epen on a single ocument. Marketing nees to reassess the way customer requirements are communicate, an get away from the iea of a single ocument. Rather, we suggest looking at various ways to help Engineering unerstan the requirements. Rich tools are available, such as vieos of use cases, photographs of the major steps in the customer s process, an in-epth interviews performe jointly by Engineering an Marketing. New tools have also emerge that facilitate the clear escription of customer requirements Click here for more on the tools ppenix C Continue

4 What re Requirements? Requirements articulate what the prouct must have or must o to solve problems or satisfy nees that your customers have expresse. lternatively, it coul also be expresse by what customers must be able to o or have as a result (outcome) of using the prouct. But an this is where many marketing people fail requirements shoul not specify how the prouct will o what it must o. That is why features an specs are not requirements per se. Let s take a simple example: business traveler wants to use a laptop uring a five-hour flight. Most people woul say that the battery must last at least five hours, but that woul not be a vali requirement by our efinition. Five-hour battery life is one solution, but there may be others (an actually there are others). The correct, although incomplete, requirement is: The user shall be able to work on the laptop for five hours uring air travel. Furthermore, a requirement may nee several features to be fulfille; sai another way, to satisfy a single requirement you may nee an aggregate of several features For aitional information about requirements, please see ppenix B. Four Recommenations for Improvement Stop thinking about a single ocument, move towars a process Turn the articulation of customer requirements into a process an away from a single ocument. Turning the MRD into a process results in Marketing an Engineering collaborating on ocumenting requirements in a way that works for the entire team (See figure, page for aitional etails). This new process starts very early in the efinition of the new prouct where Marketing an R&D partner from the start. Together they ientify customers to interview, an set about performing the research. Then they procee to use moern methos to escribe customer requirements, incluing use cases, personas, scenarios, storyboars, process maps an others. n finally agree on a clear priority. The MRD starts uring the Investigate an Interpret phases of the Four-I Framework (See ppenix, page ), with initial investigation an etaile VOC (Voice of the Customer) capture taking place in the Investigate phase, followe by the conversion of customer input into requirements. In orer to keep the team focuse on the customer requirements it is essential that iscussion about features an solutions be elaye until the Innovate phase. This then raises the question about how to hanle ocumentation market escriptions such as sizing, riving forces, competition, etc. In many cases these have historically been part of the MRD; so after keeping them out of the MRD, where shoul they go? Put the market-relate information into a separate market escription ocument all of this to clear the MRD of all information that is not irectly relevant to requirements, but still available to the team. The overall intent is to preserve the integrity of the voice of your customers by eicating the MRD only to escribing the prioritize customer requirements. feature is not a requirement! feature is a response to a requirement The term prouct is use to represent all the tangible an intangible capabilities that your customers anticipate getting from your offering upon purchase Forget about features s mentione, the MRD often inclues features. However, Marketing must communicate customer problems an specific areas for value creation. list of features stifles R&D s ability to iscover richer solutions, an therefore constrains Marketing leas the process of obtaining customer requirements, but engineering is a visible stakeholer an a participant.

5 innovation not to mention that features are not requirements, instea they are your response to solving your customers problems. Make prioritizing a priority. Having a list of clearly articulate customer requirements minus a list of features is a goo start. However, if these are not prioritize an associate with target market segments, they will be useless. Prioritizing the requirements can achieve three things: Provies clarity to the team when trae-offs have to happen (typically versus time an cost) uring the evelopment program If the requirements are prioritize an associate with the relevant market segments, it can help in ientifying the business impact if features, which support specific requirements, are roppe uring the evelopment process (Trae-offs) R&D will be better able to assign the right resources to focus only on evelopment that, by efinition, is important to your customers. This results in reuce time-to-market an a better esign Collaboration between Marketing an R&D from the start! We recommen that Marketing an R&D partner very early in the evelopment project an jointly iscover an prioritize customer requirements, this shoul be one uner the leaership of the marketing person. Do not wait until the en to start engaging R&D; rather resist the urge to start esigning the prouct until the requirements are clearly unerstoo. The job escription of R&D must inclue the responsibility of unerstaning customer requirements an their priorities. The lone Marketing cowboy going out with his notebook to talk to the customer an coming back elivering his message to the R&D organization is gone. market-riven organization is one in which there is a strong partnership between Marketing an Engineering. Therefore, eman that engineers team up with Marketing to interview customers an capture voices. We often hear some senior managers making the objection We on t have the time because of cost an time-to-market pressure. This is not vali! It was similar false assumptions that mae merican companies believe that goo quality cost more money. No! Goo requirements an time-tomarket are not contraictory. Goo requirements shorten time to market. Organizations that have inee aopte such a process report an actual shortening of time to market because having clear requirements at the beginning leas to a clearer prouct efinition which in turn leas to faster implementation an fewer o-overs in the evelopment phase. On the other han, consier that many of the sources of elay have to o with poor or absent requirements, lack of prioritization, lack of unerstaning of the problems an outcomes that your customers expect as a result of using your prouct. message to Management Careful review of the MRD by the leaers of the organization is a way to evaluate an track the integrity of the voice of your customers. sk these critical questions when reviewing an MRD: Is the MRD simply a list of features without a clear escription of the problems that your customers are striving to solve? Is the MRD written with sufficient clarity to enable R&D to innovate? Does your MRD clearly an unequivocally present the priority of all the requirements? Do your R&D personnel believe that your MRD s are of high quality that enable them to create innovative solutions for your customers? s you can see, the MRD can serve as an actual metric to track an improve the ability of your marketing an R&D to escribe, prioritize an take action on the voice of your customers. Conclusion Poor or incomplete requirements are the numberone reason why new proucts fail. In light of this, it s incomprehensible that so few organizations give the quality of requirements proper attention. There

6 are two reasons this happens. The first occurs if the process to properly capture requirements has only recently been implemente, an Marketing an Engineering have not mastere it yet. This can be fixe by institutionalizing the new MRD process into the actual New Prouct Development Process (NPD). The secon reason is more pernicious. It is base on the false assumptions hel by many managers that capturing requirements takes too much time an will lengthen time to market an that in any case they alreay know what the market nees. By eveloping a prioritize set of customer requirements where features are relegate to later stages in the evelopment process an by having Marketing an Engineering collaborate creates clarity at the initiation stage. You will have a firm founation on which to evelop proucts that: Customers love to own, use an pay for. Improve gross margin Reuce the waste that come by eveloping capabilities that your customers o not value an consequently are not willing to pay ccelerate time-to-market ue to the alignment between Marketing an R&D, which results in the evelopment of only the capabilities your customers nee. END Continue appenices an aitional resources

7 ppenix: The Framework The Voice of Your Customer The Voice of Your Company ( Creation) Investigate Interpret Innovate Incorporate The iscipline approach to gathering an ocumenting unfiltere customers, articulate an unarticulate nees through a variety of techniques that always inclue in-epth interviews an some level of observation of the customer s worl. VOICES Output t the en of this phase you shoul have capture (ocumente) the voice of the customer: the raw ata from each of the interviews that you an your team conucte. Documentation This shoul be in the form of notes, photos, vieo an auiotape, plus the vivi memories that you an your interview teams capture. The process of organizing the customers ata an processing them into a set of prioritize an ocumente requirements that clearly express the customers unsatisfie nees. REUIREMENTS Output t the en of this phase, you shoul have a clear, prioritize an approve list of Customer Requirements. Documentation Generally, this list is relatively short, between two an 0. In some cases it may be longer, but we encourage prioritization to reuce the number of the requirements, which capture the value expresse by your customers an also create the neee ifferentiation to win in the market place The process of transforming requirements into one or a few prouct concepts that will aress the customers articulate an unarticulate nees. PRODUCT CONCEPTS Output t the en of this phase you shoul have innovative solutions that aress the requirements expresse by your customers. This phase is where engineering an marketing collaborate to fin the solutions an to innovate. Documentation The ocumentation shoul be a prioritize list of solutions, or a collection of prouct features that in aggregate (cumulatively) provie a solution. The iscipline refinement of the prouct concepts into a single one valiate by customer feeback, an its full articulation into a set of features an specifications that engineering can implement. SOLUTIONS Output Naturally, the esire output of this phase is a profitable prouct. Documentation On the more practical sie, the output of this phase generally is an engineering ocument, which takes into account the technical trae-offs, the timeline, esign costs an other parameters. Engineering an marketing collaborate to ensure that the customer always wins; that is, that the prouct always has maximum value. The Market Requirements Document (MRD) Process The Prouct Requirements Document (PRD) Process The above iagram shows a mental moel of the framework neee to enable the evelopment of innovative proucts that achieve business objectives. It all starts with an extraorinary effort to capture customer input (Investigate) through carefully planne customer interviews. Followe with the ability to Interpret the message from the customers for the creation of requirements these requirements are communicate to R&D through the MRD (Market Requirements Document). Once the customer requirements have been ientifie an prioritize through the investigate an interpret phases, your team can set about Innovating solutions from your customers. The final I is the ability to Incorporate the innovation into a solution that the customers will value.

8 ppenix: B Requirements What s a requirement? Introuction Expressing goo requirements is one of the most important steps in new prouct evelopment. ctually, it has been shown that ba requirements are the key reason for prouct failures. But to get starte, what is a requirement? n what is a goo requirement? n how o you know if you have a goo set of requirements? It is important that the prouct team has a common answer to these questions. Customer Requirements Customer requirements express what the customer or the user shall be able to obtain/o/have. lternatively it can also be what the prouct shall be able to o/have in orer to satisfy customer nees. Requirements are not escriptions of how the prouct will o or perform. The how s are solutions. Expressing customer requirements is the responsibility of marketers an is generally ocumente in a Market Requirement Document (MRD). From customer requirements the team then looks for possible solutions that will satisfy these requirements; this is commonly calle the innovation phase of prouct evelopment. Too often prouct teams jump irectly from customer nees to prouct features an even specifications without expressing clearly the customer requirements an that is an error. Bypassing this step hiners the team from fining innovative solutions to market problems. Examples of a Customer Requirement Customer requirement: The user shall be able to comfortably work on her laptop in an airplane coach seat for five hours. This requirement can also be expresse as a prouct requirement, which is the passive-tense version. Customer requirement: The laptop shall be able to be operate comfortably The wor shall is use to enote the absolute nee to aress an satisfy the customer requirement. It is up to the esign team to innovate an create one or several ways to satisfy the customer requirement. for up to five hours in an airplane by a user in a coach seat. Notice that these requirements o not mention how the prouct shall aress the customer nees. This is the role of the solutions your team evelops. Examples of Prouct Requirements an Solutions Below are a mix of requirements an solutions. Try to etermine which is which. The battery of the laptop shall have a minimum life of five hours. The laptop shall contain a spare battery so that it can be operate for five hours with battery power. The user shall be able to plug the laptop into a reliable source of power close to his seat. The laptop shall be no larger than. x (to fit on a coach tray table). The laptop shall pass the security check without physical amage. The screen shall have sie bliners (to not be viewe by neighbors). The laptop keyboar shall incline so that it is comfortable when use on the tray table or lap. The laptop base shall not get hotter than F (to be operate comfortably on the user s lap). Please note the way requirements are expresse with a short an clear sentence containing the verb shall. opting a structure way to express requirements is a iscipline that will go a long way in facilitating unerstaning between engineering an marketing. Types of Requirements There are several types of requirements to consier. First, a particular prouct will generally have several stakeholers that will be involve at the various stages of the prouct life-cycle, for example: buying, installation, use, maintenance, isposal an overall results. Each of these stakeholers has requirements that nee to be elicite an ocumente. When expresse as a prouct requirement, there are at a minimum four types of requirements to consier. Continue

9 ppenix: B continue Business Requirements Business requirements relate to the business results the customers want to obtain. Going back to the five categories of benefits an costs, these business requirements eal mainly with the operational an economic benefits, an most of the costs categories. Examples: The customer shall be able to increase yiel by percent minimum. The prouct shall allow the customer to increase yiel by percent. Functional Requirements Functional requirements relate to what the prouct shall DO. Examples: The prouct shall warn the user when the battery reaches a low level. The prouct shall play MP songs an DVDs without booting up. Non-Functional Requirement Non-functional requirements relate to a quality the prouct shall have. Example: The prouct shall be reay to use by people of age -0 within 0 minutes of unpacking. The prouct must communicate the sense of power, ease of use an moern esign The most-frequently require non-functional requirements inclue: Look an feel Usability Performance Operation Maintainability or serviceability Portability Security Cultural an political Disposal an recycling Legal Constraints Constraints restrict the options available to the evelopment team. Examples: The prouct shall have a manufacturing cost of $,00. The prouct shall interface with an IBM server. The prouct shall be use by all teenagers, male or female. Characteristics of Goo Requirements The major attributes of a goo requirement:. Complete: requirement must fully escribe what the user shall be able to o or experience. Please note that a requirement is never a prouct feature. feature is the response of your esign team to the requirement expresse by your customer.. Documente: Every requirement must be fully ocumente to ensure clarity. The test for clarity is your esign team, o they unerstan the requirement clearly? ll the members of the prouct teams shall have the same interpretation of what the requirement means.. Traceable : Each requirement shoul be traceable to a real customer nee, an that nee shoul be containe in the MRD ocument. Focuse: Each requirement shoul express a single nee.. Verifiable: The prouct team shoul be able to verify if the prouct meets the requirement or not. typical example of a non-testable requirement is, The prouct shall be easy to use. version of this requirement that is testable is, The target user, who is a technician with an ssociate egree in electronics, shall be able to perform basic functions (etail what functions) within 0 minutes after operating the prouct for the first time.. Prioritize: Each requirement shoul be accompanie by a level of priority. Not all requirements are priority.. Moifiable: Each requirement shoul be able to be moifie without unsettling the entire set of requirements. Moifications are neee as aitional information from the customers is iscovere. Continue

10 ppenix: B continue The fully escribe, narrative of the requirements state as a customer problem Block iagram of the test setup Two use cases escribing the critical tests to be performe an the customer s esire outcomes as well as the reasons for performing the tests, i.e., the esign strategy Req. Photographs of the work station where the tests were performe Detaile process map escribing the steps, setup an other information on how the tests were performe Figure The outline of an actual requirements containe in an MRD for a complex technology prouct Persona escribing the traits, preferences, training an other critical informations about the person performing the test The above iagram shows the outline of a set of actual requirements for a complex technology prouct. There were six major requirements, an all of them use the same outline to escribe them. The iagram illustrates that articulating requirements for complex proucts is not trivial. Much information is neee in orer to R&D to innovate an later create solutions that customers will value. Item is the traitional narrative of the customer requirements, but articulate in a way that everyone in R&D can unerstan the problems that the customers are striving to solve. Item shows the use cases, that the prouct team ecie to a for clarity. Item inclues photographs, an vieo of the work space. This is very helpful for those that i not visit the actual site. Conclusion: The purpose of any requirement is to communicate the entirety of the problem that a customer is striving to solve or the objectives that she is trying to achieve. It takes creativity an collaboration from R&D to arrive at a escription that they fin unerstanable an actionable to create innovation an eliver solutions that customers will value. Important Note: The outline was create for a specific prouct an is not intene to set a rule or guieline for other proucts. The authors encourage you to evelop outlines that will meet the nees of R&D an not be limite by arbitrary rules. Do not hesitate to be creative, an consult with R&D to unerstan what it will take to evelop a clear unerstaning in orer for them to create innovative solutions for your customers En of ppenix B Continue to more appenices an resources 0

11 ppenix: C Tools Introuction Communicating customer requirements to the R&D an the rest of your team can be aunting at times it may seem almost impossible. Customers o not buy proucts or features; they buy solutions an benefits. Most of all they buy ifferentiation; that is, the emonstrate ability of your offering to eliver greater benefits an value than that of your competitors. ll of the above can only start with unerstaning customer requirements, then implementing solutions, which then become your offering. Note that features an specifications are simply a means to an en; they are your efforts to satisfy your customers requirements better than your competitors. The Tool Box Fortunately, there are many tools an methos available to effectively articulate an communicate requirements. It all starts with a profoun unerstaning of your customer, as superficial unerstaning will not yiel valuable requirements. typical customer requirements woul rea something like: The user shall be able to work on the laptop for five hours uring a flight. Note that there are no features or specifications in the statement, that comes much later. In aition to the methoology to articulate a requirement statement there are aitional methos to effectively escribe requirements, here are a few examples: Personas The profile of a fictitious iniviual for the purpose of unerstaning the behavior, personality, experience an other personal traits of a typical iniviual in a market segment or a function. Persona is a escription of the eucation, training, experience, preferences, skills, abilities an other personal traits that help unerstan the user of your prouct at the personal level. For example a Persona might escribe the typical business traveler that uses a laptop uring extene business trips. Use Cases formal methoology to escribe the specific action, thoughts, an steps that a particular customer uses to perform an action or her uties. Use cases escribe the interaction between a user an a particular prouct or a between the user an a feature of a particular prouct, for example a use case might be the escription of the actions performe by a traveler when using a laptop uring an extene flight. Process Maps The ocumente, sequential steps performe to achieve a result. Process maps are similar to Use Cases but the focus is on the accurate escription of the sequential steps with minor focus on the person performing the steps. For example mapping the process to set up an initiate a laptop in an airplane seat. Scenarios Synthetic escription of an event. scenario coul be the escription of what a customer oes to perform part of her job. It is also a escription of a particular event uner a specific set of conitions that involve a customer an her reaction to it. For example a scenario might be escribing what happens to the user of a laptop on an extene flight uring heavy turbulence. Storyboars Storyboaring is the sequential visualization of a customer s activities. The methoology ha its starts in the theatrical an film inustries as a way to visualize the sequence of scenes in a film, opera or theater prouction. Wiely use in software evelopment it is fining its way into harware an other prouct evelopment arenas. The methoology helps unerstan the process, interepenence an relationship of all the activities of a customer uner a specific situation. For example, storyboaring what a user oes to get the laptop from his luggage, set it up an start working. Continue

12 ppenix: C Continue Time an motion Stuies technique starte by Freerick Winslow Taylor, use to map, time an escribe a task or a process with focus on the iniviual performing the task. The resulting ata is analyze to fin opportunities for improvement an create solutions which might improve performance. For example oing timean-motion stuy on a person performing a set of tests on a evice in orer to create a better solution. Semantics The stuy of how humans interpret wors an language. It is the ifference that may exist between the meaning of a wor or phrase as meant by the sener an the interpretation of that same wor or phrase as interprete by the receiver. For example, the phrase easy to use may have simple meaning or may imply a highly technical one; it can also be misinterpret by the receiver in this case you, uring a customer interview. Heuristics In the area of gathering of customer requirements is the ability to closely observe a customer performing a task or function in orer to iscover the thought processes, to learn the attitue an motivation of the customer an how customers solve problems. The observer then evelops a set of Heuristics that escribes the rules to be use in eveloping a new prouct. Heuristics are commonly use to etermine the man-machine interaction, human interfaces an other areas relate to ease of use. Neurolinguistics In short, the stuy of the neural framework of the human brain. Practically speaking Neurolinguistics is a multi-iscipline area of stuy of how the brain processes information, an how this information becomes language an communication. For example the stuy on how customers interpret a GUI or a set of instructions. There is more Ethnographic stuies, emographics, contextual analysis. There is no shortage of methoologies. While we o not recommen that you aopt all these tools; nevertheless, you shoul create your own tool box, which is appropriate to your situation. Conclusion There are inee many tools, methos an templates to help you escribe customer requirements with clarity. It all starts with your commitment to an in-epth unerstaning of your customers an their requirements. En of ppenix C Continue to more appenices an resources

13 bout Rapiinnovation Eight of the many critical questions we have helpe answer for our customers:. How can we get closer to our customers in orer to create more profitable proucts, beat our competitors an elight our customers?. How o we price for value to maximize profits an please our customers. How can we optimize our R&D investments an execute the best roamap to maximize profits?. How o we grow beyon our core an manage the risks?. How can we accelerate time-to-market an shorten time-to-profit?. How can we make gile work for us?. How o segment our markets to consistently optimize profits an ensure growth?. How o we improve the financial skills of the Engineering an Prouct Mangers to obtain better business cases an overall financial performance? We have been serving the high-technology community aroun the worl for the last years. Our ability to concentrate on high technology has given us a unique insight into the ynamics of the fastest-moving market aroun. Every one of our Business Consultants is a seasone veteran of corporate life in high-tech companies. ll have engineering egrees with avance egrees in business plus years of experience helping technology companies achieve their business goals creentials that are brought to bear to solve our customers challenges. We work with our customers by focusing on the high-leverage areas of the company: R&D an Marketing where we collaborate, train, coach an facilitate every aspect of prouct evelopment, innovation, an profitability. We also work with Senior Staff to evelop measurable growth management strategies an then help in the clear execution. Our list of satisfie customers inclues some of the leaing global technology companies. Visit us at: Continue

14 itional Resources Rapiinnovation has publishe a series of books on prouct evelopment. They were written by experience prouct evelopers for those who must implement critical business processes in prouct evelopment environments. ate an str s es eets h y ce rks full pro Step : Organize temt woyour Visits t Unerstan What sse -illu Customers pla ls Detaile Process:Discussion Guie. Customer Drivers Competitor Competitor SET THE FOUNDTION in Orer of Importance Category B. Ensure that the objectives for the customer visits are ocumente an nal. No. Rating Score Rating Score (-0) (-0). CLL BRINSTORMING Subsegment % % relevant stakeholer. Positive experience with the Ben/Emo person s. ability.to prouct. contribute. % Positive experience with the Ben/Emo at least three0. hours. This. may reuce attenance, company..0 You nee to. be the BEST in satisfying RIORITIZE TOPICS thepmost.. important FOR THE MEETING In stepcustomer # (Brainstorm), you are efi ning an prioritizing Drivers. the topics of conversation.. (CVDs). % Ease of operating an maintaining the system Ben/Tech Secure a conference 0.. room.0 all the questions they wish Increase asset utilization. Ben/Eco Scheule the meeting for % but quality is more important than quantity. with ample space. 0. Future customers. That is, customers in new markets, new companies, new applications, etc. % Ease of integration into company processes an Ben/Oper % Cost of ownership (CoO). Cost/ Money % Impact on the organization Cost/Risk if something goes wrong. BRINSTORM r Why COMPRBLE to competitors in the secon tier of CVDs. in satisfying INTERVIEWER: Tell me more. CUSTOMER: We often have to print 0-00 page reports at the last minute before a presentation, an these reports contain lots of graphics. It is not atypical to have - users printing reports at the same time. INTERVIEWER: What about ocuments with text only? CUSTOMER: No problem there. It is only when we have these heavy graphics reports an when - users are queueing. From feature to problem i.e., on t stop probing until the customer voices the problem. CONTINUED Î to a target segment, you can etermine how the offering of one company ranks compare to that of another company. The PVI is calculate by first multiplying the Importance percentage (item ) by the Rating (item ) this generates the Score (item ) for each CVD an then totalling the Scores to create the PVI (item ). For comments, or aitional copies please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com For comments, questions or aitional copies questions please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com 0 This VOC guiebook aresses the pressure to obtain customer requirements rapily an shows you how to turn this knowlege into innovative proucts faster an better than your competitors. It s a step-by-step guie to every aspect of obtaining, processing an applying knowlege of your customers so you can create a steay flow of winning proucts. th Eition Debriefs an Postmortems for Prouct Development Your illustrate guie to improving performance through lessons learne Subsegments an B are there to provie one aitional level of segmentation. For example, you might make the U.S. an B Europe or you can make Managers an B Technicians. You nee not use both an B in your sample selection; it s your choice. Types of Customers. Customer Drivers Competitor Competitor SET THE FOUNDTION in Orer of Importance Category B. Rating Score Rating Score (-0) (-0). CLL BRINSTORMING Subsegment % % relevant stakeholer. Positive experience with the Ben/Emo person s. ability.to prouct. contribute. % Positive experience with the Ben/Emo at least three0. hours. This. may reuce attenance, company..0 You nee to. be the BEST in satisfying RIORITIZE TOPICS thepmost.. important FOR THE MEETING In stepcustomer # (Brainstorm), you are efi ning an prioritizing Drivers. the topics of conversation.. (CVDs). % Ease of operating an maintaining the system Ben/Tech Secure a conference 0.. room.0 all the questions they wish Increase asset utilization. Ben/Eco atten base on the objectives an each % but quality is more important than quantity. with ample space. 0. Future customers. That is, customers in new markets, new companies, new applications, etc. % Ease of integration into company processes an Ben/Oper % Cost of ownership (CoO). Cost/ Money r Why % Impact on the organization Cost/Risk if something goes wrong. BRINSTORM in satisfying INFERIOR ROOT MESSGE: The menu system has too many layers an no way to get back, which makes customers feel that the prouct is too if cult to use. Increase revenue/ throughput. % Purchase price. 00% st Why Prouct Inex INTERVIEWER: Why is that important to you? CUSTOMER: The one we have now oes 0 pages/min an it is too slow. CONTINUED Î to a target segment, you can etermine how the offering of one company ranks compare to that of another company. The PVI is calculate by first multiplying the Importance percentage (item ) by the Rating (item ) this generates the Score (item ) for each CVD an then totalling the Scores to create the PVI (item ). 0 INTERVIEWER: In what circumstances is it too slow? CUSTOMER: In particular when we have a queue of ocuments with heavy graphics. n Why Ensure that the objectives for the customer visits are ocumente an nal. Rating Score Rating Score (-0) (-0). CLL BRINSTORMING r Why INTERVIEWER: Tell me more. CUSTOMER: We often have to print 0-00 page reports at the last minute before a presentation, an these reports contain lots of graphics. It is not atypical to have - users printing reports at the same time. INTERVIEWER: What about ocuments with text only? CUSTOMER: No problem there. It is only when we have these heavy graphics reports an when - users are queueing. From feature to problem i.e., on t stop probing until the customer voices the problem. For comments, or aitional copies please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com For comments, questions or aitional copies questions please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com 0 In prouct evelopment, the imperative to reuce time-to-market is always present an risks can cause catastrophic elays. What if you coul preict an manage risks, so they on t interfere with your time-to-market goals? This step-by-step guie aresses every aspect of ientifying, prioritizing an mitigating prouct evelopment risks. It s written by veteran prouct evelopers who unerstan the pressures of creating innovative proucts faster than your competitors. Subsegment % % relevant stakeholer. Positive experience with the Ben/Emo person s. ability.to prouct. contribute. % Positive experience with the Ben/Emo at least three0. hours. This. may reuce attenance, company..0 You nee to. be the BEST in satisfying RIORITIZE TOPICS thepmost.. important FOR THE MEETING In stepcustomer # (Brainstorm), you are efi ning an prioritizing Drivers. the topics of conversation.. (CVDs). % Ease of operating an maintaining the system Ben/Tech Secure a conference 0.. room.0 all the questions they wish Increase asset utilization. Ben/Eco 0. Scheule the meeting for % but quality is more important than quantity. with ample space. 0. Future customers. That is, customers in new markets, new companies, new applications, etc. % Ease of integration into company processes an Ben/Oper % Cost of ownership (CoO). Cost/ Money % Impact on the organization Cost/Risk if something goes wrong. BRINSTORM th Eition INTERVIEWER: Tell me why it s not intuitive? CUSTOMER: I get lost all the time. n Why INTERVIEWER: Why o you think you get lost using the menu? CUSTOMER: Well, there are too many layers an no way to get back. r Why to ask their customers (use Yellow Sticky Notes). Step : Interview Your Customers INTERVIEWER: Tell me more? CUSTOMER: The menu system is not intuitive. Customers who are buying much less from you. Those who, in the last six, or months have shown a rastic reuction in purchases. Customers who are buying much more from you. goo way to start the brainstorm is to ask your team members to write own COMPRBLE to competitors in the secon tier of CVDs. les INTERVIEWER: How o you feel about this software prouct? CUSTOMER: It is very if cult to use. st Why Customers who have stoppe buying from you. That is, you have not lost them, but they have not bought from you in some time. Different than Item above. atten base on the objectives an each Customers you never ha. That is, customers who ought to have bought from you, but never i. mp Example : The Why s Subsegment B Customers you have lost. That is, customers who no longer buy from you for a negative reason. Circulate the objectives MEETING bility to aress existing an any other relevant Ben/Tech. 0 an anticipate technical Decie who nees to material to the members of Note the root message i.e., actionable input from the customer. INTERVIEWER: Tell me about your printing nees. CUSTOMER: I want a printer that prints at more than 0 pages per minute, an 0 woul be better. T Subsegments an B are there to provie one aitional level of segmentation. For example, you might make the U.S. an B Europe or you can make Managers an B Technicians. You nee not use both an B in your sample selection; it s your choice. Types of Customers. your team an any other INTERVIEWER: Why o you think you get lost using the menu? CUSTOMER: Well, there are too many layers an no way to get back. a ex Step : Organize Your Visits Detaile Process:Discussion Guie Customer Drivers Competitor Competitor SET THE FOUNDTION in Orer of Importance Category B. Rank Use the f nity Diagram CVDs that metho Ben/Eco or any other are the least formal framework for important, brainstorming. Generally, you will provie your Brainstorm Cost/all possible 0. neeone hour 0.0to performance topics.money cover three topics, or perhapsis still fewer. Remember that you Organize the topics or nee to allow the customer questions...0 to talk, an this takes time. Consoliate the topics. It is not a survey, it is a Prioritize the topics. conversation where you nee to probe an let the customer You shoul en up with talk an think. no more than three to ve topics. Prioritize base on importance to the objectives an using a clear criteria selection. The Prouct Inex (PVI) is a numerical expression offor value. By quantifying the value that a prouct represents % 0 ate an str s es eets h y ce rks full pro Step : Organize temt woyour Visits t Unerstan What sse -illu Customers pla Example: Customer rchetypes No. Example : The Why s ls Risk Management an FME for Prouct Development ll too Example: Prouct Inex INTERVIEWER: Tell me why it s not intuitive? CUSTOMER: I get lost all the time. n Why COMPRBLE to competitors in the secon tier of CVDs. Step : Interview Your Customers INTERVIEWER: Tell me more? CUSTOMER: The menu system is not intuitive. Customers who are buying much less from you. Those who, in the last six, or months have shown a rastic reuction in purchases. Customers who are buying much more from you. to ask their customers (use Yellow Sticky Notes). 0. les INTERVIEWER: How o you feel about this software prouct? CUSTOMER: It is very if cult to use. st Why goo way to start the brainstorm is to ask your team members to write own Customers you never ha. That is, customers who ought to have bought from you, but never i. Customers who have stoppe buying from you. That is, you have not lost them, but they have not bought from you in some time. Different than Item above. mp for Prouct Development Your illustrate guie to making project management work in tumultuous evelopment Example : The Why s Subsegment B Customers you have lost. That is, customers who no longer buy from you for a negative reason. Circulate the objectives MEETING bility to aress existing an any other relevant Ben/Tech. 0 an anticipate technical Decie who nees to material to the members of Note the root message i.e., actionable input from the customer. INTERVIEWER: In what circumstances is it too slow? CUSTOMER: In particular when we have a queue of ocuments with heavy graphics. T Example: Customer rchetypes Detaile Process:Discussion Guie Ensure that the objectives for the customer visits are ocumente an nal. a ex Step : Organize Your Visits Scheule the meeting for back, which makes customers feel that the prouct is too if cult to use. r Why ate an str s es eets h y ce rks full pro Step : Organize temt woyour Visits t Unerstan What sse -illu Customers pla your team an any other ROOT MESSGE: The menu system has too many layers an no way to get INTERVIEWER: Why is that important to you? CUSTOMER: The one we have now oes 0 pages/min an it is too slow. n Why Purchase price. Prouct Inex 0 Rank INTERVIEWER: Tell me about your printing nees. CUSTOMER: I want a printer that prints at more than 0 pages per minute, an 0 woul be better. st Why INFERIOR Increase revenue/ throughput. % % 00% No. ls Example : The Why s Use the f nity Diagram CVDs that metho Ben/Eco or any other are the least formal framework for important, brainstorming. Generally, you will provie your Brainstorm Cost/all possible 0. neeone hour 0.0to performance topics.money cover three topics, or perhapsis still fewer. Remember that you Organize the topics or nee to allow the customer questions...0 to talk, an this takes time. Consoliate the topics. It is not a survey, it is a Prioritize the topics. conversation where you nee to probe an let the customer You shoul en up with talk an think. no more than three to ve topics. Prioritize base on importance to the objectives an using a clear criteria selection. The Prouct Inex (PVI) is a numerical expression offor value. By quantifying the value that a prouct represents 0 INTERVIEWER: Why o you think you get lost using the menu? CUSTOMER: Well, there are too many layers an no way to get back. The Voice of the Customer for Prouct Development ll too Example: Prouct Inex INTERVIEWER: Tell me why it s not intuitive? CUSTOMER: I get lost all the time. n Why to ask their customers (use Yellow Sticky Notes). Step : Interview Your Customers INTERVIEWER: Tell me more? CUSTOMER: The menu system is not intuitive. Customers who are buying much less from you. Those who, in the last six, or months have shown a rastic reuction in purchases. Customers who are buying much more from you. goo way to start the brainstorm is to ask your team members to write own 0. les INTERVIEWER: How o you feel about this software prouct? CUSTOMER: It is very if cult to use. st Why Customers who have stoppe buying from you. That is, you have not lost them, but they have not bought from you in some time. Different than Item above. atten base on the objectives an each Customers you never ha. That is, customers who ought to have bought from you, but never i. your team an any other Subsegment B Customers you have lost. That is, customers who no longer buy from you for a negative reason. Circulate the objectives MEETING bility to aress existing an any other relevant Ben/Tech. 0 an anticipate technical Decie who nees to material to the members of mp Example : The Why s Subsegments an B are there to provie one aitional level of segmentation. For example, you might make the U.S. an B Europe or you can make Managers an B Technicians. You nee not use both an B in your sample selection; it s your choice. Types of Customers Rank T Example: Customer rchetypes a ex Step : Organize Your Visits for Prouct Development Your illustrate guie to reucing time-to-market through risk management an FME ROOT MESSGE: The menu system has too many layers an no way to get back, which makes customers feel that the prouct is too if cult to use. Note the root message i.e., actionable input from the customer. Example : The Why s in satisfying INTERVIEWER: Tell me about your printing nees. CUSTOMER: I want a printer that prints at more than 0 pages per minute, an 0 woul be better. INTERVIEWER: Why is that important to you? CUSTOMER: The one we have now oes 0 pages/min an it is too slow. st Why INFERIOR Flexible Project Management for Prouct Development Use the f nity Diagram CVDs that metho Ben/Eco or any other are the least formal framework for important, brainstorming. Generally, you will provie your Brainstorm Cost/all possible 0. neeone hour 0.0to performance topics.money cover three topics, or perhapsis still fewer. Remember that you Organize the topics or nee to allow the customer questions...0 to talk, an this takes time. Consoliate the topics. It is not a survey, it is a Prioritize the topics. conversation where you nee to probe an let the customer You shoul en up with talk an think. no more than three to ve topics. Prioritize base on importance to the objectives an using a clear criteria selection. The Prouct Inex (PVI) is a numerical expression offor value. By quantifying the value that a prouct represents % Increase revenue/ throughput. 0 % Purchase price. ll 00% INTERVIEWER: In what circumstances is it too slow? CUSTOMER: In particular when we have a queue of ocuments with heavy graphics. n Why Prouct Inex r Why INTERVIEWER: Tell me more. CUSTOMER: We often have to print 0-00 page reports at the last minute before a presentation, an these reports contain lots of graphics. It is not atypical to have - users printing reports at the same time. INTERVIEWER: What about ocuments with text only? CUSTOMER: No problem there. It is only when we have these heavy graphics reports an when - users are queueing. From feature to problem i.e., on t stop probing until the customer voices the problem. CONTINUED Î to a target segment, you can etermine how the offering of one company ranks compare to that of another company. The PVI is calculate by first multiplying the Importance percentage (item ) by the Rating (item ) this generates the Score (item ) for each CVD an then totalling the Scores to create the PVI (item ). 0 For comments, or aitional copies please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com For comments, questions or aitional copies questions please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com 0 Designe for prouct evelopers who are tire of traitional project management approaches that on t account for the real-worl intricacies an challenges of prouct evelopment. The step-by-step esign of this guiebook makes it a valuable reference for you an your evelopment team for years to come. ctionable Metrics th Eition too Flexible Project Management th Eition for Prouct Development Your illustrate guie to obtaining, prioritizing an using customer requirements an creating winning proucts Example: Prouct Inex Risk Management an FME th Eition The Voice of the Customer for Prouct Development Your illustrate guie to eveloping an using metrics to improve prouct margins an reuce time-to-market on g so in Com too ls ate an str s es eets h y ce rks full pro Step : Organize temt woyour Visits t Unerstan What sse -illu Customers pla Example: Prouct Inex No. T Example: Customer rchetypes Detaile Process:Discussion Guie Subsegments an B are there to provie one aitional level of segmentation. For example, you might make the U.S. an B Europe or you can make Managers an B Technicians. You nee not use both an B in your sample selection; it s your choice. Types of Customers Rank. Customer Drivers Competitor Competitor SET THE FOUNDTION in Orer of Importance Category B. Ensure that the objectives for the customer visits are ocumente an nal. Circulate the objectives bility to aress existing an any other relevant Ben/Tech an anticipate technical material to the members of your team an any other relevant stakeholer. Rating Score Rating Score (-0) (-0). CLL BRINSTORMING MEETING Subsegment Customers who have stoppe buying from you. That is, you have not lost them, but they have not bought from you in some time. Different than Item above. %. 0 % Positive experience with the Ben/Emo person s. ability.to prouct. contribute. % Positive experience with the Ben/Emo at least three0. hours. This. may reuce attenance, company..0 You nee to. be the BEST in satisfying Pmost RIORITIZE TOPICS.. the FOR THE MEETING important In stepcustomer # (Brainstorm), you are efi ning an prioritizing Drivers. the topics of conversation.. (CVDs). % Ease of operating an maintaining the system.0 all the questions they wish Decie who nees to atten base on the objectives an each Customers you never ha. That is, customers who ought to have bought from you, but never i. but quality is more important than quantity. with ample space. to ask their customers (use Yellow Sticky Notes). % Increase asset utilization. Ben/Eco % Ease of integration into company processes an Ben/Oper % Cost of ownership (CoO). Cost/ Money % Impact on the organization Cost/Risk if something goes wrong. BRINSTORM COMPRBLE to competitors in the secon tier of CVDs. in satisfying INFERIOR % % 00% CONTINUED Î to a target segment, you can etermine how the offering of one company ranks compare to that of another company. The PVI is calculate by first multiplying the Importance percentage (item ) by the Rating (item ) this generates the Score (item ) for each CVD an then totalling the Scores to create the PVI (item ). Ensure that the objectives for the customer visits are ocumente an nal. Circulate the objectives bility to aress existing an any other relevant Ben/Tech an anticipate technical material to the members of your team an any other relevant stakeholer. Rating Score Rating Score (-0) (-0). CLL BRINSTORMING MEETING Subsegment %. 0 Positive experience with the Ben/Emo person s. ability.to prouct. contribute. % Positive experience with the Ben/Emo at least three0. hours. This. may reuce attenance, company..0 You nee to. be the BEST in satisfying RIORITIZE TOPICS thepmost.. important FOR THE MEETING In stepcustomer # (Brainstorm), you are efi ning an prioritizing Drivers. the topics of conversation.. (CVDs). % Ease of operating an maintaining the system.0 all the questions they wish r Why INTERVIEWER: In what circumstances is it too slow? CUSTOMER: In particular when we have a queue of ocuments with heavy graphics. INTERVIEWER: Tell me more. CUSTOMER: We often have to print 0-00 page reports at the last minute before a presentation, an these reports contain lots of graphics. It is not atypical to have - users printing reports at the same time. with ample space. INTERVIEWER: What about ocuments with text only? CUSTOMER: No problem there. It is only when we have these heavy graphics reports an when - users are queueing. From feature to problem i.e., on t stop probing until the customer voices the problem. For comments, or aitional copies please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com For comments, questions or aitional copies questions please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com 0 Debriefs are the most effective way to improve evelopment-team performance an that translates to shorter time-to-market an more rewaring innovation evelopment. This step-by-step guie covers every aspect of postmortems, ientifying what to o-more-of an what to o-less-of to improve future prouctevelopment performance. It s written by veteran prouct evelopers who unerstan how to obtain the right input from your team, an how to apply it to future projects. INTERVIEWER: Tell me why it s not intuitive? CUSTOMER: I get lost all the time. r Why % Increase asset utilization. Ben/Eco % Ease of integration into company processes an Ben/Oper % Cost of ownership (CoO). Cost/ Money % Impact on the organization Cost/Risk if something goes wrong. BRINSTORM COMPRBLE to competitors in the secon tier of CVDs. in satisfying INFERIOR Step : Interview Your Customers INTERVIEWER: Tell me more? CUSTOMER: The menu system is not intuitive. n Why Customers who are buying much more from you. to ask their customers (use Yellow Sticky Notes). les INTERVIEWER: How o you feel about this software prouct? CUSTOMER: It is very if cult to use. Customers who are buying much less from you. Those who, in the last six, or months have shown a rastic reuction in purchases. goo way to start the brainstorm is to ask your team members to write own st Why Future customers. That is, customers in new markets, new companies, new applications, etc. Scheule the meeting for but quality is more important than quantity. Ben/Tech Secure a conference 0.. room Note the root message i.e., actionable input from the customer. INTERVIEWER: Why is that important to you? CUSTOMER: The one we have now oes 0 pages/min an it is too slow. n Why Decie who nees to atten base on the objectives an each Subsegment B Customers you never ha. That is, customers who ought to have bought from you, but never i. Customers who have stoppe buying from you. That is, you have not lost them, but they have not bought from you in some time. Different than Item above. mp Example : The Why s Customers you have lost. That is, customers who no longer buy from you for a negative reason. % Purchase price. Prouct Inex Types of Customers. Customer Drivers Competitor Competitor SET THE FOUNDTION in Orer of Importance Category B. back, which makes customers feel that the prouct is too if cult to use. INTERVIEWER: Tell me about your printing nees. CUSTOMER: I want a printer that prints at more than 0 pages per minute, an 0 woul be better. st Why Increase revenue/ throughput. T Subsegments an B are there to provie one aitional level of segmentation. For example, you might make the U.S. an B Europe or you can make Managers an B Technicians. You nee not use both an B in your sample selection; it s your choice. Rank No. a ex Step : Organize Your Visits Example: Customer rchetypes Detaile Process:Discussion Guie ROOT MESSGE: The menu system has too many layers an no way to get Example : The Why s Use the f nity Diagram CVDs that metho Ben/Eco or any other are the least formal framework for important, brainstorming. Generally, you will provie your Brainstorm Cost/all possible 0. neeone hour 0.0to performance topics.money cover three topics, or perhapsis still fewer. Remember that you Organize the topics or nee to allow the customer questions...0 to talk, an this takes time. Consoliate the topics. It is not a survey, it is a Prioritize the topics. conversation where you nee to probe an let the customer You shoul en up with talk an think. no more than three to ve topics. Prioritize base on importance to the objectives an using a clear criteria selection. The Prouct Inex (PVI) is a numerical expression offor value. By quantifying the value that a prouct represents 0 INTERVIEWER: Why o you think you get lost using the menu? CUSTOMER: Well, there are too many layers an no way to get back. Debriefs an Postmortems for Prouct Development 0 ll ate an str s es eets h y ce rks full pro Step : Organize temt woyour Visits t Unerstan What sse -illu Customers pla ls INTERVIEWER: Tell me why it s not intuitive? CUSTOMER: I get lost all the time. r Why Customers who are buying much more from you. Step : Interview Your Customers too Example: Prouct Inex INTERVIEWER: Tell me more? CUSTOMER: The menu system is not intuitive. n Why Customers who are buying much less from you. Those who, in the last six, or months have shown a rastic reuction in purchases. goo way to start the brainstorm is to ask your team members to write own les INTERVIEWER: How o you feel about this software prouct? CUSTOMER: It is very if cult to use. st Why Future customers. That is, customers in new markets, new companies, new applications, etc. Scheule the meeting for Ben/Tech Secure a conference 0.. room mp Example : The Why s Subsegment B Customers you have lost. That is, customers who no longer buy from you for a negative reason. a ex Step : Organize Your Visits INTERVIEWER: Why o you think you get lost using the menu? CUSTOMER: Well, there are too many layers an no way to get back. ROOT MESSGE: The menu system has too many layers an no way to get back, which makes customers feel that the prouct is too if cult to use. Note the root message i.e., actionable input from the customer. Example : The Why s INTERVIEWER: Tell me about your printing nees. CUSTOMER: I want a printer that prints at more than 0 pages per minute, an 0 woul be better. st Why Use the f nity Diagram CVDs that metho Ben/Eco or any other are the least formal framework for important, brainstorming. Generally, you will provie your Brainstorm Cost/all possible 0. neeone hour 0.0to performance topics.money cover three topics, or perhapsis still fewer. Remember that you Organize the topics or nee to allow the customer questions...0 to talk, an this takes time. Consoliate the topics. It is not a survey, it is a Prioritize the topics. conversation where you nee to probe an let the customer You shoul en up with talk an think. no more than three to ve topics. Prioritize base on importance to the objectives an using a clear criteria selection. The Prouct Inex (PVI) is a numerical expression offor value. By quantifying the value that a prouct represents INTERVIEWER: Why is that important to you? CUSTOMER: The one we have now oes 0 pages/min an it is too slow. ctionable Metrics for Prouct Development % Increase revenue/ throughput. 0 % Purchase price. ll 00% Prouct Inex n Why INTERVIEWER: In what circumstances is it too slow? CUSTOMER: In particular when we have a queue of ocuments with heavy graphics. r Why INTERVIEWER: Tell me more. CUSTOMER: We often have to print 0-00 page reports at the last minute before a presentation, an these reports contain lots of graphics. It is not atypical to have - users printing reports at the same time. INTERVIEWER: What about ocuments with text only? CUSTOMER: No problem there. It is only when we have these heavy graphics reports an when - users are queueing. From feature to problem i.e., on t stop probing until the customer voices the problem. What gets measure gets one says the refrain. This is 0 0 particularly true in prouct evelopment ue to the many competing priorities, from time-to-market, to gross margin to time-to-profit an many more. CONTINUED Î to a target segment, you can etermine how the offering of one company ranks compare to that of another company. The PVI is calculate by first multiplying the Importance percentage (item ) by the Rating (item ) this generates the Score (item ) for each CVD an then totalling the Scores to create the PVI (item ). For comments, or aitional copies please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com For comments, questions or aitional copies questions please the authors: VOC@rapiinnovation.com This book will guie you through an assessment of your current metrics an their impact on the bottom line to escribing the critical metrics use by prouct evelopment organizations. Coming soon Contact us: info@rapiinnovation.com

15 bout Us Jean-Claue Ballan Ph. D. (Regrettably Dr. Ballan passe away since the publication of this White Paper, we shall miss him) was a high-technology marketing executive, consultant, professor, an lecturer with extensive experience in sales an marketing management in Europe, the Unite States, an Japan for technology proucts. Jean- Claue helpe companies evelop breakthrough offerings an strategies. He is was ajunct professor at OHSU School of Engineering an Computer Sciences an at Portlan State University where he taught Technology Marketing an other courses relate to creating breakthrough proucts. Prior to his present occupation, Jean-Claue was Director of Internet Marketing at Mentor Graphics Corporation. He worke nineteen years at Tektronix, Inc. an left after several years as the Division Marketing Manager of a large an highly successful ivision. Bob Buxton brings more than twenty years of experience in both R&D, marketing an business segment management within high-technology companies incluing M/-COM, Marconi Comman an Control Systems, Marconi Instruments, vantest, Tektronix an nritsu. His R&D experiences were primarily in connection with Raar an Communications equipment esign. His marketing an business management experience spans the range of strategy evelopment, portfolio management, new prouct efinition an evelopment, creation an execution of go-tomarket strategies an prouct life cycle management. Bob hols a bachelors egree in General Science, a masters egree in Microwave an Moern Optics from University College, Lonon an an MB from George Fox University, Newberg Oregon. He is a Chartere Engineer an a Member of the Institution of Engineering an Technology. Jose Campos, Founer Rapiinnovation Jose an his team of seasone consultants collaborate with BB companies aroun the worl on the methos, tools an cultural shifts neee to rapily an consistently eliver superior value to customers. He has spent his career working to efine an eliver innovative proucts to market. For 0 years he has passionately concentrate on eveloping new methos to iscover an eliver customer value in the tumultuous worl of high-tech. Jose has written several acclaime books, incluing Voice of the Customer for Prouct Development, a methoology for iscovering, prioritizing an using customer requirements to create clearly ifferentiate proucts faster than the competition, an Risk Management for Prouct Development, which inclues strategies an methos to reuce the impact of uncertainty on your investment. Flexible Project Management for Prouct Development is his latest publication. Jose was also coauthor of Project Management Toolbox in collaboration with Dr. Dragan Milosevic. His focus on high-tech an their technical backgroun allow Jose an his team of experience consultants to provie meaningful an practical coaching to technology professionals. They have travele the worl to help R&D an Marketing teams improve their ability to create innovative proucts customers love. Contact Jose: jose@rapiinnovation.com