Capture and Use the Voice of the Customer for Product Development

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Improving Technical Productivity

PRODUCT ENGINEERING - R&D - I T - SCIENTIFIC

Capture and Use Customer Requirements Like a Pro!

Capture and Use the Voice of the Customer for Product Development is the first and only downloadable and interactive guide to allow product teams to effectively capture and use customer requirements. Developed by product development veterans, this guide includes a vast collection of process maps, tools and interactive templates with examples and step-by-step instructions.

With this guide at your disposal, you will be equipped to immediately start unveiling important stated and unstated customer requirements and transform them into high-impact products.

Unique Benefits

First, it's a step-by-step "how-to" guide. It provides all the processes, tools and templates that you need to plan and execute a requirement gathering program from beginning to end -- even in chaotic environments.
Second, it helps you focus your effort on creating superior customer value.
Third, it's been field-tested and continuously improved over many years with actual product teams to ensure effectiveness and immediate applicability in the real world!
Fourth, because it's an enhanced PDF file, the e-Guide takes full advantage of hyperlinks, "fillable" forms, interactive templates, and more. You are no longer tied to the old paper model. Plus you can share the forms, templates and processes with your colleagues around the world.

$79.00

What You Get

A PDF file containing more than 200, full-color, easy-to-read, illustrated printable pages, including:

15 documented processes
13 templates, many in fillable format
16 powerful tools
20 examples
And... numerous references and links to many additional valuable resources!

Who Should Use This Guide

Marketing

Product Managers, Marketing Managers and other marketing professionals who are engaged in defining important products in competitive environments. Develop and share with your colleagues around the world, and enable teams at other sites to collaborate with you in obtaining and using the Voice of the Customer.

Engineering

Engineering Leads, Engineering Managers, Design Engineers, Product Planners and Project Managers who must develop QFDs, collaborate with marketing in developing product requirements, or wish to increase understanding of the problems and challenges facing your company's customers.

15 Fully Detailed, Step-by-Step Processes

With these documented process at your fingertips, you will never ask again, "Where do I start?" or "How do I do this?" It's all in the process map. Among the main ones you will find:

The Master 4I's Process (Investigate, Interpret, Innovate, Incorporate)
Planning Your Visits
Developing a Persona
Developing a Discussion Guide
Preparing the Post-Visit Meeting
Conducting the Post-Visit Meeting
Transforming Voices into Requirements
Transforming Requirements into Features

and more...

13 Templates, Including Many in "Fillable" Formats

Don't reinvent the wheel!

Do it right, and do it now. With these templates you will have what you need to do a first-hand job. Many of these templates are "fillable," meaning you can create them electronically, save them, and send to team members. Among this valuable set of resources you will find:

Product Value Index
Product Value Profile
Charter
Four Ways to Select Samples
Determine the Number of Interviews
Mapping Visits for Relevant Cross-Section
Customer Contact Planner
Hierarchy of Topics and Questions
The Charter for a Customer Panel
Planning Checklist and Document

and more...

Over 16 Tools from the Real World

Developing Objectives and Charter
Customer Contact Planner (3)
How Many Customers to Interview
Typology of Customer Visits
Types of Questions
Customer Panels

and more...

Plus, you have six fully-documented generic tools to facilitate team decision-making:

Yellow Stickies Protocol
Affinity Diagrams
Prioritizing Affinity Diagrams
Karnaugh Maps (improved 2x2 matrix)
Process Mapping
Deploying a New Tool at Work

20 Illustrated Examples

Tools and templates are typically accompanied by actual examples of how to use them, so you will see how others have used it. See for example how to:

Increase Customer Value
Develop a Purpose Statement
Develop Objectives
Answer Critical Questions Before Starting
Map a Persona
Select Samples in the Most Appropriate Way for Your Purpose
Map Visits
Develop a Discussion Guide That Provides Insights
Use the Five Why's to Get to the Bottom of Things
Express Requirements
Transform Requirements into Features

and more...

Product Details

Authors: José Campos and Jean-Claude Balland

Good product requirements are the foundations of successful and innovative new products. But surprisingly, not many product teams actually master the arts of effectively unveiling requirements from customers and expressing them in such a way that engineering can innovate and design. The consequences are serious. It’s been said that the number one reason for product failures is the lack of good requirements. There are some good books on requirements but this electronic guide is fundamentally different.

Unique Benefits

First, it is a practical “how to” guide. It provides all the processes, tools, and templates that you will need to plan and execute a requirement gathering program from beginning to end— even in chaotic environments. It helps you focus your effort on creating superior customer value. And, it’s been field-tested and has been continuously improved over many years with actual product teams to ensure effectiveness and immediate applicability in the real word.

A Practical “How To” Guide

Most books, handbooks, seminars, and workshops lack practicality and immediate applicability. Even the best leave you with a fundamental unanswered question: “What do I have to do to implement that great concept? What are Step 1, Step 2, etc.?” In business, there is no value in understanding a great new concepts if the user cannot implement it rapidly. The focus and uniqueness of this guide is 100% on implementation. It contains everything a professional would need to apply every concept in it. This guide provides the process maps, the tools, the methods, and the templates for the professional to successfully understand and interpret the voices of your customers and transform them into customer and product requirements. It even shows how to overcome the difficulties and obstacles that people will likely face in implementing the materials in the workplace.

Focus on Creating Customer Value

This electronic guide provides a framework for product teams to identify opportunities to create more value for customers. It identifies ten dimensions of value that represent nearly all possible opportunities. Equipped with this framework, teams can use the "how to" processes, templates, and tools of this guide to actually plan and execute a requirement-gathering campaign centered on defining products that can deliver superior customer value.

An Electronic Format Fit for Immediate Applicability in the Real World

The emphasis on practicality and immediate applicability led the authors to abandon the traditional paper format in favor of an electronic format. This allows the materials to be immediately available in the user’s computer everywhere they go. Templates can be filled directly from the computer; links rapidly forward the user to other sections; and with a PDF editor, those users can edit, comment, emphasize, add, delete, etc. to generate their own personalized version. Of course, it is also printable if the user wants to get a few pages or the complete 200+ page four-color printed version. And, with continuous improvements, new versions and patches will be regularly available.

This Guide Will Show You How To:

Organize your team effort for gathering customer requirements effectively
Select and find the right customers to interview
Decide how many customers to interview
Develop a powerful discussion guide
Interview customers to get the maximum amount of information in the limited time you have
Ask questions that elicit unstated needs
Avoid poor questions
Gather much more than a list of specifications without rationales
Probe customers to get to the root of their problems
Organize the effort to process the multitude of information you gathered
Process the information to extract critical customer requirements
Express requirements in a format that engineers and designers can use to innovate and develop innovative product concepts
Apply powerful processes, tools, and templates that have wide applicability

With this guide at your disposal, you and your product team will move to a level of expertise that few teams possess! If you are developing new products you will certainly benefit from this product.

Frequently Asked Questions