Design methodologies - incorporating the voice of the customer into the new product development process

In order for firms to remain competitive their products must satisfy their customers. By listening to the customer's requirements a company can make products that meet the needs of the customer. Design approaches have been developed in order to incorporate the voice of the customer into the new product development process. This paper examines two of these design methods Quality Function Deployment and Requirement Trees. The paper outlines their basic theory as well as identifying the limitations of these methodologies. The study finds that the emphasis of the methods varies. Requirement Trees is concerned with using the customer requirements to develop the product design specification. Quality Function Deployment is concerned with incorporating the voice of the customer throughout the design process. The success of individual design approaches is well documented but research is required into a specific method for prioritising customer requirements when the customer is not just the end-user.