How to make product development projects more successful by integrating Kano's model of customer satisfaction into quality function deployment

Despite all efforts, many product development projects fail and lend to the introduction of products that do not meet customers' expectations. A high level of customer satisfaction cannot be obtained. On the other hand in many product development projects the process of product development is conducted very unsystematically and resources are wasted because of a lack of communication between the different functions involved in product development. Time especially is a critical factor within product development as time to market is becoming increasingly more important. Managers need a set of practical step-by-step tools and methods which ensure a better understanding of customers' needs and requirements, as well as procedures and processes to enhance communication by focusing on the voice of the customer within a product development project. The authors propose a methodology, based on Kano's model of customer satisfaction, to explore customers' stated needs and unstated desires and to resolve them into different categories which have different impacts on customer-satisfaction. It is shown how this categorization can be used as a basis for product development, especially for quality function deployment. The paper begins with a brief discussion of the strategic importance of customer satisfaction, then Kano's model and its combination with quality function deployment is demonstrated using a case study from the ski industry. The paper closes with a brief discussion of the managerial implications and the consequences of the application of these tools. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.