R&D: In other words, you don’t know what you want.

Chapter 12

Product Protocol

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A Marketing-R&D Conversation
MKTG: We’re going to be needing a solar-powered version of our standard garage door opener, soon.
R&D: How reliable should it be? Should it be controllable from inside the house? Should we use new electronics technology? Should it be separate from the collector system already installed?
MKTG: Well, you’re the technical people, make some recommendations.
R&D: In other words, you don’t know what you want.
MKTG: Cripes, do we have to tell you everything? What do you do for a living? How should we know where the collectors should be located?
R&D: If we go electronic, you’ll say it’s too expensive. If we go electric, you’ll say we’re living in the ‘30s. Wherever we put the collectors you will say we are wrong. If we guess, you second-guess.
MKTG: OK. Put the collectors on the garage roof.
R&D: That probably can’t be done.
Figure 12.1

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One Solution: Toyota’s Oobeya Room
Big room to accommodate all team members for a new product project.
Prototype (model, mock-up, or drawing) is in center of room.
All around the room are boards to guide discussion (objectives, metrics, action, decomposition into sub-projects, critical problems and issues).
Team leader sets targets and controls meeting.
Team members all make short presentations (under three minutes).
No time for loafing! Total meeting time is under one hour.

Why Have A Protocol?
Also known as product requirements, product definition, deliverables, etc.
Doesn’t it seem obvious and simple?
Actually is one of the top success factors distinguishing winning from losing projects.
Maybe because it involves more than technical aspects.

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Purposes of Protocol
To determine what marketing and R&D groups need to do their work.
Think concept life cycle: this is more than a simple concept statement, yet less than we will have when the first prototype is available.
Try to identify the key deliverables at this point.
To communicate essential to all players and integrate their actions, directing outcomes consistent with the full screen and financials.
To set boundaries on development process or cycle time.
To permit the development process to be managed (i.e., what needs to be done, when, why, how, by whom, whether).

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Contents of a Product Protocol
Target market
Product positioning
Product attributes (benefits)
Competitive comparison
Augmentation dimensions
Timing
Marketing requirements
Financial requirements
Production requirements
Regulatory requirements
Corporate strategy requirements
Potholes

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Narrow Version of Protocol: End-User “I Want” List
This is the “I Want” list for a new lawn leaf blower /vacuum. These are benefits — how they are achieved is determined during development.
Manufacturer stands behind product — two year full warranty.
Electrically and mechanically safe. Good value and lasts a long time — top quality component parts, state-of-the-art manufacturing.
Makes yard clean-up easier — most powerful blower you can buy.
Converts from blower to vacuum without tools.
Electrical cord does not come loose.
Can be used with existing extension cord.
Easy to maneuver.
Clog-free vacuuming.
Tubes go together and stay together.

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“I Want” List for the Hapifork
Same shape and weight as a regular fork; handle should not be much bigger than normal.
Emits a signal if the person is eating too quickly.
Washable and dishwasher safe.
Resistant, not fragile.
Comes in a wide variety of colors to match any décor.
Can connect via Bluetooth or USB to other devices to record and track progress.
Easy to use.
Comes with information on diet and exercise.

Consider that these are stated as benefits, and that some of these might conflict!

Protocol Stated as Benefits: BuiltNY
Product concept: carrier for two wine bottles.
Customer benefits:
Protective, insulating, ergonomic, lightweight, reusable, inexpensive, flexible (easy to fold)
Result: neoprene wine bottle carriers (inexpensive, easy to cut and dye into designer colors).
Spinoffs included beer carriers and baby-bottle carriers.

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A Sample Protocol: Trash Disposal System
Must automate trash disposal at factory cost not to exceed $800.
Clean, ventilated, odor-free, no chance of combustion.
Must be safe enough to be operated by children; outside storage safeguards against children and animals.
Size must be small enough to work as kitchen appliance, to provide easy access and eliminate need for double handling of trash.
Simple installation
Decor adaptable to different user tastes.
If design requires opening of exterior walls, structural integrity and insulation against elements must be maintained.
User-friendly, automatic operation, easy to maintain by technical servicepeople.

Figure 12.3

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Protocol and the Voice of the Customer
VOC: complete set of customer wants and needs, expressed in customer’s own language, prioritized in terms of importance and performance.”
No scientific jargon.

Gathering the Voice of the Customer
20 or 30 45-minute interviews produce 90-100% of customer needs.
Audio recording and transcription.
Statements grouped into 15-25 affinity groupings, prioritized by importance to customer.
Don’t ask “what are your needs or requirements” as this will give you “better sameness,” not revolutionary new products.
Ask about experiences or desired outcomes: “What are the most difficult tasks? What do you like and dislike? What was your worst experience?”

Steve Jobs’ Quote on VOC
It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them. … You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.”

So does this mean we should forget about VOC?

Steve Jobs on the iPod Touch
“Originally we weren’t exactly sure how to market [it]. … Was it an iPhone without the phone? Was it a pocket computer? … What customers told us was, they started to see it as a game machine. We started to market it that way, and it just took off. And now what we really see is it’s the lowest-cost way to the App Store, and that’s the big draw. So … we were focused on [getting] the price down where everyone can afford it.”

So Apple was not asking the customers what they want. They were listening to desired outcomes and how the product provided those outcomes.
Recall from PIC: the technology dimension must match a viable market dimension.

Use and Misuse of VOC
It is not qualitative research only. The value comes from organizing, clustering, and prioritizing the needs by importance.
Do not talk to major customers only. Non-customers, average customers, and customers loyal to the competitor can provide valuable information.
Remember that customers are very good at stating their needs, even though they are not professional engineers and usually cannot tell what technology should be used (reason to use QFD).
Key lesson: don’t ask customers about what they want. Ask about what outcomes they want to see in the future.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD)
A technique designed to insure that customer needs are focused on throughout the new product project.
First step is the House of Quality (HOQ): gathers desired attributes from customers and translates them to engineering characteristics.
Requires inputs from marketing and technical personnel; encourages communication and cooperation across the functional areas.

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Protocol Within the New Products Process

End User  Market Contact  New Product Group  R&D Contact  Engineers
Unmet Needs Inventory of Statement of Needs to Benefits to How to Deliver the
And Problems Needs Be Fulfilled by Product Deliver Requested Benefits
Benefit to Feature Conversion
(Specs)
Finished Prototype Evaluate Prototype; R&D Delivers Features Delivered;
Product Confirmed Further Development Prototype Lab Assesses Performance
End User  Market Contact  New Product Group  R&D Contact  Engineers
Figure 12.5

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QFD and Its House of Quality
Figure 12.6

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Benefits in QFD Example
Compatibility
Print quality
Ease of use
Productivity

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Technologies in QFD Example
Postscript compatible
Resolution
Edge sharpness
Duplex printing
Hours training required
Speed (text)
Speed (graphics)

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Tradeoffs in QFD Example
Improving resolution slows down text printing and really slows down graphics printing.
Increasing edge sharpness slows down both text and graphics printing.
Duplex printing speeds up text and graphics printing.
Postscript compatibility improves resolution and edge sharpness.

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House of Quality:
Source: Adapted from John R. Hauser and Don Clausing, “The House of Quality,” Harvard Review, May-June, 1988.
Moving to Later Stages of QFD
Figure 12.7
Engineering Characteristics
Parts Characteristics
Parts Characteristics
Process Operations
Process Operations
Production Requirements
Customer Attributes
Engineering Characteristics

Parts Deployment:
Process Planning:
Production Planning:

Converted to:
Converted to:
Converted to:
Converted to:

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QFD Realities
Substantial cost and time commitment.
Only mixed results in some applications.
Requires top management support and commitment.
Must be viewed internally as an investment.
Requires good functional integration.
May work better if the team members have a successful track record of working together before.

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Improving QFD Efficiency
Concentrate on only some of the Engineering Characteristics: the most critical, or the ones where improvements are easy to accomplish.
Organize the Engineering Characteristics into groups, and designate responsibility to functional areas.
Do cost-benefit analysis on each Engineering Characteristic to determine which provide the greatest benefit relative to cost of improvement.

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