Objective:
The purpose of this write up is to critically evaluate selected literature on identifying and understanding customer needs
related to creating innovative products and systems.
Paper Write Up Description:
Read and critically evaluate selected literature related to understanding customer needs and developing metrics for
quantifying product performance. Read the following papers:
1. Bettencourt and Ulwick, “The Customer Centered Innovation Map”
2. Otto and Wood, “Chapter 4 – Understanding Customer Needs” from Product Design:
Techniques in Reverse Engineering and New Product Development (pdf; pages 1-23
only)
3. Hauser and Clausing, “The House of Quality”
4. Hannukainen and Hölttä-Otto, “Identifying Customer Needs – Disabled Persons as Lead
Users”
After reading these papers (four total), outline key insights you gained from each article. Critically assess each paper
and describe what, if anything, was intriguing, motivating, and inspiring about the techniques described. Alternatively,
explain why you disagree with the opinions expressed in the article.
The write-up on each article should be approximately one-half page in length (single space, 12 size font). i.e half a page
to each headlined article.