Techsonic Case Study

1.

a) Based on our readings and in-class discussions, what are the risks and limitations of using inquiry to obtain customer input when developing new products?

1.

a) Based on our readings and in-class discussions, what are the risks and limitations of using inquiry to obtain customer input when developing new products?

Customers should not be trusted when it comes to giving solutions because they are not experts at innovating new products. Customers should only be asked for outcomes, which is what they want a new product to do for them. There are five main risks when using customer input to develop new products. First, it is the tendency to make incremental rather than huge improvements to the current product. Second, meeting customer demands tend to only satisfy the missing features that other manufacturers already offer. Third, companies often ask recommendations from lead users, which are expert customers who have better understanding of a product. It is problematic because their recommendations and uses may differ from general average users. The fourth is the concept of functional fixedness. Humans have a tendency to use things a certain way. For example, people would not think that hammer can be used for paperweight because they would think that it is mainly used for pounding nails. Lastly, people may not give the right solutions because they themselves have contradictory needs.

b) Was Techsonic particularly vulnerable to any of these risks and limitations? Please explain why or why not and be specific

Techsonic are not vulnerable to these risks because they captured the right information. First, they plan outcome-based customer interview. “They found out that Techsonic’s customers wanted a product that was easier to read in sunlight and that had a graphic representation like that of a chart recorder, but was as reliable