1. Preface

At various points in my career I have been asked to identify and define the user requirements for a product or service. This has generally been as a precursor to initiating the formal specification or design of a new product or service. As a result I have made a number of observations concerning peoples' ability to define and scope the requirements of a new product or service.

Observations

Few people seem to know how to start the identification of customer or user requirements. However, they do know they need them to continue with a successful product development. When they are presented with a definition of user requirements they invariably protest that they have insufficient information upon which to define a product or service. Whenever there is a gap in knowledge the normal reaction is to "go and ask the users", request further market research, or carry out additional system analysis to fill the perceived gaps.

When additional market research or systems analysis fails to fill the gap in user's requirements, the product designer is often left in a quandary of needing to design a product or service for the users which the users themselves cannot define.

Those experienced in the process of defining new products and services recognise intuitively that the user's requirements are but the tip of the iceberg of the definition.To achieve a successful and marketable product, it is necessary to recognise the needs and requirements of all parties interested in the process of product, services and systems delivery as well as the eventual user and customer. This includes design, manufacture, storage, marketing, distribution, sale, purchase, installation, maintenance and disposal, to mention a few of the involved parties.

Experience, The Key

There are relatively few individuals involved in the process of new product definition at the conceptual level. Those that are and whose products are successful tend to progress in their organisations or career relatively quickly. As more glamorous activities compete for attention, useful experience may be lost. Those that are unsuccessful tend to move on, to other, less intellectually taxing activities.

Product definition is undoubtedly one of the least glamorous, least written about, most difficult and least defined areas of business activity. It is the foundation stone of a new business but an unnecessary overhead when a financial crisis occurs. It is an intellectual process, requiring concentrated thought and a command of written language. These skills are seldom recognised or admired by those imbued with an entrepreneurial spirit. It is a documentation and decision making process, activities to be avoided by individuals chasing fast moving careers and an easy way up the career ladder.