On the General Evaluation of Customer Requirements During Conceptual Design

Abstract

Customer requirements must be satisfied for a product to succeed in the market. Evaluation of customer requirements plays an important role during the conceptual design phase of various design methodologies. However, since customer requirements are continuously revised during design processes, much effort, time, and money are required. Twenty items are recommended to organize customer requirements and enhance efficiency. The relative importance of these recommended items, without regard to the product, is evaluated by using the pairs comparison method. The weighting factors for all recommended items are then calculated. The relative importance of the items shows that safety, quality, environment and performance are the most important. The relative importance and the weighting factors of the items from this study suggest that their use in the process during preliminary or lead time conceptual design of various design methods can assist with cost and time reductions.