Lost in translation : challenges in mapping user needs to engineering requirements

A case study of dishwashers drying performance is used to illustrate the challenges involved in translating consumer needs to engineering specifications. The mismatch between the results of engineering tests of a dishwasher and the results of consumer satisfaction surveys reveals many improvement opportunities to the product development process. The case study presents how the correlation between internal tests and consumer satisfaction may reveal problems with the metrics defined to test products. The complexity of identifying consumer needs is discussed along with new methods to leveraging artificial intelligence and big data to conduct market research. The advantage of having deep knowledge about a system is discussed on the context of negotiating tradeoffs during a project. The impact of the organizational structure on the efficiency and efficacy of tradeoffs is discussed. The importance of product roadmaps and the risks imposed by uncertainty are presented along with the benefits of Set Based Concurrent Engineering and Modularization.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering and Management Program

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Mendes Calil, Frederico César.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Warren Seering.

• Engineering and Management Program.
• System Design and Management Program.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122435

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122435