$1\mathrm{.}3\mathrm{.}2\mathrm{.}1.$ Capture customer requirements.

You start by focusing on the left side of the house of quality. This step involves the marketing team. You list all customer requirements that are relevant to the product. Conducting a survey is one way of finding out what customers want. You can also use other methods such as market analyses to determine requirements because even potential customers often don$$t have a clear picture of what they need from a product. The list of customer needs is often referred to as the $$what$$ versus the $$how$$ of technical requirements.

In our example, we want the food processor to have a wide range of features, a modern design, and long$-$lasting quality. We enter this information in the list. The order isn$$t important.

$1\mathrm{.}3\mathrm{.}2\mathrm{.}2.$ Weigh customer requirements

You assign ratings from $1$ to $5($the more important the aspect, the higher the number$)$ right next to the list of customer requirements. You can also create your own scale if it makes more sense for the product and the team. You can solicit the information you need for classifying requirements by conducting customer surveys or communicating with customers. You can then figure out which requirements you should focus on in the planning process.

In our example, the range of functions is most important for customers. The other two requirements were ranked lower.

$1\mathrm{.}3\mathrm{.}2\mathrm{.}3.$ Competitive analysis from the customer$$s perspective

In the third step, you determine how your planned product compares to competing products. A carefully chosen, representative group of customers compares your product with leading products on the market $($or with several competing products$).$ Only one aspect of the customer requirements is compared at a time. In our example, the group of customers would assess how the functionality of the new product compares to the range of functions of competing products.

Once again, you can rate them on a scale of $1$ to $5.$ A rating of $3$ equals an equivalent product. Anything below $3$ means that your product performs worse than the competing product in terms of the aspect being compared. A higher value means that your product is better received by potential customers. The table for this is located at the right edge of the house of quality. For better visualization, you can connect the individual points to create a graph. You can use different colours for better clarity when comparing your product to several competing products on the market.

$1\mathrm{.}3\mathrm{.}2\mathrm{.}4.$ Define product attributes.

While the first three steps primarily reflect the customer$$s view and concern marketing, the fourth step requires input from engineers or product designers. Now the question is how exactly to implement the customer requirements. What steps are needed to create an appealing product? Examples include features such as motor power, blade systems, housing design, and controls. You assign this list to the top of the house.

$1\mathrm{.}3\mathrm{.}2\mathrm{.}5.$ Determine direction of improvement

This step requires technical expertise. Now you determine the extent to which the actual state of the product attributes must be adapted to the target state that you derived from the customer requirements. You use three symbols to indicate this:

$$ Up arrow: The attribute has to be increased in order to optimize it

$$ Down arrow: The attribute has to be decreased in order to optimize it

$$ Circle: A target value is desired

In our example, we would expand the blade systems to achieve a wider range of functions. The motor power, on the other hand, already has the target value and is therefore marked with a circle. We would use a down arrow if the customer wanted the product to be cheaper, for example. In other words, the value of this attribute must be decreased.

$1\mathrm{.}3\mathrm{.}2\mathrm{.}6.$ Determine relationships.

In the sixth step in building the house of quality, you fill in the actual matrix, which is like the body of the house. We now consider how the individual requirements relate to the product characteristics. You use four different values to evaluate the relationship:

$$ If there$$s no connection at all, you specify a value of $0$ or leave the field blank.

$$ A weak relationship is given a score of $1.$

$$ A medium relationship is ranked $5.$

$$ A strong relationship is rated $9.$

In our example, we can see that the relationship between the blade system and the range of functions is very strong, and so is given a score of $9.$ Other relationships $($such as the relationship between the range of functions and the housing design$)$ are weak or non$-$existent.

$1\mathrm{.}3\mathrm{.}2\mathrm{.}7.$ Analyse Interrelationships

Now focus on the roof of the house of quality, meaning the triangular area above the actual matrix. This area shows the interrelationships between the individual product attributes. The question is: How does one function of the product relate to the other? You decide whether the relationship is positive, negative, or neutral, meaning whether the attributes or functions support each other, block each other, or do not influence each oth