The aim of this review is to provide insights to the usage of Kano-model and innovation product development, and at the same time, answer to the research question “How customer needs can be identified by using Kano-model for innovation product development?” The research is conducted by reviewing existing literature on Kano- model and innovation product development (IPD). The relevant literature used for this research is conducted by utilizing the databases of Halmstad University and Google Scholar. A model for customer needs identification by using Kano model for Innovation Product Development (IPD) was constructed based on the reviewed theories. In addition, a general recognition for the term of IPD was acknowledged.

<p>Information technology (IT) has developed and spread and the internet is now available in nearly every corner of the world all the time. It is adequate to say that we are entering an information economy. E-business is an important business tool, which is reflected by the emerging presence of the internet. Furthermore, the Internetworld says that in accordance with a development plan from the European Union it should be possible to carry out all government business electronically in 2010. But, already in January 2008, the state authorities shall be able to send and receive e-invoices. The project "E-service for safe mining projects" is one of the projects within the government owned Vinnova programme Innovative development of cross-boundary public e-services. This thesis is written on assignment for that project, taking on the role of a consultant.</p><p>Companies can through the internet easily find business over boarders, geographical or other, and there is money to be earned in new markets. To do this companies have a need to know their potential customers, their needs and wants. The purposes of this thesis are to explore the perceived needs for the "E-service of safe mining projects" and the benefits it could bring to its potential customers. By considering the customers potential needs with the aid of a theoretical lens this thesis also aims to make suggestions to the company of what to consider in the development process of this e-service and discuss how their desires could be met by the e-service.</p><p>The theoretical chapter begins with explaining the concepts of services and e-services. Cravens and Piercy's model for determining product-markets and Zeithaml's et al gap model are used. The study is done using semi-structured interviews of four different interest groups for the e-service. There were three researchers conducting the interviews together.</p><p>The conclusions of the study are that to satisfy the customers is not very easily done. Customers of today often have high expectations of the quality of the service and they want the service provider to know their needs and wants. What could be helpful for this e-service is that because it is semi-public service the potential customers may consider it a public service instead of a private service and thus the expectations will be lowered. The generic need is the "need to get the right information" and there are a number of specific perceived needs adherent to the potential customers. Also recommendations are given to the project.</p>

Information technology (IT) has developed and spread and the internet is now available in nearly every corner of the world all the time. It is adequate to say that we are entering an information economy. E-business is an important business tool, which is reflected by the emerging presence of the internet. Furthermore, the Internetworld says that in accordance with a development plan from the European Union it should be possible to carry out all government business electronically in 2010. But, already in January 2008, the state authorities shall be able to send and receive e-invoices. The project "E-service for safe mining projects" is one of the projects within the government owned Vinnova programme Innovative development of cross-boundary public e-services. This thesis is written on assignment for that project, taking on the role of a consultant. Companies can through the internet easily find business over boarders, geographical or other, and there is money to be earned in new markets. To do this companies have a need to know their potential customers, their needs and wants. The purposes of this thesis are to explore the perceived needs for the "E-service of safe mining projects" and the benefits it could bring to its potential customers. By considering the customers potential needs with the aid of a theoretical lens this thesis also aims to make suggestions to the company of what to consider in the development process of this e-service and discuss how their desires could be met by the e-service. The theoretical chapter begins with explaining the concepts of services and e-services. Cravens and Piercy's model for determining product-markets and Zeithaml's et al gap model are used. The study is done using semi-structured interviews of four different interest groups for the e-service. There were three researchers conducting the interviews together. The conclusions of the study are that to satisfy the customers is not very easily done. Customers of today often have high expectations of the quality of the service and they want the service provider to know their needs and wants. What could be helpful for this e-service is that because it is semi-public service the potential customers may consider it a public service instead of a private service and thus the expectations will be lowered. The generic need is the "need to get the right information" and there are a number of specific perceived needs adherent to the potential customers. Also recommendations are given to the project.

Becoming an entrepreneur is an important decision in human life, greatly affect his future. By becoming an entrepreneur but his work is just beginning. Writing the business plan should be granted only as an entrepreneur finds what you need to know everything and starts his own for practice. Also, external companies use a business plan as a basis for possible cooperation. Determining customer needs should be one of the priorities of entrepreneurs. Meet the needs of not only his, but also forms the basis of customers' success of any business. Regular surveys of current needs, frequent communication with customers is the only way to get closer to their actual needs. The entrepreneur can be successful, but today, changes that are too often can not predict, it is important to have a written policy options that can be used if necessary. Individual variants constantly innovate in order to keep actual.

The view of how value is created for customers have increasingly been changing. Especially, it is about how more and more companies have come to realize that they can generate greater value by co-create services together with the customer. The housing company Mimer in Västerås are in some cases experiencing that they do not create enough value for their tenants and the public. This has laid the foundation for this qualitative study, where the purpose is to have conversations with employees and managers to find out whether Mimer has the potential to work with co-creating actions and, if so, explain what it is that suggests that with the help from theories. The empirical data consists of interviews with leaders within Mimer, and also relevant documents that may affect the company's ability to work with co-creation processes. The results of the study show that Mimer in several ways with processes that could be a breeding ground for co-creating actions. / Synen på hur värde skapas för kunder har allt mer kommit att förändras. Framförallt handlar det om hur allt fler företag kommit till insikt med att de kan generera högre värde genom att samskapa tjänster tillsammans med kunden. Bostadsbolaget Mimer i Västerås upplever i vissa fall att de inte skapar tillräckligt värde för deras hyresgäster och allmänheten. Detta har lagt grunden till denna kvalitativa studie, där syftet är att i samtal med medarbetare och ledare ta reda på om Mimer har förutsättningar för att arbeta med samskapande aktioner samt i så fall redogöra med hjälp av teorier vad det är som tyder på detta. Empirin består dels av intervjuer med ledare inom Mimer, och dels av relevanta dokument som kan tänkas påverka eller främja bolagets möjligheter att arbeta med samskapande processer. Resultatet av studien visar att Mimer på flera sätt arbetar med processer som skulle kunna vara en grogrund för samskapande aktioner.

The effects of empathic experience design (EED) on the product design process are investigated through a series of product redesign experimental studies. As defined, empathic experience design is the simulation of the experiences of a lead user, or someone who uses a product in an extreme condition. To better understand product innovation, the link between creativity in engineering design and commercial market success is explored through literature and a study of award-winning products is performed to analyze the current trends in innovation. The findings suggest that products are becoming increasingly more innovative in the ways in which they interact with users and their surroundings and that a gap exists between the current tools available for engineers to innovate and the types of innovations present in award-winning products. The application of EED to a concept generation study shows that empathic experiences while interacting with a prototype results in more innovative concepts over typical interactions. The experimental group also saw an increase in user interaction innovations and a decrease in technical feasibility. The application of EED to a customer needs study compares the effect of empathic experiences in an articulated use interview setting. The EED interviews discovered 2.5 times the number of latent customer needs than the control group. A slight decrease in the breadth of topics covered was also seen, but was compensated for when used in conjunction with categorical questioning. Overall the use of empathic experience design is shown to increase the level of innovation throughout the product design process. / text

An issue of great concern for amputees continues to be lack of proper fit and comfort in their sockets. This lack can often be attributed to changes in the shape of the residual limb that cannot be compensated for by existing prosthetic socket technology. In regions where cost is a prohibitive factor in the replacement of ill-fitting prosthetic sockets, the need for a volume adjustable, and potentially longer lasting, socket design is abundant. This research focuses on designing a volume adjustable lower limb prosthetic socket that accommodates the needs of amputees in underdeveloped countries using collaborative design techniques. Though advocated as a means of accurately identifying and satisfying their needs, including end-users in the design process often adds an additional layer of complexity because of differences in culture, language, or geography among the participants. This research therefore includes a study in which product design techniques were applied to the same volume adjustable socket design problem with a variety of users – typical users, lead users, and new Empathic Lead Users - from different countries, one developed and one developing. To overcome differences among participants, this research includes an alternative strategy to create Empathic Lead Users (ELU) from non-user product design engineers through the use of simulated lead user experiences. As a result of this study, customer needs analysis with ELU helps to identify 95% of traditional and lead user customer needs and 100% more latent needs, and possibly more avenues for product innovations, than interviewing lead or traditional users alone. The concepts generated by all users were also compared. Based on the resulting concepts’ novelty, variety, quality, and quantity, all users were able to satisfactorily complete the concept generation exercises and produced competitive design solutions. Using the concepts generated during this co-design study, a volume adjustable socket was developed. The final socket design, based on the analogous rotational movement of a camera aperture, is pursued through mechanical and subject testing. Early users of the socket liked the design and it has been demonstrated to provide the necessary volume adjustments, but future design iterations to improve its comfort are necessary. / text

Innovating is essential to sustained industrial growth and profitability. But experience amply demonstrates how difficult innovation is, especially for large companies. The synthesis of valued offerings by aligning customer needs with technology possibilities lies at the heart of innovation. System architects working at the strategic level are ideally positioned, as a consequence of their experience and training, to play a key and even a leadership role in enabling, energizing, and leading this synthesis. The scope of the architecting effort must include the process architecture of the entire value chain as well as the more conventional product architecture to address all potential wellsprings of innovation. This paper outlines an architecture-centric approach to innovation, based on the concept of the system platform architecture. / Center for Innovation in Product Development, MIT

Twenty weeks ago I got the honor to pursue a project for ABB Crane Systems. After success with an innovative direction on their Remote Control Station they wanted a continuation of industrial design in another new product development. The aim was to specify the customer needs and create a concept to a Terminal Test Box (TTB), with hopes to gain momentum and funds for continuation of the project.   The terminals earn their money based on productivity of the quay, meaning that the number of ship-to-shore lifts per minute becomes very important. Clients have requested a solution where they can simulate their cranes to ensure function. At the moment approximately five prototypes have been delivered, for example to Peel Ports in Liverpool and Lazaro Cardenas in Mexico. The current Test box lack a proper casing and user adapted features. Based on interviews with personnel at Crane Systems representing linked/adjacent work with TTB the customer needs was determined to: a solution adapted to commissioning phase,a process panel easy to reach, access to components without exposing them, oversight of components and ability to move TTB. The test box is used either standing on the floor or placed on a table. Placed on the floor the operator must twist and bend to access the box, leading to an unpleasant working posture. Set on the table the box is bulky.   The initial idea development resulted in three potential positions and seven initial concepts. Of these seven three ideas was conceptualized and graded in Pughs matrix. The concept Stand high offered a convenient and ergonomic solution independent of the available interior in commissioning phase. However Stand high had weaknesses where the other two concepts Cross and Transparent showed strengths and therefore the three concepts were combined into one. Knowledge about the included components such as an industrial computer and power supply and their requirements has driven the process.   TTB will be produced in approximately ten units per year. The slim edition made it alluring to look into state of the art manufacturing such as Additive Manufacturing compared to the more traditional use of shielded metal. Possibilities regarding the small series can be used by ABB for continuously trying the product towards the customer and offer a flexible product that can be individually adapted to some extent.   The final concept of TTB is improved compared to the Test box looking at horizontal and vertical spacing between the components, which also enables cable channels. The process panel included has an inclination of 15 degrees to avoid reflections as much as possible and to create an ergonomic working position. It has a see through front door giving access and viewing of the components. A combined CNC and 3D-printing prototype/product from the company HLH in aluminum and Plexiglas would cost approximately 24 750 SEK. Manufacturing in shaped sheet metal at Sweco (without a see through door) would cost approximately 10 000 SEK. This is creating an exciting situation, where the recommendation is to create a prototype to further evaluate the concept into completion.

Die immer schnellere Veränderung des Umfelds stellt auch die internationale Automobilindustrie vor große Herausforderungen. Vor den Experten der Branche wurden diese beispielsweise auf dem 12. Internationalen CAR-Symposium der Universität auch vom Vorstandsvorsitzenden der BMW Group Dr. Norbert Reithofer diskutiert (Car 2010). Aus dem Spannungsfeld zwischen profitablem Wachstum und Globalisierung erwachsen nicht nur größere Absatzzahlen sondern auch die Zunahme an Varianz aufgrund länderspezifischer Gesetzgebung und unterschiedlichen Kundenbedürfnissen in den Hauptmärkten Europa, Nordamerika und Asien. Ein »historisches« Beispiel für diese unterschiedlichen Kundenanforderungen war die Anforderung der amerikanischen Kunden an den »Cupholder«. Das Thema ist inzwischen gelöst. Komplexer ist der Widerspruch zwischen der Ausrichtung unserer Fahrzeuge auf das Fahrerlebnis des Fahrers in den klassischen Märkten und dem Trend zum Chauffeur in vielen neuen Märkten (v.a. China).