The specific roles carried out by each will be investigated in later chapters.
Most successful products have their success grounded in complete market research conducted before the product is designed. Although there are a number of facets to be discussed within the Market Requirements document, perhaps first and foremost is, “Who is the intended user group?” Immediately after is the question, “What problem, or problems, will the proposed product solve?” If either question is found to lack a definitive answer, perhaps the funds for the development undertaking would be better placed elsewhere. In some cases, the breadth of the possible applications may not be fully anticipated while writing the Market Requirements document.
Consider, for example, the simple requirements for road building equipment. Two sets of extreme conditions are real-life cases of environments in which the same kinds of equipment were required to perform similar tasks under totally opposite condition extremes. Case one was road building equipment (trucks, bulldozers and graders, etc.) to build a road over forested mountains, then down through the densest jungle in the world within a war zone. There were summer monsoons of 300 to 500 inches of rain each spring-summer season, and another 100 to 200 inches during winter monsoons. Diluted fuels, rust, fungus, and so forth were daily problems that had to be overcome to complete the road. The other extreme was California’s Death Valley, which is absolutely arid, with summer temperatures in excess of 120 degrees, no rain, and limited sources of water for equipment and workers, and at times, extreme dust conditions. The intense heat coupled with the dust that infiltrated equipment wear points created havoc in the road building process.
Another example considers the Market Requirements for a new design of a desk top computer used by experienced engineers that could also be installed at airport car rental counters and used by someone hardly as computer-literate. In such cases, documentation for the system operation, if not fully specified in the Market Requirements, could result in instructions with technical jargon essentially not understandable by the less computer literate user.
There are a number of items the Market Requirements should address, among these being:
• Proposed user problem requiring a solution.
• Who is the targeted user community?
• What is the sophistication of the user community (neophyte, intermediate, advanced)?
• When can the product be delivered and at what cost?
• What are the required features and/or modifications?
• Who is the competition and how are they performing (in this product venue)?
• What are the sales expectations to ensure profit (high, median, and low)?
• What languages are required to support the user and field service personnel?
• Is there any special technology constraints that must be solved?
• Strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis for the product.
• Is there a growth path for the product and future model enhancements?
• What is the Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) criteria expected/required?
• What is the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) criteria expected/required?
• Are there any special or unique needs for testing by Product Test, Quality, and handling by the Field Service organization?
Note the word required inserted into the MTBF and MTTR list items. There is a significant difference between expectation and absolute requirement, and these differences must be understood and agreed to by Marketing and Development.
Specifications are something more than simply a passing reference when talking or learning about products and product design and development. Specifications should embody an underpinning of market requirements and existing standards, as well as use, user and maintenance requirements, and limitations, as well as performance requirements.
Product Specifications and Technical Specifications are often used interchangeably, but should not be. Product Specifications will normally provide a functional description of the product, including such aspects as weight, size, performance, temperature (transit, storage, and operating), power, maintenance issues, interfaces, connectivity, compatibility with older systems, languages for displays and documentation, and any certifications or standards the product must adhere too. This is not a complete list, but it is important to note that none of the items listed designate the implementation method needed to satisfy the function. The implementation is left to the development group, allowing maximum freedom in the choice and also the possible use of new technology.
As a simple example, consider the product specification of including a removable memory device. The implementation in the Technical Specification may map this requirement into including magnetic tape, diskette, memory stick, R/W CD, or even a USB connected external storage device. In short, the implementation method is left to the developer— as long as the implementation meets the Product Specification requirements.
One important aspect of the Product Specification, often overlooked, is that the specifications must be able to be verified by Product Test, Manufacturing, and Quality. For example, for the specification to state that the equipment must operate from commercial power is not verifiable. It begs the questions, “What commercial power? What voltage or voltages? What frequency? What variation is allowable? What is the maximum current load?” In each question, national and international differences must also be recognized if the product is to be marketed internationally.
The Product Specification will normally list any standards that the product will be required to meet, for example UL/CSA safety requirements. In addition, it will list any industry standards or international standards that will be required to be met for sale of the product in countries other than the home country of the product.
As noted previously, Market Requirements and Product Specifications need to cover a wide range of product aspects, such as:
• the intended market(s)
• user description(s)
• use conditions expected to be encountered
• those to address the acceptable limits
• mean-time-to failure
• mean-time-to-repair
• required through-put
• load capacity
• temperature and humidity high and low limits
• vibration and/or impact
• sound/noise level limits
• serviceability and operational access requirements
• all documentation to be used by the product manufacturer, intended users, and those who will service and maintain the equipment
Not
