The Poor Man’s Quality Function Deployment (QFD) Tool

Abstract

Strategy Question: How do I get the right product/service specification defined in timely fashion?

Summary: Potential projects have now been suggested for action. Getting the right specification in timely fashion is now critical. Many companies take months to define a specification, and when done suffer because an “everything is #1” mentality hamstrings the development team. QFD is a powerful yet expensive and time-consuming method to defining specification attributes. The Poor Man’s QFD Tool incorporates the intended rigor, but in a timely and resource friendly fashion. This tool provides a powerful way to define a specification for a product/service development project, especially when there is no prioritization clarity for the improvement parameters. For each feature attribute, a specification is developed by a multi-functional team considering market and business needs. Those line item attributes are then “forced ranked” against each other. Compromises in each line item specification, if necessary, are made respecting the rank order chosen, with lower ranked items giving way to those of higher rank. The resulting prioritized list of feature attributes defined is then used to manage the development project. The chart also serves as an excellent one-page management summary highlighting status against both the given specification and performance relative to the best competition.

Citation

Fairbanks, S. and Buchko, A. (2018), "The Poor Man’s Quality Function Deployment (QFD) Tool", Performance-Based Strategy, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 171-187. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78743-795-120181014