A Framework for Affective Customer Needs in Product Design

A systematic framework is proposed to conceptualize affective customer needs in product design. Customer needs were derived for current and future electronic devices in automobiles. Subjects rated their preferences for fifteen product attributes on 10-point semantic differential scales. Using factor analysis, three generic factors were extracted namely: holistic attributes, styling, and functional design. Depending upon the familiarity of the device there were clear differences among potential customers. Unknown devices such as navigation map were assessed first hand by using holistic attributes. Familiar design such as car radio and cell phone were assessed using styling and functionality attributes. Customer reactions and preferences may be caused by product design parameters that operate either through their perceptual attributes or from the experience they acquire in using the artifacts or interfaces. Functional (or cognitive) customer needs can be derived top-down using product design features. Affective customer needs are difficult to derive top-down – typically they are evaluated by looking at several design propositions.