Quality Function Deployment (QFD)

Quality Function Deployment is a technique that is used to identify the 'Voice of the Customer' in order to match customer and technical requirements. QFD is a systematic process for motivating a business to focus on its customers. It is used by cross-functional teams to identify and resolve issues involved in providing products, processes, services, and strategies which will more than satisfy their customers.

A prerequisite to QFD is Market Research. This is the process of understanding what the customer wants, how important these benefits are, and how well different providers of products that address these benefits are perceived to perform. This is a prerequisite to QFD because it is impossible to consistently provide products which will attract customers unless you have a very good understanding of what they want.