Right process, right product

Companies often cite poor product definition-what the products or service m ust provide customers-as one of the leading contributors to a product's dis appointing performance in the market-place. This is due, in part, to the in herent difficulty in managing the product definition requirements in order to better direct and stimulate design innovation. However, in most instance s, product development teams base design direction on marketing documentati on that contains product features rather than specific requirements. A clos er look at a more user-focused product definition process shows that effici ent integration of customer requirements and close interaction of functiona l groups can facilitate the product definition process, cut down on misdire cted effort and dramatically increase resolution of the design problem.