House of Quality for an electric kettle
This House of Quality starts with three customer needs for an electric kettle: speed, quiet operation and easy cleaning. The product team maps those needs to heating element wattage, lid opening width and wall insulation. Strong relationships show where a technical choice directly affects the customer experience, while a moderate or weak relationship signals a secondary effect. The roof flags a trade-off between heating wattage and insulation, which the team should investigate rather than ignore. By weighting needs before discussing solutions, the matrix keeps the conversation tied to customer value. The resulting technical priorities can guide prototype tests, supplier discussions and the next design review.
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Scenario
A small appliance team is translating customer interviews into specifications for a new kettle.
Key decisions
- Weight needs: Give more influence to needs customers value most.
- Expose trade-offs: Review the negative relationship between speed and insulation.
- Set targets: Turn the highest-priority technical characteristics into measurable goals.
When to reuse this
Use when a product team needs to connect customer language to a manageable set of engineering choices.
Frequently asked questions
Why are customer needs weighted?
What is a QFD roof?
Can QFD be used for a small product?
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