01 · Purpose
Why and when to use it
Why?
It helps the team improve an outcome customers value rather than optimising an internal measure that misses the real problem.
When?
Use it in Define to clarify requirements before selecting performance measures or improvement priorities.
Who takes part? The team gathers evidence with customer-facing staff and actual customer representatives; the process owner validates feasible requirements.
02 · Application
How to apply it
Start with: Interviews, observation, complaints, service records and the context in which customers use the output.
- Identify relevant customer groups and gather evidence from more than one convenient source.
- Record the original statement or observation without changing its meaning.
- Translate it into a solution-neutral need.
- Clarify context, importance and differences between groups.
- Propose an observable requirement and validation method.
- Check the interpretation with customers before treating a target as agreed.
03 · Example
A warehouse dispatch project
Original illustrative example. All quantities, targets, roles and timings below are fictional teaching assumptions, not findings from a real project.
| Customer evidence | Underlying need | Candidate requirement |
|---|---|---|
| “I need to plan the receiving staff.” | Predictable arrival information. | Agreed dispatch confirmation available by the promised cutoff. |
| “An incorrect item stops our repair.” | Correct item identification and fulfilment. | Right part and quantity against the accepted order. |
| “I keep calling to find out whether it left.” | Accessible, reliable shipment status. | Status visible to customer service after carrier handover. |
04 · Interpretation
What the result tells you
The statement about planning staff does not automatically imply “buy tracking software”. Validate the timing and information need first. A candidate requirement becomes an agreed requirement only after clarification and feasibility review.
Completion check: A traceable table of customer evidence, validated needs and candidate measurable requirements.
05 · Judgement
Mistakes and limitations
Common mistakes
- Recording a requested solution as the only possible need.
- Replacing customers with internal guesses.
- Assigning a numerical target without customer or contractual evidence.
Limits of the tool
A small interview sample may miss important groups or uncommon needs. Separate evidence from assumptions and preserve relevant differences rather than averaging incompatible requirements.
07 · Reading
Sources and further reading
Toolset backbone: Six Sigma+Lean Toolset: Mindset for Successful Implementation of Improvement Projects, second edition, edited by Stephan Lunau, with Renata Meran, Alexander John, Olin Roenpage and Christian Staudter (Springer, 2013). This reference identifies the toolset; the book text was not available for a chapter-level comparison in this development pass. The explanations, application sequence and fictional examples here are original LeanTrainingLab teaching material. Linked readings provide background; they do not prescribe every example or target.