Evaluation of Product Design Analyses for the Identification of Perception-Defining Characteristics

In most cases, customers evaluate a product based on the first impression, which is propagated by the product itself. These impressions are often subjectively engraved in the products, difficult to describe thus making them difficult to handle. Technical specifications on the other hand are less considered at first sight. In the case of leisure products such as Motorbikes (motorcycles), subjective factors are considerably intensified. Thus, such products are suitable to describe as “difficult-to-quantify” characteristics. Subjective and difficult to quantify features for products such as motorcycles could be; the design, the dynamics (vitality) as well as the price (value) impression. Thus, amid a DFG research project, a method will have to be developed that allows the scaling of difficult to quantify characteristics in other to support a requirement-orientated product development. For this purpose, four different levels were developed to contain scaling based on usage. To support the scaling development, methods such as the AHP or the Multivariate Analysis Method can be used. In the following analysis it will be shown how perception-defining characteristics for motorcycles can be derived from design analyses. The first step is the design analyses conducted with the help of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) scale based on Thomas L. Saaty. The advantage of this approach is a direct comparison of all alternatives to themselves. If, for example, five motorcycles are compared with regards to design, then a benchmark for good design implicitly arises. These scales build up dynamically depending on the analyzed alternatives. Based on the previous example, the more alternatives are used the more valid the scale. The systematic arrangement of the perception-defining characteristics in product development can be a deciding factor for a better product design and its related product perception. Special gender specific perception differences for motorcycles will be evaluated in this paper. Thus, it is shown that there are specific motorcycle models that appeal to women while other specific models are preferred by men. In this case, perception-defining characteristics can be derived from a detail analysis of a preliminary assessment which can aid the description of female and male preferences for motorcycles. In this paper a method to concatenate the perception-defining characteristics and products will be presented. Above all, these characteristics should be considered in the product planning phase. This approach offers producers the possibility, through identification of important perception-defining characteristics, to differentiate themselves from competitors because important product characteristics are deigned to relate to the various target groups.