This tutorial and exercise aims to introduce the approach to product, service and software design decision-making provided by Quality Function Deployment (QFD).
The same thinking can be applied to the development and deployment of strategy.
In the tutorial you will learn about the construction and philosophy of the "House of Quality" matrix which is a key tool of the QFD process. Once you have completed the tutorial you can develop your own simple "House of Quality" matrix using the blank matrix template supplied.
Before embarking on the tutorial you are encouraged to print a hardcopy of an example completed matrix and the blank matrix template (MS Word doc).
The "House of Quality" tutorial utilizes Flash plug-in software which your Internet browser will usually load automatically when you click on the link provided below. If you have difficulty accessing the tutorial you may need to download and install this free software (get Flash player).
Begin the "House of Quality" tutorial.
Once you have completed the "House of Quality" tutorial you can develop your understanding of QFD by completing the following exercise using the blank matrix template provided.
Consider a product, service, or software system (or web site) currently produced by your organization. Based on your own knowledge develop a 3 by 3 "House of Quality" matrix (three customer requirements translated into three technical requirements) for this product completing all the appropriate sections of the matrix.
When you have completed your matrix, ask yourself: