Determining customer‐oriented technical importance ratings: an evaluative study

Purpose – To provide customer‐oriented group decision methodology for designers or developers in using quality function deployment which is based on voice of customer. Design/methodology/approach – Technical importance rating in house of quality (HoQ) should be evaluated considering both the roof and relationship matrix. Since the roof is generally irreducible, all of relationships between customer attribute (CA) and engineering characteristic (EC) are evaluated. A customer‐oriented evaluating method is proposed and empirical test is issued. Findings – The phenomenon of inconsistency which is frequently found in HoQ is easily protected by proposed approach which focuses on the view of customer. Research limitations/implications – The proposed evaluating method is appropriate for the time when the number of ECs or CAs are greater than nine. If the number of alternatives is less than nine, analytic hierarchical process is usually used. However, 1‐9 scaling pairwise comparison is not suitable for customers such as non‐experts, housewives, or even children. Practical implications – Especially, the proposed evaluating method could be widely used for organizations depending on customers. Originality/value – In various fields, this paper supports the customer‐centered environment.