QFD in product development: methodological characteristics and a guide for intervention

This paper aims to contribute further to QFD applications in product development system of organisations by drawing reflections from managing an action research program on QFD applications in Brazilian organisations in the last ten years. The reflection follows two interwoven lines, theory and practice, as it is assumed that effective practice requires good understanding of methodological basis and methodological basis is continuously refined by good actual practices, so the construction and accumulation of QFD knowledge may be obtained. Thus, this article attempts to highlight the methodological characteristics of QFD in a structured manner by bringing a three‐dimensional analytical framework (phenomenon of interest, “manifest” methodological characteristics, and “underlying” methodological characteristics) and to formulate a guide for application of QFD method in intervention processes, with a potential for context diagnosis, circumscription of problem situation, and operational features.