PLM Library · Article
The House of Quality
- Author
- John R. Hauser, Don Clausing
- Publisher
- Harvard Business Review, May 1988
- Year
- 1988
Summary
The article that introduced Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to a Western management audience, using the 'house of quality' matrix to connect customer needs with engineering characteristics.
It shows how cross-functional teams translate the voice of the customer into measurable design targets, weigh trade-offs between engineering characteristics, and carry customer priorities through the development process.
Our verdict
Recommended reading. A short classic that remains the clearest introduction to QFD: the house of quality is still the standard tool for connecting customer requirements to engineering targets.
Who should read it
- —Product managers and engineers translating customer needs into specifications
- —Cross-functional development teams aligning marketing and engineering
- —Anyone building requirements management practices
How it relates to your work
- —The house of quality is the conceptual basis for requirements-to-design traceability in PLM and requirements tools.
- —Useful when introducing structured voice-of-the-customer methods into development.
Keep in mind
- —A 1988 article; QFD practice has evolved, but the core matrix is unchanged.
- —Harvard Business Review articles sit behind a paywall with limited free access.