The identification of dynamic product innovation opportunities using the multi-phase QFD: the customer requirement and technology development perspectives

Abstract

Identifying product innovation opportunities is critical for companies to implement product innovation activities. However, existing studies primarily identify product innovation opportunities from the perspective of customer requirements or technology development, without simultaneously considering the impact of both factors on product innovation opportunity identification. Moreover, they identify product innovation opportunities from a static perspective and omit the variation of product innovation opportunities induced by the evolving customer requirements and technology development levels, affecting the comprehensiveness of identification results. To solve these problems, we propose a method for dynamic product innovation opportunity discovery from the perspectives of customer requirements and technology development. Firstly, based on online reviews, we apply BERTopic and sentiment analysis to dynamically estimate the performance of features discussed in different periods. For each feature, their ability to satisfy customer requirements is assessed. Secondly, we derive key technologies related to the extracted features from patents. Then three criteria are proposed to estimate the level of technology development for key technologies. Thirdly, we develop a multi-phase Quality Function Deployment to reveal dynamic product innovation opportunities. Finally, we use a case study of electronic vehicles to validate our method. Experimental results prove that our approach can discover product innovation opportunities from static and dynamic perspectives and provide more comprehensive and dynamic innovation insights for companies.