| 1. | In this chapter, to focus on a key customer segment, you have to first focus on the most important goal of the project. Pick a software project and a primary goal, and then identify the key customer segment. Now change the primary goal and explain why a different customer segment is the most important. |
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| 2. | In this chapter, following the Blitz QFD approach, only one key customer segment is given as an example. For software you are familiar with, identify at least three customer segments and give an example of a unique customer need for each segment. Can the needs of all segments be met with a single software product? (Do you think it is easier or harder to meet the unique needs of customer segments in software or hardware products? Why?) |
| 3. | This chapter mentions only a data-flow diagram as an example for modeling a customer process. What other software engineering representations could you use to model the context of a customer? |
| 4. | This chapter stresses the importance of visiting the customer's gemba. What would be an example of a software product, and a customer segment, where it would not be possible to "go to gemba"? (And what would you do in that case?) |
| 5. | The CVT was not introduced into North America until QFD was already popular and many poor practices were well established. Why is it important to sort the verbatims and only bring customer needs into a "House of Quality" matrix? (What common problems does this prevent?) |
| 6. | Affinity Diagrams are very commonly misused. When developers arrange the items, different patterns emerge than when customers arrange them. Take a set of items you are familiar with and arrange them. Then give the same items to a colleague and ask him to arrange them. Were the patterns the same? (What would happen if your colleague built a system for you, but based on his pattern?) |
| 7. | You use Hierarchy Diagrams to capture the structure of customer needs. They explain the "decision" the customer makes about whether to be satisfied, or dissatisfied, with your software. Prepare a hierarchy of your needs for software you are familiar with. Ask a colleague to do the same. Then exchange and discuss your hierarchies. What did you learn about your colleague's needs, and the way he thinks about them? |
| 8. | Accurate priorities are important for proper focusing. Using the AHP method explained in Chapter 8, prioritize a few items familiar to you. Then prioritize the same items using another common method. What explains the difference in the results? (Has the second method you tried ever been validated?) |
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| 9. | The MVT for a DFTS project will have columns for customer needs (customer responsiveness), reliability, safety, security, and maintainability. What other dimensions of development would the type of software you are involved with require? Why? |
