To define what customers really want so as to innovate more systematically, companies need to think more efficiently about customer requirements. The key to success is to identify, as early as possible, what factors customers are going to use to assess the value of a product or service so as to design it accordingly.
Successful organizations have however recently refined their approach to understanding customer requirements, introducing new segmentations based on "jobs to be done". The principle, formalized by the innovation guru, Clayton Christensen, is that customers have "jobs" that arise regularly and need to get done. When customers become aware of a job that needs to get done, they look around for a service or product that they can "hire" to get the job done. The experience shows that when companies focus on helping a customer get a job done faster, cheaper, more conveniently or with more fun than alternatives, they are more likely to create products or services that the customer will buy.
However, understanding what faster, cheaper, more conveniently or with more fun is really is not straightforward. We believe that the needs must be put in measurable and formalized terms to set the base for evaluating market opportunities and deciding product or services requirements. Measures like importance and satisfaction levels can be very successfully combined to provide a powerful approach to uncover and prioritize opportunities. IFT's solution uniquely support this best practice, helping the organization to: | 
