In marketing and branding, the mantra of the development process is “respond to customer needs.” But as Dev Patnaik makes clear, not all needs are created equal. Here, supported by examples and case studies, he describes a hierarchy of customer needs and suggests how corporations can use this design-based analysis-system logics-to inform their strategic and tactical decision making.

Tom is a fairly likable fellow in his early thirties who, at the time of this writing, remains a bachelor. Not too long ago, Tom caught the eye of an attractive female friend we’ll call Sally. Tom really wanted to ask Sally out on a date, although he knew that the clichéd dinner and a movie might raise the stakes too high. So Tom asked her out for coffee instead. Sally said yes. Coffee was, after all, something that she could agree to easily. Going out for coffee suggested a late afternoon engagement, probably in a little café, where they could sit, talk casually, and (should things not work out) make a quick exit.

The appointed day arrived, and Tom took Sally over to the local 7-Eleven, where he proceeded to buy two styrofoam cups of joe that the two could quaff on the curb outside. Sally was outraged. How could Tom be so stupid? Clearly, when he asked Sally out for coffee, she had expected the experience of having coffee in a nice café, not just a dose of caffeine. Frustrated and disillusioned, Sally decided not to answer Tom’s repeated phone calls. To this day, our friend remains confused by the whole event.

The above anecdote is a fabrication. Most of us are able to discern the difference between having a cup of coffee and “going out for coffee.” After all, it would be absurd to think Sally’s desire to go on a date would be satisfied by a beverage. And yet, absurd as it may sound when framed as individuals, this is something that companies do to customers everyday. Take, for example, airlines that claim to have reinvented travel by creating a business-class chair that reclines to 180`. Or computer manufacturers that bring job satisfaction to the oppressed worker by introducing a faster microprocessor. Or even, for that matter, coffee purveyors who think they can put Starbucks out of business merely because their coffee tastes better.

These firms fail to realize on an organization-wide level what we all understand as individuals. People have differing types of needs, ranging from the immediate to the far-reaching. Firms seeking to solve these needs must provide a range of solutions. Some of these solutions may require improvements to individual features, while others may require massive changes in thinking. The challenge, then, is to be able to discriminate among these needs, and rigorously map out effective solutions.

All needs are not created equal
People face various challenges as they go about their daily lives. The problems they face, the goals they work to achieve, and the long-term ambitions they have can all be characterized as needs. After all, describing a situation in terms of the needs that are present is particularly useful for those who seek to change it. For our purposes, we can hold needs, wants, and desires to mean the same thing. In doing so, we recognize that there’s probably a difference between the need that one has for oxygen, the need to believe in a higher power, and the need to purchase that new BMW. All needs are not created equal.

No typology of needs can be introduced without tipping one’s hat to Abraham Maslow. It was Maslow, after all, who first succeeded in creating a coherent classification of needs that was relevant to conditions in modern society. Classifying needs from survival to self-fulfillment, Maslow’s Hierarchy isn’t specific enough to directly help product developers. It may be useful, however, to build on his work to offer a framework that is more prescriptive than descriptive.

Some human needs are purely a result of the current scenario and will disappear when the prevailing situation changes. Some needs are actually created by the solutions to other needs. The most universal needs suggest deep-seated, longer-lasting problems that may not be fixed by a single solution. In this way, needs can be characterized by their connection to current solutions, situations, or behaviors.

During the course of several design and strategy investigations, Jump Associates has had the opportunity to study a number of different types of people and the challenges they faced in the course of their daily lives. Depending on the project, we’ve studied subject groups ranging from office workers to medical equipment technicians to motorcycle enthusiasts. Direct observation, as well as interviews, gave us extensive lists of needs both individual and collective.

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