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CHAPTER III
NEEDS

3.1. Determining Needs

Customer Needs are essential for making products because we aim to
provide points that customer wants. For determining needs, at first we
grouped some possible customers for our products, which are direct user
(deaf), doctor, pharmacy and hospital. After knowing our possible
customers, we list down questions that related to the customers and to the
products. We conduct the interview directly by asking them one by one
especially about the needs of hearing aids. We ask direct user because we
want to know their opinions about existing products including the plus and
minus, how they use it and their hopes about future hearing aids. We
interview the doctor because we want to know more about the medical
concept about hearing aids and what best for the patient from the doctor
point of view. Also, we interview the seller of hearing aids in pharmacy and
hospital because we want to know what is the real customer demand and the
retailing price.
After interviewing the respondents, we turn the results into interpreted
needs of costumer. Then, we give them groups and score them. Knowing
what really customer needs is really important because we can enhance and
improve our hearing aid products.

3.1.1 Interpreted Needs

After obtaining the characteristic list of consumer needs from our
concept of Hearing Aids, we can interpret all characteristics and the
result in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1 List of Interpreted Needs

Need Number Need Description

1 Device has clear sound

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2 Device has soft surface

3 Device has low price

4 Device can be operated easily

5 Device has resistance to water

6 Device that is long lasting

7 Device can reduce noise

8 Device has low battery usage

9 Device has aesthetic value

10 Device has wide range of

amplifications

11 Device is earwax resistant

12 Device that is comfortable to

wear

(Source: Interview)

3.1.2 Group and Score of Needs

Needs of consumers are grouped according to the answer of

consumers. The scoring is decided after discussed with our group and
also by combining the result of interview and questionnaires.

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Device has clear sound

Device that is long lasting

Performance
Device that can reduce noise

Device has wide range of amplification

Device has soft ear mold

Device is water resistant

Needs
Physical Device has aesthetic value

Device is earwax resistant

Device is comfortable to wear

Retailing Device has low price

Application Device can be operated easily

Figure 3.1 Branch Diagrams of Needs

(Source: Reproduced Interview)

Table 3.2 Score of Needs Description

Need Number Need Description Score

Performance

1 Device has clear sound 5

6 Device that is long lasting 4

7 Device that can reduce noise 4

10 Device has wide range of amplification 3

Physical

2 Device has soft ear mold 5

5 Device is water resistant 2

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9 Device has aesthetic value 3

11 Device is earwax resistant 2

12 Device is comfortable to wear 3

Retailing

3 Device has low price 3

Application

4 Device can be operated easily 4

(Source: Reproduced from Interview)

After listing the needs, we make the need description and give the score for
each need. The score is 1 to 5, with 1 is undesirable and 5 is essential. The
meaning for every score number is written below.
1. Undesirable
2. Not Important
3. Nice to Have
4. Highly Desirable
5. Essential

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