MECH 525: Product Design

Drummer’s Assistant: Target Specifications

Prepared by:

Roy Bou Nasreddine

Omar Ballouz

Ayoub Hejazi

Rebal Abou Fadel

Bahaa Abed

Submitted to: Dr. Samir Mustapha

Drummer’s Assistant: Target Specifications

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary……………………………………………………………...……………
3
How We Identified Customer Needs….…………………………………………...
………..3
Customer Needs……………………………………………………………………………….3
Needs Classification………………………………………………………………………….4
Strategy Formulation………………………………………………………………………...5

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 Drummer’s Assistant: Target Specifications

Executive Summary

Translating Customer Needs into Metrics

To identify customer needs, we first sent out a survey to target customers who might be
interested in our proposed project. These customers include people who play drums and
members of the music club in AUB.

The survey asks the potential customers the following questions:

1. Do you play drums?

2. How did you start learning?

3. When starting out, did you face difficulties with synchronizing your limbs and
memorizing a beat?

4. Would a physical tool have been helpful to speed up your learning?

5. Would you consider buying a product to attach to your drum set and light up with the
correct sequence to help you learn a beat?

The results will be shown in the appendix below.

As a summary, we found out that there is a need for a product that assists beginners in learning
drums.

Linking Metrics to Customer Needs

In order to design items that attract beginners, it's important to comprehend their distinct demands
and preferences. First of all, beginners tend to put a greater emphasis on simplicity and ease of use,
favoring elegant, small products over big ones that might be intimidating and unusable, especially
when they're first starting out. They want to focus their energy on learning and mastering their
skills, rather than dealing with complicated setup processes or technical difficulties.

Another important factor to take into account is affordability since beginners can be afraid to spend
a significant amount of money on new gear or accessories. Relatively low prices guarantee that
these people can follow their passions without having to struggle financially.

In addition, beginners usually search for items that enhance their current design rather than

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 Drummer’s Assistant: Target Specifications

requiring a total redesign. This enables individuals to enhance their abilities and skills gradually by
building on what they currently have. On the other hand, people could be hesitant to add more
accessories to their priceless instruments for fear that doing so will damage them or degrade the
sound of the instrument.

In summary, the customer needs are:

1. Lightweight and portable (LP)

2. Easily attached and removed (EAR)
3. Relatively inexpensive (RE)
4. Connects to existing digital tools (CE)
5. Does not damage the instrument (DI)
6. Does not change the tone of the drums (DT)
7. Provides feedback to the user (F)

Customer Assessment Criteria

Needs Market Competitive Financial Scalability Resource Technically Product
Fit Landscape Viability & Team Feasible Timing
Expertise
LP + - + + + + +
EAR + - + + + + +
RE + + + + + + +
CE + - + + - + +
DI + - + + + + +
DT + - + + + + +
F + - + + - + +
Table 1: Assessment Criteria for Customer Needs

Legend:
 Valid: +
 Invalid: -

Benchmarking Based on Customer Needs

Explicit:
 Lightweight and portable (LP)
 Easily attached and removed (EAR)
 Does not damage the instrument (DI)
 Does not change the tone of the drums (DT)

Unfulfilled:
 Connects to existing digital tools (CE)
 Provides feedback to the user (F)

Latent:
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 Drummer’s Assistant: Target Specifications

 Relatively inexpensive (RE)

Explicit LP
EAR, DT
DI

Unfulfilled CE, F

Latent RE

Figure 1: Hierarchy of Customer Needs

Benchmarking Based on Product Metrics

Vision Statement: Our vision is to create devices makes the learning experience of any drum user
a fruitful and fun experience.

Mission Statement: Our mission is to empower aspiring drummers of all skill levels by providing
an innovative and accessible drum learning tool. Through reliable technology and smart
connectivity, we aim to help individuals unlock their rhythmic potential, fostering a lifelong love
for drumming, while also aiming to provide such features at an affordable price, making it
accessible to the masses.

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Drummer’s Assistant: Target Specifications