Who is the customer? Many people say the person who pays for the product. It’s easy to forget about the user and the operator, the manufacturer and the reseller, and all the other parties who are involved in the life of a product.  The need to anticipate future trends in market demand makes it essential for companies to get a better understanding of the requirments of the entire ‘decision making unit’. 

A company making miniature pumps for perfume bottles evolved from a technical focus to a customer focus.  Models of pumps on the company walls and in the showcases gave way to images of perfumes and advertisements for perfumes. The company conscientiously invested the look and feel of the bottle for the consumers. When making a perfume for men, the result will be different if the man is a sportsman, or a fashion conscious male in a nightclub, or perhaps both at the same time.  

And if the cap on the bottle is to have a shiny finish, then that requirs a special kind of plastic.  And if the plastic can split, or be scratched or scraped, then that implies a specific kind of chemical preparation, or fabrication, or logistics, or packaging, etc.   

Company representatives listened to the designer as she requested a ‘hot black’ for the bottle. But, what is a hot black in quantifiable terms?  Will that provide the desired ’scent of the night’.   Exploration and feedback between the customer, the designer and the laboratory gave the answer.  The black that met with the designer’s approval, contained a large proportion of yellow. A colour is something that is quantifiable. Consumer tastes and even fashion trends can be measured and tracked.