Customer-oriented hierarchical concept development - application of the HoC approach in mechatronic design

Especially in early product design stages, customer orientation - as, for example, supported by the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) approach - is essential for product success. However, the QFD approach does not focus on conceptual design, at least not to the desired extent. The novel House of Concepts (HoC) approach assists in enhancing customer orientation, particularly during conceptual design, and supports systematic concept development at various levels of abstraction.