"Getting close to the customer" has long been recognized by developers, manufacturers, and marketers of commercial products as an essential ingredient for success. Customer requirements – integrated with business objectives, product delivery requirements, and applicable regulatory requirements – define the product and provide direction to its development. There are, however, several issues involved in incorporating the voice of the customer into product development: it takes time – where time is in fact money – and it often happens too late in the cycle to permit extensive reengineering. hi addition, the way most research is conducted, you don't get true customer requirements, because customers often can't articulate needs or wants for things they haven't yet experienced. Even once the needs are known, there may be a large number of ways to fulfill that need, i.e., in terms of engineering approaches. How do you choose one?