Validity Criteria for Need and Benefit Situations in Early Stages of Product Engineering Projects

To stay competitive and meet market demands, innovation is crucial. Innovation is the successful realization of a novel concept that benefits customers, users, and providers. This need and benefit situation is captured in the product profile, which describes a product’s needs without specifying a solution. A valid product profile is essential for successful product development and advancing high-potential inventions. This publication presents seven validity criteria identified through two expert workshops from research and industry and evaluated through three case studies of different innovations like Apple iPhone, Amazon Fire Phone and Thermomix by assessing the deltas in benefits and use cases.