The Innovator's Toolkit: 50+ Techniques for Predictable and Sustainable Organic Growth, 2nd Edition

Technique 54

Conjoint Analysis

Compare solution attributes to cull out customer preferences.

 

Conjoint analysis is a simplified experimental technique for determining the best combination of attributes to include in a product or service design—based on the trade-offs customers are willing to make. For example, you could have a new laptop computer that gives more benefits and costs less than what competitors offer. But before you release it you might want to find out what customers prefer in terms of the product's attributes, and what price they are willing to pay for them.

Conjoint analysis is used when you need to optimize a design prior to releasing it for production or delivery to customers. But it can also be used further upstream when making initial design trade-offs prior to producing a prototype or pilot. The biggest challenge is to generate viable attribute options that the customer can realistically evaluate, using the help of an expert for more sophisticated analyses.

Originating in mathematical psychology, conjoint analysis was developed by marketing professor Paul Green at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Steps

Scenario: An adventure equipment company is considering different alternatives for a down jacket with a built-in global positioning system (GPS) to avoid storing maps and fumbling with them when your fingers get cold. Called the PosJacket, the new product could have any number of combined attributes. What trade-offs are customers willing ...