Revisiting TRIZ Within a QFD Framework: Methodological Insights from a Design Case Study

In today’s fast-paced design landscape, innovation is not just about generating new ideas, it’s about choosing the right problems to solve. Traditional product development often struggles to balance customer expectations, technical feasibility, and time constraints, resulting in scattered efforts and suboptimal solutions. This paper introduces an integrated methodology that combines Quality Function Deployment (QFD), the Kano model, and TRIZ to streamline the front end of innovation. The process begins with QFD to capture and translate customer needs into measurable design parameters. To avoid diluting design focus, the Kano model is then used to classify and prioritize these parameters based on their actual impact on user satisfaction. Finally, TRIZ is strategically applied to address only the most critical and innovation-driven features, those with the potential to deliver real competitive advantage. The approach is validated through the conceptual design of a sport-oriented in-ear headphone, a product where ergonomic, emotional, and functional qualities converge. By guiding the design team through a focused and evidence-based process, the method fosters both creativity and efficiency. The results demonstrate how this integration supports more targeted innovation, minimizes unnecessary iteration, and aligns technical decisions with what truly matters to end users.