Abstract & Overview
The purpose of this thesis was to investigate consumers and product developer’s expectations of wearable technology products in the context of the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) framework. The specific objectives were to: 1) Explore the quality features that consumers consider most important when purchasing wearable technology product. 2) Explore the technical features product developers consider most important in the development of wearable technology. 3) Identify the technical features that wearable technology product developers need to focus on to meet the customer requirements. The Qualtrix online survey system was used to collect demographic, quantitative and essay length written responses from participants. Three hundred seventy eight men and women who were either consumers of wearable technology or professionals involved in its design and manufacture participated in this research. Data were analyzed with Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Enterprise 6.1. Open ended questions were analyzed for content and coded on an Excel spreadsheet using the thematic method. Results indicate consumers considered the most important feature of wearable technology to be Product Safety whereas professionals involved in its design and manufacture regarded Materials Selection as the most important aspect. This study provides valuable information for both industry and academia and identifies areas that must be addressed by manufacturers of wearable technology to meet consumer’s demand for product features.