Identification of critical functional requirements in the conceptual design stage of the pre-investment phase for buildings

Abstract

Functional requirements constitute an essential element in the product development process due to their importance in defining solution concepts and considering financial constraints, available resources, and delivery timelines. Product design typically occurs in an environment characterized by various constraints, high competitiveness, and a changing landscape. Therefore, accounting for the sensitivity of functional requirements to identify Critical Functional Requirements presents a challenge in the early stages of the product design process. The objective of this work is the identification of Critical Functional Requirements during the conceptual design stage, based on a novel approach that first stratifies functional requirements using the Kano method and then classifies them by criticality levels, thereby highlighting the Critical Functional Requirements. The results demonstrate the feasibility of this approach, as it enables the qualitative stratification of Critical Functional Requirements during the conceptual design stage.