# Product Development Driven By Customer Insights w/ Dan Adams

- Show: [The Manufacturing Executive](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive)
- Published: 2024-05-07
- Length: 39m
- Episode: 204
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams
- Listen: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-manufacturing-executive#episode-8c29adb7-eeeb-49fb-9311-1e320cf505fa

## Summary

Dan Adams, founder of the AIM Institute, explains how B2B manufacturers can drive new product development by prioritizing customer insights over internal assumptions. He details a two-step 'New Product Blueprinting' process involving qualitative discovery and quantitative preference interviews to identify market satisfaction gaps. Adams argues that companies must resolve commercial risk—understanding what customers actually value—before entering the technical development phase to avoid launching products that fail in the market.

## Chapters

- [0:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=34) Introduction: Dan Adams and the AIM Institute
- [2:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=178) Dan Adams' Background and Chemical Industry Experience
- [6:36](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=396) The 'Catapult' Problem: Firing Products Without Research
- [8:57](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=537) Why B2B Customer Insights Are More Valuable Than B2C
- [14:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=841) The 12 Voice of Customer Skills and Prioritization
- [24:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=1489) Using VOC Research for Marketing and Sales Collateral
- [28:33](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=1713) Stage-Gate Processes and Starting with Market Needs
- [33:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=2010) Resolving Commercial Risk Before Technical Development
- [36:26](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams#t=2186) AIM Institute's Training Model and Public Workshops

## Topics

- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- AIM Institute (company)
- Gorilla 76 (company)
- National Inventors Hall of Fame (other)
- Netscape (company)
- Caterpillar (company)
- Sherwin Williams (company)
- PPG (company)
- Axel Nobel (company)
- Collab (company)
- Industrial Marketing Live (product)
- newproductblueprinting.com (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [077: Using Prospective Customers to Develop a Product](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-05-26-077-using-prospective-customers-to-develop-a-product) (Product Startup)
- [239: How to Build a "Customer Advisory Board" and Create a Frictionless Customer Experience with Mandy Dwight (Dwight & Co.) and Anthony Leo (IPR Robotics)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-06-03-239-how-to-build-a-customer-advisory-board-and-create-a-frictionless-customer-ex) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [Ep. 46 - Deciding What to Work on Next](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/open-hardware-manufacturing-podcast/2025-11-14-ep-46-deciding-what-to-work-on-next) (Open Hardware Manufacturing Podcast)
- [137: Customer Feedback at Physical Product Launches](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-08-17-137-customer-feedback-at-physical-product-launches) (Product Startup)
- [269: Ultra-Precise Death Ray (Repeat)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2021-07-02-269-ultra-precise-death-ray-repeat) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2024-05-07-product-development-driven-by-customer-insights-w-dan-adams. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Manufacturing Executive.