GABEK®

To improve products or services, potential clients are asked how they perceive and assess them. The result is a map of wishes showing which attributes are most relevant for many clients, as well as which changes can be axed because they are less relevant to clients.

Example: The acceptance of low-energy heating systems (BM für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie, Wien, and the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology in the context of the programme ‚Haus der Zukunft)

Problem

Heating firms offering ventilation installations, with heat exchangers and corresponding technical and managerial knowledge, want to know how clients evaluate the products and what clients want changed. How can their offers be informed by the experience of individuals living in houses with such installations?

Aims

The project endeavored to answer the question of how the individual features of installations are viewed and assessed. What do the users see as positive features? What do they dislike? Which improvements do they suggest? How can these be used for technical innovation? How can such heating systems gain a greater market share?

Method

The project entailed interviewing eight individuals from single family houses and 15 multi-story flats with such ventilation units as well as 20 individuals who were informed of the option prior to the building process but had decided against this option.
Surprisingly, we obtained a great degree of acceptance of ventilation units among the inhabitants of single family houses and a nearly unquestioning rejection in multi-story flats. GABEK revealed opportunities for technical improvements and obstacles to spreading usage, and suggested strategies for production and marketing. The results of the qualitative investigation enabled interpretation of statistical data derived from a quantitative investigation , and GABEK® identified the relevant core variables. Workshops with producers of ventilation installations, plumbers, architects, building contractors and energy experts were introduced to initiate learning processes between the manufacturers of systems and users.

Benefits

The research project resulted in a clear evaluation and weighting of particular features of ventilation installations with heat exchangers. Heating suppliers, architects and clients learned where technical improvements would be necessary and which conditions were needed to achieve greater market share, with specific advertising, information and marketing strategies highlighted.