needsfor

Needsfor is a term used in product design and service design to denote the explicit articulation of user needs that a product, service, or system should satisfy. It emphasizes the outcomes and value delivered to users, rather than the features or capabilities a solution might have. In practice, needsfor helps separate what users require from how those requirements are implemented.

Etymology and scope: The word is a portmanteau of "needs" and "for," signaling a mapping from user needs to the intended use or outcome. It is used during requirements gathering, user research, and strategy formation to frame a solution in terms of needs it must fulfill rather than a list of speculative features.

Methodology: Practitioners collect insights about users, stakeholders, and contexts, and formulate need statements such as "Users need to achieve X so that Y." These statements are then prioritized by impact and feasibility and mapped to potential solutions. The needsfor approach often aligns with related methods like jobs-to-be-done, outcome-driven innovation, and impact mapping, serving as a bridge between discovery and design.

Criticism and limitations: If not grounded in validation, needsfor statements can become tautological or circular, simply restating problems as needs. Critics caution that it should be paired with testing and real-user feedback to avoid misinterpreting wants as needs.

See also: user needs, requirements engineering, jobs to be done, outcome-driven design, design thinking.