A Method for the Quantitative Correlation between Quality Requirements and Product Characteristics of Sport Equipment

Each sport equipment is evaluated by the users through different categories of quality requirements and by the R&D team using a set of engineering parameters. In previous studies the correlation between the quality requirements and the engineering characteristics was obtained by means of methods based on arbitrary judgment such as OFD [1]. Aim of the work is the development of a method for a quantitative correlation between the quality requirements and the product characteristics of sport equipment. The method was developed considering the racing bicycle wheels. A structured and objective method for collecting the user's quality requirements was developed and a subjective evaluation test session was performed for collecting the cyclists’ evaluation of different wheels models. The correlation coefficients were calculated adopting the Pearson's coefficients computation method. The results didn’t show any inconsistency and the high and the low correlation coefficients agreed with the expected analysis of the bicycle riding dynamics. The paper presents a structured and innovative approach to the study of the link between the users’ world and the technical characteristics of sports equipment.