A product development decision model for cockpit weather information systems

Cockpit weather information systems for general aviation (GA) aircraft inform the pilot about the weather conditions in the area, by communicating with the ground via various data links. Due to high aviation accident rates, the NASA Aviation Safety Program considers integrating weather information systems into the cockpit as a primary contributor to improved safety. Surveys show there is a great demand for advanced cockpit weather information products. However, it is unclear how to identify the most promising technological systems that provides the consumer requirements and through technical characteristics at a price that achieves market success. This paper proposes a product development decision model using Quality Function Deployment (QFD) specifically for this problem.