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The goal of market research is determine the customer's needs to maximize the company's profits. The job of quality is to translate those needs into measurable quantities. For example, physicians require sterile catheters for heart surgery. Because the competition routinely sterilizes their catheters, it would be foolhardy to market one without this feature. Likewise, the physician does not care that the catheters are sterilized by gamma radiation for 30 minutes in a 10-pound package. He or she is concerned that the product is sterile. It is the role of quality to take the requirements (sterility) and translate them into operational parameters.

Quality also takes an active role in the design and development of new products. While marketing conveys the customer's needs and wants, it is the responsibility of quality to determine how to achieve these goals in a cost effective manner. It is often a struggle incorporating the multitude of desires into the design of a new product. Increasing functionality usually increases the cost and manufacturing complexity of a new product while too few may not be sufficient to capture market share from an existing competitor. In the over-the-counter device market, competition between private label manufacturers and name brand companies is fierce. Adhesive bandages have been around for years. While one can always find a simple square bandage to cover a wound, only Johnson & Johnson¨ sells Band-Aid¨ brand adhesive bandages with antiseptic. Johnson & Johnson¨ markets product that is more expensive and satisfies a different segment of consumers than private labels.

Finally, quality also participates in the resolution of customer complaints. From a marketing perspective, these unmet needs usually result from poor design. Either the need was not known until after the product reached the marketplace or more commonly, the need was inadequately addressed during product design. Because the product changes are costly in this phase of the product lifecycle, it can be difficult to address customer complaints without evidence that the unmet needs are critical to the success of the product. On 9/21/01, Becton Dickinson recalled over 1 million sterile syringes due to improperly sealed packaging. Failure to identify possible sealing failures during product design is a possible cause of this recall.