<div class="section abstract"><div class="htmlview paragraph">The automotive industry is one of the most competitive enterprises in the world. Customers face an ever-expanding number of entries in each market segment vying for their business. Sales price, brand image, marketing, etc. all play a role in purchase decisions, but the factor distinguishing products that consistently perform in the market place is the ability to satisfy the customer.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">Steering character plays a critical role in the customer driving experience and can be one of the most heavily debated topics during a new vehicle program. The proliferation of EPS steering systems now allows engineers to calibrate steering feel to almost any desired specification. This raises a key question: What subjective &amp; objective characteristics satisfy customers in a particular market segment? Answering this question requires continued research to develop objective metrics correlated to subjective steering attributes and increased understanding of customer preferences for objective performance parameters.</div><div class="htmlview paragraph">In five sections, this paper presents a process for developing engineering requirements for steering feel that will achieve customer satisfaction: (1) Defines the elements of a customer focus strategy in product engineering; (2) Discusses the importance of steering feel to the customer; (3) Describes the subjective components of steering feel; (4) Outlines objective tests to quantify the subjective attributes of steering feel; (5) The final section of this paper illustrates an engineered clinic to understand customer preferences, generate loss functions, and develop objective engineering requirements.</div></div>