Improving technique for capturing value in low-income housing

Due to the current housing provision policy for low-income houses in Brazil, a large amount of new houses are being built. These constructions comply with a list of requirements provided by the government and follow the typological patterns arising in the market, but adapted to smaller dimensions and funding. The families benefited receive aid from the government and constitute a new social class, of which little is known about their needs and perspectives of value. Thus, it is necessary to grasp the information about their needs in order to define what adds value for them and therefore improve the projects, which could be better suited to the needs of its end users. In that manner, this paper aims to improve a quantitative technique for capturing the needs of the end users of low-income housing by setting the value perceived by them. First, an existing questionnaire based on the middle class was adapted to the public of low-income housing. Subsequently, the questionnaire was tested, and the tests showed that respondents had difficulty in giving an answer in the appropriate format. Thus, a visual device was created to facilitate the process and then a new test was made. Changes in the data collection technique showed a better understanding of the questions by the respondents, an increase in the speed of application and, consequently, reduced the total amount of time spent in the application of the questionnaire. Thus, the quantitative technique for capturing value from residents of low-income housing has been improved, allowing its application in a large scale and thereby identifying the points that generate value for the research's target audience.