“Good quality.” “Poor quality.” “Premium quality.”

These are phrases we see and hear all the time. Manufacturers use them. Retailers use them. Customers use them in product reviews and feedback.

But what does quality actually mean?

The more you think about it, the harder that question becomes to answer. Quality is often spoken about as though it were a single characteristic of a product. In reality, it can mean dozens of completely different things.

“Poor Quality” Tells Us Something – But Not Very Much

If a customer tells us that a product is “poor quality”, we know one important thing: they are dissatisfied with it.

What we do not necessarily know is why.

Take an espresso machine portafilter as an example. If someone describes a portafilter as poor quality, they might mean:

• the chrome plating or surface finish is defective;
• there is a scratch, dent or other cosmetic blemish;
• the handle feels uncomfortable or inexpensive;
• the portafilter does not fit the brew group correctly;
• the dimensions are slightly wrong;
• the basket does not sit securely;
• the handle feels too light or too heavy;
• the product does not perform as expected;
• or they simply do not like the way it looks or feels.

Those are very different criticisms.

One might point to a manufacturing defect. Another could be a compatibility issue. Another may be a matter of personal preference.

Describing all of them simply as “poor quality” removes the information that would actually help identify the problem.

What Does Quality Mean for Coffee Filter Papers?

The same issue applies to coffee filter papers.

A customer might describe coffee filter papers as poor quality because:

• a filter has torn during use;
• a seam has split during brewing;
• the paper does not fit their brewer correctly;
• water passes through the paper faster than expected;
• water passes through more slowly than expected;
• too much sediment reaches the cup;
• the paper has an unwanted smell or taste;
• the paper feels thinner or thicker than another brand;
• or the resulting coffee does not taste as they expected.

Again, these are completely different characteristics.

If a filter tears when wet, that may indicate a problem with its physical strength. If it does not fit a particular brewer, the issue could be dimensions or compatibility. If the brew runs more quickly or slowly than expected, that could relate to the structure, thickness, density or permeability of the filter paper.

Calling any of these things “poor quality” describes the customer's overall opinion, but it does not identify the characteristic that has caused that opinion.

Quality Is Not Just One Thing

When people talk about product quality, they may actually be talking about several different things at once.

These can include:

• Manufacturing quality – has the product been made consistently and without defects?
• Functional performance – does it do what it is intended to do?
• Material specification – are the materials suitable for the intended application?
• Dimensional accuracy – has the product been manufactured to the correct size and tolerances?
• Durability – does it remain functional for a reasonable period of use?
• Aesthetic quality – does it look and feel well made?
• Consistency – does one product perform in the same way as another from the same range?
• Fitness for purpose – is the product suitable for the job it is intended to perform?

A product could perform very well in one of these areas and less well in another.

That is why simply placing products somewhere on a scale between “high quality” and “low quality” can be misleading.

Does Heavier, Thicker or More Expensive Mean Better Quality?

Another complication is that our perception of quality is influenced by expectations.

People often associate certain characteristics with higher quality. A heavier product may feel more substantial. A thicker material may seem stronger. A shinier finish may appear more expensive.

But those characteristics are not automatically indicators of better performance.

A heavier portafilter is not necessarily more accurately manufactured than a lighter one. A thicker coffee filter paper is not automatically a better coffee filter paper.

For coffee filtration in particular, paper thickness is only one characteristic among many. The structure of the fibres, permeability of the paper, filtration characteristics and resulting flow rate can all influence brewing.

The most substantial-feeling product is therefore not necessarily the product best suited to its intended task.

Perhaps “Fitness for Purpose” Is More Useful

One way of thinking about quality is to ask a more specific question:

Is the product fit for the purpose for which it is intended?

That does not mean every customer must like every product. Personal preferences still matter.

But it changes the discussion from a vague judgement about quality to questions that can actually be examined.

Does the portafilter fit the machine it is designed for?

Are its dimensions correct?

Does the filter paper fit the intended brewer?

Does it retain the coffee grounds appropriately?

Does it remain intact during normal brewing?

Does it allow water to pass through in the way expected from that particular type of filter paper?

These are much more useful questions than simply asking whether something is “good quality”.

Businesses Are Just as Guilty

It would be unfair to suggest that vague descriptions of quality only come from customers.

Businesses do exactly the same thing.

Product descriptions are full of expressions such as:

• “premium quality”;
• “high-quality materials”;
• “superior quality”;
• and “exceptional quality”.

They sound reassuring, but without further explanation they do not really tell the customer very much.

If a retailer says a product is high quality, perhaps the more useful question is:

What specifically makes it high quality?

Is it the material?

Its manufacturing tolerances?

Its durability?

Its consistency?

Its finish?

Its performance?

Ideally, those are the things a product description should explain.

Specific Feedback Is Far More Valuable

Customer feedback is enormously useful to us, particularly when it is specific.

For example, compare these two comments:

“These coffee filters are poor quality.”

and:

“Three filters from this pack split along the lower seam when I added water.”

The first comment tells us that the customer is unhappy.

The second gives us something we can investigate.

We can look at stock from the same batch. We can inspect the seam. We can compare it with other filters. If necessary, we can raise the issue with the manufacturer.

The same applies to almost any product.

“It doesn't fit my machine.”

“The handle became loose after a week.”

“The plating has started to flake.”

“The water is passing through much faster than with my previous filters.”

“The paper has an unusual smell when it becomes wet.”

Each of those comments provides information that can be examined and acted upon.

So, What Does Good Quality Really Mean?

Perhaps the answer is that there is no single characteristic called “quality”.

Quality is a convenient word we use to summarise a collection of characteristics, expectations and experiences.

That does not make the word useless. But without context, it is ambiguous.

What one person regards as an important sign of quality may be relatively unimportant to somebody else. One customer may care most about appearance, another about durability and another entirely about functional performance.

So rather than abandoning the word quality altogether, perhaps we should simply become better at explaining what we mean by it.

If Something Isn't Right, Tell Us What Happened

If you buy a product from us and you are disappointed with it, we genuinely want to know.

Saying that something is “poor quality” tells us that it has not met your expectations. But if you can also tell us what actually happened, that information is considerably more useful.

Did something tear?

Did something break?

Did it not fit?

Was a dimension wrong?

Did the product behave differently from one you had used previously?

Was there a problem with its appearance?

Was there an unexpected taste or smell?

Or did it simply feel different from what you expected?

Those details help us understand whether there is a manufacturing problem, a compatibility issue, a difference in specification or simply a product that was not right for your particular requirements.

And if there really is a problem, specific feedback gives us a much better chance of doing something about it.

Perhaps the most useful measure of quality, therefore, isn't whether somebody describes a product as “good” or “poor”. It is whether the product does what it is supposed to do, consistently and appropriately, for the purpose for which it was designed.