Appraisal of the perfomance of innovative products is of major interest to computer sojhare developers, so that they can identify deficiencies and successes with existing products. The identification process facilitates efective evolution of a design strategy. We address the identification issue through questionnaire analysis based on the use of the statistical technique of analysis of variance. A case study domonstrates how the experimental design chosen aids us in the task of planning next generation innovations. Since sojware vendors may have difficulty in interpreting users' perceptions of recent innovations, we show how our methodology aids the required analysis.