The literature suggests that teachers may rely more often on intuition when making course planning decisions than on informed assessment of learners' needs (Barkhuizen 1998; Spratt 1999). This article proposes a more principled alternative to the intuitive approach, based on the use of teacher-designed class-specific questionnaires intended to obtain context-relevant data from learners as an aid to better course provision. The focus is firmly on the local level, on individual teachers and their classes, rather than on institution-wide surveys, since this is where success or failure of courses is ultimately determined, and where plans for action derived from questionnaire data will be acted upon. The article describes four important benefits of course-specific questionnaires: more cohesive long-term course development; increased learner-centredness; more effective materials selection and design; and teacher self-development. The rationale behind the use of class-specific questionnaire surveys is discussed with reference to university-level learners in Japan.