What Exactly is a Kano Model?




The Kano model, sometimes referred to as the “Customer Delight vs. Implementation Investment” strategy, is a method for prioritizing product and feature development based on customer feedback.

 

The goal of the model, which was created in the 1980s by Professor Noriaki Kano, was to “understand and communicate five universal categories of customer requirements that all product and service developers need to be aware of in order to remain competitive.”

 

What is measured by the Kano model?

The Kano model plots product features on a chart with two axes: functioning on the x-axis and customer satisfaction on the y-axis. Kano surveys, where consumers can assess the feature based on those two principles, determine where a feature appears on this chart.

 

Five emotional reactions are used to gauge satisfaction in these surveys:

 

* Happy

 

* Content

 

* Neutral

 

* Unsatisfied

 

* Frustrated

 

A customer’s satisfaction is rated using a scale:

 

The Best, Good, Basic, Some, and None

 

What are the Kano model’s feature classifications?

A feature can be classified into one of five groups after being scored on these two axes.

 

* Essential attributes. Customers anticipate having access to these fundamental features by default. If these characteristics are offered, customers frequently have an unfavorable attitude about them, but if they are not, they become angry.

 

* Functionality attributes. Customers seek for performance attributes to increase their enjoyment of a product. The addition of a performance feature frequently results in higher customer satisfaction.

 

* Appealing qualities. Customers are excited by these qualities, and they can help a product stand out from the competition. When they’re available, attractive features greatly increase client satisfaction. Since clients don’t anticipate them to be included in the goods in the first place, they won’t lead to discontent if they aren’t.

 

* Neutral characteristics. Customers who use indifferent features do not feel either positively or negatively about them. They don’t improve the customer experience or the functionality of the product, much like the font used on a brand’s website or logo.

 

* Features in reverse. The consumer experience may be negatively impacted by reverse features. These features increase the chance that a client may switch to a rival who can provide the same functionality without the feature.

Teams can prioritize features in their roadmap based on how likely they are to meet consumer wants by understanding where each feature of a brand’s product or service sits into these categories.

 

What advantages come from applying the Kano model?

Beyond assisting product teams’ decision-making, the Kano model has a number of additional advantages:

 

* Both time and money are saved. Teams can save time and money by using the Kano model to stop working on things that don’t engage or satisfy their users.

 

* It assists in determining priority areas. Companies can only know what they already know, so what they may consider important may not be what their clients actually want. Using the Kano model and giving the customer audience a voice can guarantee that the business is providing the greatest possible service to them.

 

* It contributes to elevated client satisfaction. Customers adore receiving features that address their issues and adore being heard. Brands that follow the Kano model are better at doing this.

 

The Kano model is more strategic than other approaches teams use to consider their product because it depends on quick client feedback. And even though it was created about 40 years ago, the customer-focused environment of today ensures its continuous relevance.