The Kano model is a theory for product development and customer
satisfaction developed in the 1980s by Noriaki Kano, a
professor of quality management at the Tokyo University of Science.
It´s an approach to prioritizing
features on a product roadmap based on the degree to which they are likely
to satisfy customers. Product teams can weigh a high-satisfaction feature
against its costs to implement to determine whether or not adding it to the
roadmap is a strategically sound decision.
The model involves two dimensions:
1. Achievement (the horizontal axis), which goes from the supplier didn’t do it at all to the supplier did it very well.
2. Satisfaction (the vertical axis), which goes from total dissatisfaction with the product or service to total satisfaction with the product or service.
It also identifies three levels of customer expectations: that is, what it takes to positively impact customer satisfaction
1. Expected needs: These are the must haves, the requirements that the customers expect and are taken for granted.
These expectations are also known as the dissatisfiers because by
themselves they cannot fully satisfy a customer. However, failure to provide
these basic expectations will cause dissatisfaction.
Examples: In a hotel, providing a clean room is a basic necessity. In a call center, greeting customers is a basic necessity.
2. Normal needs: These are known as the wants or the satisfiers because they are the ones that customers will specify from a list. They can either satisfy or dissatisfy the customer depending on their presence or absence.
Examples: Time taken to resolve a customer's issue in a call center. Waiting service at a hotel.
3. Exciting needs: These are features and properties that make a supplier a leader in the market. These are the delighters or exciters because they go well beyond anything the customer might imagine and ask for. Their absence does not dissatisfy the customer, but their presence improves the likelihood of purchase.
Examples: In a callcenter, providing special offers and compensations to customers or the proactive escalation and instant resolution of their issue is an attractive feature. In a hotel, providing free food is an attractive feature.
How Does the
Kano Model Work?
Using the Kano Model, product teams pull together a list of potential new features vying for development resources and space on the roadmap. The team will then weigh these features according to the two competing criteria:
1. Their potential to satisfy customers.
2. The investment is needed to implement them.
