What is Kano Analysis? Attributes, Working and Benefits

Product features are rated on satisfaction and functioning two-axis scale using a Kano model questionnaire, which is used to perform customer-focused research. Because of this, companies may rank the importance of features on a product roadmap according to how probable they are to satisfy consumers and how much money will be required for their development.

 

Dr. Noriaki Kano, a quality management professor at the Tokyo University of Science, released the kano analysis model in 1984. When it came to increasing client loyalty, it was generally agreed to handle complaints and improve popular services. Kano was interested in finding out whether there were any further strategies that businesses might use to increase and preserve client loyalty.

 

He thought that the degree of emotional reaction to characteristics determined client loyalty. He ran research with 900 volunteers to test his claim that there are five different sorts of emotional reactions to characteristics. The kano reaction graph, which depicts the five emotional reactions as curves, was built using his findings.

 

Also Read | Everything about Product Market Fit (PMF)

 

 

What is Kano Analysis?

 

The Kano Analysis Model (pronounced "Kah-no") is a method for ranking the importance of features on a product roadmap according to how probable they are to please consumers. Product teams may assess if adding a high-satisfaction item to the roadmap is a wise strategic move by comparing it to the implementation expenses.

 

One of the various prioritization models for helping product teams select efforts is the Kano Model. Kano, for instance, may assist teams in identifying the features that would please and even excite customers. 

 

Product managers frequently categorize prospective new features using the Kano Model to prioritize them. These feature categories might include both those that might let customers down and those that are more likely to please or even fulfill them.

 

The Kano Model stands out from other prioritizing frameworks because of its rigorous focus on the responses that consumers have to each item. For instance, the Benefits vs. Cost Model may include higher income among its score factors besides customer pleasure. The Kano Model places a premium on customer satisfaction, therefore each new feature must take this into account.

 

The Kano Analysis is a seemingly straightforward method with significant effects on the quality management industry. It has caused a paradigm change in how businesses throughout the world see the quality. The Kano analysis made this shift from one-dimensional to two-dimensional quality monitoring possible.

 

Traditionally, operational indicators alone were used to evaluate quality. As a result, the business with the fewest flaws was considered to have the highest quality. Delivering subpar goods is, however, just impossible in the present era of rising competition. As a result, this quality indicator did not accurately reflect the current situation.

 

As a result of seeing this problem, Mr. Noriaki Kano came to the idea that quality must be measured as the connection between two dimensions. The two criteria that were picked were client happiness and need fulfillment. 

 

Each of the four quadrants of the coordinate system formed by the intersection of these two axes was assigned to one of the attributes that the product already possessed as well as any attributes that were going to be added to it.

 

Applications of Kano Model

 

The Kano model may be thought of as a link between the operations and marketing teams. This is due to the fact that both of these teams must work together to guarantee that the model is appropriately deployed and that the resulting advantages are realized. The applications of Kano model are in the following ways:

 

1. The Kano Model aids organizations in categorizing and ranking demands. There are certain product characteristics that are required to be present, some that are pleasant to have, and yet others that are irrelevant to buyers.

 

2. The customer's voice must be taken into account when designing the product. Customers can express what they want and do not want, but they cannot express how great a need they believe there is or how compelling they find it to be. The perceived benefits that customers get, however, are significantly impacted by whether the argument is convincing.

 

3. Therefore, it is necessary to construct surveys such that this component is included as well. In terms of empirical research, surveys that were designed with the Kano Analysis in mind have been more successful in identifying consumer needs and assisting management in meeting them.

 

4. Organizations may introduce features that provide customers the most happiness by using Kano analysis. As they increase expense but don't bring value, features that buyers don't care about might be deleted from the product. This makes it easier to provide clients with exactly what they want at the price they desire.

 

Also Read | Product Marketing Vs Product Management

 

Attributes of Kano Analysis

 

The five attributes of Kano Analysis are‌: 

 

1. Must Be

 

Must-be features are an integral aspect of the product or service offering, as the name implies. Their presence is not noticed since it does not improve the goods or services. But there is a great deal of discontent when they are absent. 

 

Customers don't even bring up these features since they find them to be so apparent. It is presumed that the vendor is aware of this demand. For instance, it is expected that a new car won't have any scratches when it is acquired. Even when the absence of scratches does not satisfy, their presence will infuriate buyers.

 

2. One Dimensional

 

The most typical kind of product feature is this one. These are the characteristics that the competition is often built upon. Customer happiness rises as these characteristics are improved, and falls as you lower these features' level.

 

3. Attractive

 

These are characteristics that can assist the business in achieving client satisfaction. Customers do not anticipate features like this, so when they do receive them, it comes as a welcome surprise. However, there is no resentment in their absence. 

 

It's crucial to understand, though, that as time passes, clients begin to anticipate the desirable characteristics as they gradually migrate into the must-have quadrant. You might say that the must-have characteristics are the exact opposite of the appealing features.

 

4. Indifferent

 

Customers are uninterested in these features. Their existence increases the customer's expenditures while offering little gratification. They must be eradicated since they are a waste of resources.

 

5. Reverse

 

Features that cannot be fulfilled in reverse! The consumer is quite delighted if you don't fulfill them, but when you do, there is unhappiness. This generally refers to feature weariness, which some users have when a product has an excessive number of features.

 

Also Read | Steps of Product Design

 

How does the Kano Model work?

 

Product teams using the Kano Model classify features into the following five categories when creating new products or updating current ones:

---

How does the Kano Model Work?

---

1. Basic

 

Customers anticipate certain features from items of this sort across the board, thus these features come into this category. Although they're not very likely to thrill people, these elements are necessary for the product to perform its fundamental purpose, and their absence from a product's design might have a substantial negative impact on customer happiness.

 

2. Performance

 

These characteristics reveal a product team's dedication to more capability compared to the entry-level suite. They enhance the whole experience and can provide one product a modest competitive advantage over another, though they are not likely to be game-changers.

 

3. Excitement

 

Customers' buying decisions and users' contentment can be significantly impacted by features in this area. A product may stand out from competing launches by utilizing excitement-inducing features and traits.

 

Even if the quality of future items may decline, they might motivate a customer to adopt and maintain brand loyalty over time. "Delighters" can persuade customers to recommend a product to others and motivate them to post favorable reviews online, resulting in an increase in new customers.

 

4. Insignificant Characteristics

 

Any feature that is deemed "indifferent" has no overly favorable or unfavorable effect on users. They could have a hard time deciding if the feature makes them more or less satisfied.

 

5. Reverse Characteristics

 

Users who actively dislike features in this category should not have them in the product at all. If there are enough of them, users may feel upset with a product and perhaps start looking for alternatives.

 

By classifying features into any of these groups, product teams may decide which features should be prioritized during development and which should be eliminated entirely. However, it shouldn't be decided just from the viewpoint of the product team.

 

Data from user research should be gathered by product teams as well. They could create a survey specifically targeted to each feature used in a product and ask members of the target demographic to comment on how well the features work.

 

Teams have a variety of ways to show off their characteristics. Although a more complex prototype or an interactive wireframe may work, it's important to avoid devoting too much effort to any demo model. The main aim is to explain the feature's purpose and how it assists users in achieving their objectives.

 

The results of the surveys should show how useful people find each feature and how they would feel if it were removed from the finished product. Only those who are part of the target audience should participate in order to gather the most accurate, worthwhile comments.

 

Also Read | Stages of Product Life Cycle

 

Benefits of the Kano Model

 

The benefits of the Kano Model are: 

 

1. The Kano Model saves time by preventing it from squandering on qualities that may irritate or unsatisfied clients. 

 

2. Additionally, it assists companies in determining the point at which a product feature transitions from being desirable to essential. People look for items with that in particular categories.

 

3. Product teams may learn about current expectations from customers, not from the past, by using customer surveys. Businesses will lag behind what consumers actually desire in their products if they develop things for yesterday's consumers. This may be seen in the fast decline of Blackberry phones, which utilized keyboards, once touch displays for iPhones were developed.

 

4. The Kano Model is a Six Sigma technique that ranks a product's or service's qualities according to how users would perceive them. Based on how effectively it will satisfy customers in three areas—basic requirements, performance, and excitement—product development teams may balance the benefits of investing time and resources in a particular feature.

 

5. It is an effective technique for keeping a company concentrated on prioritizing what clients need. The Kano Model may be used by managers to categorize proposed components of a new product or service and assess whether consumers would find them intriguing, helpful, or fulfilling.

 

Kano Analysis aids in the effective allocation of time and resources for your product development efforts. After categorizing features, you may give higher priority to those that are crucial for your clients and those that would significantly boost their contentment, while giving lower priority to those that would make little to no difference in their level of happiness.