The Kano Model

The Kano Model is a great tool for helping to decide what features a product or service should have. It is simple and versatile. The professor who published the theory, Dr Noriaki Kano, said that a product or service is much more than its functionality, it’s also about the emotions of the customer. This can be achieved by understanding how a product relates to a customer's needs beyond its most basic function.

The Kano Model works by assigning three types of attributes to a product or service:

· Threshold (Basics)

o These are the most basic form of a product that a customer expect (Hot water and clean linen when staying at a hotel for example.)

· Performance (Satisfiers)

o These are not completely necessary but will lead to a higher customer enjoyment – therefore satisfaction – of the product or service. (Free WiFi in your room)

· Excitement (Delighters)

o This is what gives you the edge over the competition. It’s features the customer didn’t even know they wanted which leads to a higher happiness index when discovered. (Lindt chocolates with your freshly cleaned linen or a complementary drink from room service)

A note to remember is that every industry is different and the way a product is designed is relative to the industry it falls under. That’s why as engineers, we strive to keep innovating as an excitement factor today could become a threshold factor tomorrow. This is done through market research in order to approach the customers directly by way of surveys or focus groups.