Kano Model: Introduction and Application

Developed by Hai Hu-s212360.

Kano Model (KANO model) is a useful tool for classifying and prioritizing user needs developed by a professor of the Tokyo University of Science named Noriaki Kano in the 1980s. In the product development and optimization process, the development team need to decide which customer needs should be solved first and how to create new functions for customers. Based on the analysis of the impact of user needs on user satisfaction, it reflects the nonlinear relationship between product performance and user satisfaction. By analyzing the user's satisfaction with product functions, the product functions are graded to determine the priority in the product implementation process. In the Kano model, the quality characteristics of products and services are divided into five types: (1) Must-be Quality/ Basic Quality; (2) One-dimensional Quality/ Performance Quality; (3) Attractive Quality/ Excitement Quality; (4) Indifferent Quality/Neutral Quality: (5) Reverse Quality. The first three needs are classified according to performance indicators: basic factors, performance factors and incentive factors.

The Kano Model is a typical qualitative analysis model, which is generally not directly used to measure user satisfaction but is often used to identify users' acceptance of new functions. It can effectively reduce the disagreements about customer needs between the project manager and developers. The Kano Model analysis method is mainly to conduct research through standardized questionnaires, classify the attributes of each factor according to the survey results, and solve the positioning problem of product attributes to improve customer satisfaction.

History

Inspired by a behavioural scientist Herzberg's two-factor theory（1959）, Tokyo Institute of Technology professor Noriaki Kano and his colleague Fumio Takahashi published Motivator and Hygiene in Quality in October 1979. It was the first time the satisfaction and dissatisfaction standards were introduced into the field of quality management, and the research report "Attractive Quality and Must-be Quality" was read out at the 12th annual meeting of the Japan Quality Management Conference in 1982. The paper was officially published on January 18, 1984, in the Japanese Society for Quality Management (JSQC) magazine "Quality", No. 14, marking the establishment of the Kano model and the maturity of the attractive quality theory. In this paper, Noriaki Kano first proposed a two-dimensional model of satisfaction and constructed the KANO model. In Japan at the time, the issue of improving products and corporate services had always been a difficult problem. The model he proposed effectively solves this problem.

Customer preferences categories

Must-be Quality Elements/ Basic Quality

It is also known as the necessary demand and the natural demand, which is the basic requirement of the customer for the product or service factor provided by the enterprise. An attribute or function that a customer considers a "must-have" product. When its characteristics are insufficient (not meeting customer needs), customers are very dissatisfied; when its characteristics are sufficient (satisfying customer needs), customers may not be satisfied. For basic needs, even if it exceeds the customer's expectations, the customer is satisfied at best and will not show more favourable feelings about it. However, as long as there is a little negligence and the customer's expectations are not met, customer satisfaction will plummet. For customers, these needs must be met, as a matter of course. For this type of demand, the company's approach should be to focus on not losing points in this regard. It requires the company to continuously investigate and understand customer needs, and reflect these requirements in products through appropriate methods.

References

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