As a product manager, I often encounter a lot of product requirements. The development students are very busy, and the users seem to want everything. With limited product development resources, how can we find real user needs? Give high priority to really important needs?
The product manager decided to introduce the " KANO model " to sort out the requirements of the system, analyze and refine the requirements, and improve efficiency.
Catalyzing customer needs and incorporating them into products is no easy task. There are various frameworks and tools to help product teams achieve this goal, a popular choice is the Kano model. The Kano model helps understand customer needs and prioritize potential features on the roadmap based on the value expected to be delivered to users.
In this article, we discuss what the Kano model is, how it works, its features and benefits, and give examples of its use. We'll also discuss when to use it and best practices for integrating it effectively into the production process.
01. What is the Carnot model?
The Kano model is a functional prioritization framework. It is used to identify important features of a product in terms of the customer satisfaction it can bring to users.
Besides the Kano model, there are many feature prioritization frameworks that can help product managers. The focus on prioritizing features based on customer satisfaction levels sets the Kano model apart from other models.
The vertical axis shows satisfaction with your output. The top of the vertical axis represents high satisfaction and the bottom represents very low user satisfaction. Likewise, the horizontal axis represents how a goal is achieved or shows the performance of a service
The Kano model identifies five types of emotional responses to traits. Product managers work with their teams to identify a list of potential features for the product, and then organize those features into five categories. The Kano model analyzes customer needs by plotting user needs on two axes. The vertical axis shows satisfaction with your output. The top of the vertical axis represents high satisfaction and the bottom represents very low user satisfaction. Likewise, the horizontal axis represents how a goal is achieved or shows the performance of a service. Low performance is on the left, high performance is on the right.
02. Understand the feature categories of the Kano model
2.1 Basic functions
These are the features that a product must have. Without these features, customers cannot even use the product. These are not pleasant - they fulfill a basic need and are taken for granted by customers. For example, headlights, steering, brakes, and seats are all basic functions of a car. Without these, customers won't even consider buying a car.
2.2 Performance characteristics
Performance features give the product a competitive advantage over others in the market. For example, in the economy car segment, features such as good mileage, accident safety, and lower prices will increase customer satisfaction, in addition to the basic functions of the car.
Performance features add basic functionality and improve product performance, thereby providing more convenience to users. More performance features in a product lead to more satisfied customers. These features, if not present in the product, will cause customer dissatisfaction.
2.3 Pleasure function
These kinds of features have created a buzz in the target segment. If this type of functionality does not exist in the product, the customer will not miss it, nor will it cause any dissatisfaction from the customer.
However, customer satisfaction increases significantly when delighters are included in the product. Exciting or enjoyable features that provide a significant advantage over competing products. These are innovative or unique features that customers do not expect , but when added lead to a positive response to the product.
Let's take the car as an example again. Features such as 360-degree cameras, automatic parking features, blind-spot monitoring, car seats with massagers, or keyless entry are examples of innovative features that drive customer satisfaction and give a product an edge over the competition.
2.4 Indifference function
Indifferent features do not have any positive or negative impact on users. Users don't care if the feature exists, and if it doesn't, they don't miss it. Teams should avoid these types of features.
2.5 Reverse features
Reverse functionality is the type of functionality that can lead to user dissatisfaction and frustration. These should be removed from the product entirely - including these in the product will incentivize users to consider alternatives.
Listing all the features and then assigning them into these five categories helps product teams prioritize features to implement and cut out counterproductive and irrelevant features.
03. Kano Model Examples and Templates
A product manager can select a group of target customers to fill out a survey. This questionnaire will help them understand their perception of potential functionality. For example, you can build a standard questionnaire like this:
Next, you can identify each category based on a combination of questionnaire answers:
Define a class for each response, as above. This analysis can then help you understand how customers react to potential features, and thus determine whether it's worth spending valuable time and resources on.
04. Advantages of the Carnot Model
The Kano model can help product teams prioritize features and create products with higher customer satisfaction. Let's look at some of the main advantages of the Kano model.
Save time and resources: Kano models are an easier way to save time and resources than brainstorming market research and available product usage data to determine the most desirable features. Surveying your target customers and asking them directly about their preferences for a feature list can be very effective.
Improve customer satisfaction: The Kano model helps product teams identify innovative features that customers would not expect but would love to experience. These features provide a competitive advantage to the product and help retain existing customers.
Develop a product roadmap: Product managers often struggle to prioritize items on their list of potential features. The Kano model helps by proving their hypothesis about a function and identifying the most important ones worth investing in. Excitement, performance, and essential features are all on the product roadmap.
Building an MVP: A Minimum Viable Product is a basic version of a product. It has core functionality built in the shortest possible time with minimal resources. The MVP must have basic functionality classified by the Kano model, and the functionality meets the minimum expected level of the client.
05. When to use the Carnot model
Any team developing a new product or enhancing an existing product can use the Kano model to prioritize features. This model is useful when the team has limited time and resources, or is building an MVP and trying to figure out the core functionality. The model guides the team in identifying must-have features, performance, and delightful features that drive customer satisfaction and make the product desirable.
On the other hand, if the product team already has available customer data from product usage that clearly indicates a need for a feature, it may not make sense to use this model.
06. Carnot model implementation case
To get the most out of Kano model analysis, it is critical to take the proper steps and implement best practices. This will help the team focus on the right set of features and analyze the output of the survey without creating too much confusion.
Let's look at best practices when working with Kano models.
XYZ, a well-known corporate hospital, implements the Kano model, prioritizing various functions based on how satisfied or enjoyable their users are.
Step 1: Identify the features that need to be implemented:
The team lists the following five features to add to hospital services to improve customer satisfaction
- An online billing system was introduced to reduce waiting time.
- Bill clients for the insurance process during admission for expedited processing.
- Launched two free follow-ups with a bill over 20K.
- Install a sensor lighting system to save electricity.
- Increase the number of varieties in the patient menu.
Step 2 : Conduct customer research:
Hospital management collected feedback on each characteristic from 30 patients, standardized using two questions, functional and dysfunctional.
Step 3: Classify the response:
The hospital reviewed the client's responses to functional and dysfunctional questions for each function.
Step 4: Analyze the data:
All responses received from 30 patients were summarized and the top requests for each category were analyzed.
Step 5: Prioritize the features to be implemented:
- First, focus on the "must" requirements: feature 1 and feature 5 - it reduces billable time and serves delicious food.
- Then focus on the performance requirements: Feature 5 - Customer satisfaction will increase with the number of varieties.
- Now focus on delightful features: Feature 3 – Customers are happy with free follow-up visits.
- Eliminate any reverse functionality: Feature 2: Although it will reduce processing time, customers are not prepared to pay processing fees when they enter the market.
- Finally, ignore all extraneous features as they don't add any value: Feature 4 - Sensor based lighting system doesn't matter to the customer.
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