This came out for day 16 of RMA Consulting's UX Advent Calendar of 2010. A quick introduction to Kano for User Experience / Design folk. Can be used for Agile as well. It allows you to classify different levels of innovation within a product or service. There are some simple questions you can use to classify certain features e.g. for an Agile project.

1. Kano
Managing innovation through classi cation of needs
Jason Mesut - Head of User Experience

2. Kano
A technique for classifying customer needs and
determining appropriate levels of innovation
for products and services

3. Created in the 1980's by Professor
Noriaki Kano, it's main objective is
to help teams uncover, classify, and
integrate 3 categories of Customer
Needs and Attributes into the
Products or Services they are
developing.

4. It’s also being used in Agile
methodologies for prioritising
requirements

5. Based on three core tenets

6. Value attracts customers

7. Quality keeps customers
and builds loyalty

8. Innovation is necessary to
differentiate and compete
in the market

9. Kano is based on 3 core types of
need:
Basic, Performance and
Excitement

10. Basic
Attributes / needs that are
expected, assumed, given.
The hygiene factors.

11. Kano model
Very satis ed
Delighted
Executed Executed very
poorly or not well
at all
Basic
Satisfying basic needs merely
minimises dissatisfaction.
Absence or poor execution leads
to greater dissatisfaction.
Very dissatis ed
Disgusted

12. Basic
Absence of these will cause
dissatisfaction, but no amount of
execution quality will cause
positive satisfaction, it will only
minimise dissatisfaction.

13. Basic
Toilet rolls in a hotel room.
Zero toilet rolls = unhappy
customer.
Three extra toilet rolls = not
unhappy, but not happy customer.

14. Basic
Car door hits curb when opened
causes major dissatisfaction.
Car door missing the curb causes
no dissatisfaction, but not positive
satisfaction.

15. Basic
Customers/ users will rarely state
these, so you have to observe or
analyse other products or services
in depth to get to what they are

16. Performance
Attributes / needs that are consciously
evaluated by the customer and at top of their
minds when purchasing

17. Kano model
Very satis ed
Delighted
Performance
Performance needs yield a
proportional satisfaction for an
investment in execution quality
Executed Executed very
poorly or not well
at all
Very dissatis ed
Disgusted

18. Performance
Satisfaction is proportional to the
way in which these are executed,
starting from dissatisfaction due to
slow, poor, or absent execution
through to high satisfaction due to
quick, powerful or exquisite
execution.

19. Performance
These are possibly the easiest to
ascertain from users or customers
as they are often ‘stated’ needs, so
will come up in surveys, focus
groups etc.

20. Performance
Miles per gallon: more = greater
satisfaction
Waiting time in an airport: less
time = greater satisfaction

21. Excitement
Attributes / qualities that deliver “buzz”. The
wows, differentiators, innovations, unique
selling/value propositions

22. Kano model
Excitement
Very satis ed Excitement needs
Delighted delight when present but no
dissatisfaction when not
Executed Executed very
poorly or not well
at all
Very dissatis ed
Disgusted

23. Excitement
Presence of these will delight
customers/users and increase their
satisfaction, but absence of them
will not dissatisfy.

24. Excitement
Internet access on a plane or tube
is not expected and so will not
upset if not present, but will delight
if it is.

25. Excitement
A pillow menu at Penny Hill Park
Spa for RMA Xmas party is not
expected but is a rare delight.

26. Excitement
These are harder to come up with,
and really require an
understanding of ‘latent need’
which can only really be
understood through observation or
incredible genius intuition

27. Kano model
Excitement
Very satis ed Excitement needs
Delighted delight when present but no
dissatisfaction when not
Performance
Performance needs yield a
proportional satisfaction for an
investment in execution quality
Executed Executed very
poorly or not well
at all
Basic
Satisfying basic needs merely
minimises dissatisfaction.
Absence or poor execution leads
to greater dissatisfaction.
Very dissatis ed
Disgusted

28. Over time, excitement needs
become performance needs, and
then basic needs.

29. The innovations of tomorrow, will
become the hygiene factors of
yesterday.

30. Kano model
Very satis ed
Delighted Excitement
Performance
Executed Executed very
poorly or not well
at all
Basic
Very dissatis ed
Disgusted

31. There are tools that help you
classify, by asking some simple
questions

32. Kano survey tool
I
re-­‐found
this
special
survey
tool
that
does
Kano
analysis
on
requirements
for
you.
A
basic
(i.e.
Not
very
well
done)
version
here
h?p://www.kanosurvey.com/?id=395
<h?p://www.kanosurvey.com/?id=395>

33. Kano
h?p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v3qHFv4Zbo
Some
useful
links
h?p://blogs.msdn.com/b/noahc/archive/2006/10/20/removing-­‐dissaSsfies-­‐kano-­‐analysis-­‐a-­‐
decision-­‐making-­‐tool.aspx
h?p://www.agile-­‐ux.com/tag/kano-­‐model/
h?p://it.toolbox.com/wiki/index.php/Kano_Analysis
h?p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano_model