What is the History of the Kano Model?
Dr. Noriaki Kano, a professor of quality management at the Tokyo University of Science, created the Kano Model in 1984. As author Dave Verduyn explains, Dr. Noriaki developed this framework while researching the factors that contributed to customer satisfaction and loyalty.
The model identifies five categories of potential customer reactions to a new feature, ranging from dissatisfaction to indifference, all the way up to what many call customer delight or excitement features.
What is the Kano Model?
The Kano Model (pronounced “Kah-no”) is an approach to prioritizing features on a product roadmap based on the degree to which they are likely to satisfy customers. Product teams can weigh a high-satisfaction feature against its costs to implement to determine whether or not adding it to the roadmap is a strategically sound decision.
The Kano Model is one of many prioritization frameworks designed to help product teams prioritize initiatives. For example, Kano can help teams determine which features will satisfy and even delight customers. Product managers often use the Kano Model to prioritize potential new features by grouping them into categories. These feature categories can range from those that could disappoint customers to those likely to satisfy or even delight customers.
The Kano Model could be used by Green Belts and Black Belts during Lean Six Sigma Projects in order to have a better understanding of customer needs.
Learn more about the Kano Model in the following video: