The Kano Model Unlocking the Secrets of User Satisfaction: Designing Delightful User Experiences with Kano Model
As UX designers, our ultimate goal is to create products and services that meet and exceed user expectations. However, understanding what users genuinely want is often easier said than done. This is where the Kano Model comes in — a powerful tool that can help us identify which features will delight users and which are simply expected. In this article, we will delve into user satisfaction and explore how the Kano Model can be used to design user experiences that meet and exceed expectations. We will cover the basics of the Kano Model, discuss its benefits, and provide practical tips for applying it to your design process. Get ready to unlock the secrets of user satisfaction and take your designs to the next level.
But before we delve deeper into the Kano model, let's take a moment to consider where this activity fits in the design thinking process. The design thinking process is typically divided into 5 phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test.
During the ideation phase, the design team generates as many ideas as possible without judging or evaluating them. A competitive audit can be a great starting point if you need help generating ideas. In a previous article, I discussed how conducting a competitive audit can help you better understand the market and competitors and provide you with a long list of potential features and ideas for your product.
After generating a long list of potential features and ideas, prioritizing them is crucial to determine which will significantly impact user satisfaction. This is where feature prioritization and the Kano model come in.
Feature prioritization
Feature prioritization evaluates and ranks potential features based on their importance and effect on user experience. During the feature prioritization activity, the design team discusses each feature with other stakeholders involved in the design process, such as developers and product managers. Each feature is evaluated based on its desirability, viability, and feasibility.
- Desirability refers to how a feature or product fulfills a user's needs and wants. It's essential to prioritize features based on the desirability to ensure that the final product meets user expectations and is well-received in the market.
- Viability refers to the financial and strategic feasibility of a feature or product. Prioritizing features based on viability ensures that the product will be profitable and align with the company's overall goals and strategies.
- Feasibility refers to the technical feasibility of implementing a feature or product. Prioritizing features based on feasibility ensures that the team can realistically develop and implement the features within the given time and resources.
Feature prioritization is essential because it helps the design team focus on the features that will deliver the most value to users and the business. By prioritizing features, the team can avoid wasting time and resources on features that may not be important to users or may not be financially viable.
Incorporating the Kano Model into the feature prioritization activity can help the team further refine and prioritize potential features.
The Kano Model
The Kano model helps you prioritize a feature based on how much that feature will delight your customers. Pushing your customers front and center in this way gives your product the best chance of success in the market. The model was developed by Dr. Noriaki Kano, a professor of quality management from Tokyo University, in the 1980s.
The Kano model works by understanding each feature you want to develop based on two axes. On the x-axis, we have whether the feature is absent or present within your product or service, and on the y-axis, we have how you expect the customer to respond to the feature — whether they are dissatisfied or delighted by the feature.
The next step in the Kano model is to break the diagram into categories of features represented by lines. These categories include:
- Must-have features
- Performance features
- Delighter features
- Indifferent features
- Reverse features
Let's take a closer look at each of these categories.
The Must-have Features
Firstly, we have must-have features. These are the features that customers expect as part of a product or service. They represent your customers' basic requirements, and if they are present, your customer won't be delighted in any way; they'll be neutral to them. But your customer will be dissatisfied if even one must-have feature is absent.
For example, imagine arriving at a hotel room and locking the door behind you as you enter. If you lock the door successfully, you don't even think about it; it's just what you expect. But if you find your room has no door lock, you'd be absolutely horrified and dissatisfied. So your product/service needs all the must-have features to prevent customer dissatisfaction. However, having all of those features will not delight your customer, and you can see this on the diagram because the must-have line (crimson-red) never goes above the horizontal axis.
The Performance Features
Next, we have performance features. The more a customer gets of these features, the more satisfied they will be. They’re called performance features because they’re considered to improve the performance of your product in some way. Performance features have qualities like cost, entertainment, ease of use, or security. These are the types of features that customers appraise when assessing whether a product suits their needs. These features result in satisfaction if present.
The Delighter Features
Then we have delighter features. These are the features that customers don’t expect, but that excite and delight them. They often differentiate your product from the competition and give your customers a reason to keep returning. Delighter features are not necessary, but they make your customers happy. For example, a free upgrade to first-class on a flight or a hotel room with a beautiful view. These features are what your customers will rave about and share with their friends.
The Indifferent Features
After delighter features, we have indifferent features. These features don’t matter to your customers one way or the other. They won’t be delighted by them, but they also won’t be dissatisfied if they’re absent.
The Reverse Features
Finally, we have reverse features, which decrease satisfaction if they are present. These are features that customers don’t want or may even actively dislike. An example of a reverse feature could be a loud and annoying sound every time the product is turned on. If this feature is present, it will decrease customer satisfaction.
Final Words:
In conclusion, designing a product or service that satisfies user needs and expectations requires a structured and iterative approach that incorporates user feedback and prioritizes features based on their impact on user satisfaction. The Kano model, with its five categories of features and emphasis on the relationship between feature performance and user satisfaction, is a powerful tool for designing delightful user experiences that meet user needs and exceed their expectations. By using the Kano model in combination with the design thinking process, competitive audits, and feature prioritization, designers and product managers can create products that not only meet user needs but also delight and engage users, leading to higher customer loyalty, retention, and advocacy.
Thank Mohamed Mosaad for introducing me to the Kano model during a feature prioritization activity with a client, which inspired me to dive deeper into its principles. This experience has been invaluable in guiding our design process and ensuring that we create delightful user experiences.
I hope this article on the Kano model has given you valuable insights into designing delightful user experiences. For more content on UX design, follow me on Medium and LinkedIn. Thank you for reading 👏, and we look forward to connecting with you.
