ANSWER

Kano Analysis refers to the process of analyzing a product or system requirements to determine what the perceived impact will be on customer satisfaction.

The Kano model categorizes product attributes or system requirements into 3 categories to determine the perceived customer satisfaction.

Unexpected Delights: These are attributes of a product or system that the customer doesn’t even know they need or want.  The absence of these has no impact on customer perception or satisfaction.  However, the existence of these results can delight customers and drive premium pricing.

• My smart phone example: Tethering (connecting your computer to the internet via your cell phone service) is an excellent example of an unexpected delight.  In general, this is not a feature I felt I needed on my cell phone.  But after buying my new smart phone, seeing how easy it was to set up the “mobile hot spot” with a single selection and connecting to the internet, I was certainly delighted.  I might not use it often and if it wasn’t there I wouldn’t mind.  But having it available makes me happen every time I use it.

Performance Attributes: These are attributes of a product or system that follow a fairly direct correlation to customer satisfaction levels, either positive or negative.  If these attributes are missing or of poor quality then customers will be dissatisfied.  However, the better these attributes are the more the customer’s satisfaction levels rise.

• My smart phone example: Signal strength is an example of a performance attribute.  The poorer the strength of the signal and the more dropped calls or pathetic internet connections I have the more dissatisfied as a customer I will be.  On the flip side, the better my signal the more pleased I will be.

Must Have Attributes: These are attributes of a product or system that if missing would be considered unacceptable and result in dissatisfaction.  However, the existence of the attribute or improvement on it wouldn’t increase customer satisfaction in any meaningful way.

• My smart phone example: Voicemail is an example of a must have attribute.  Imagine buying a phone without voicemail nowadays.  As a customer you would be completely dissatisfied.  However, having voicemail certainly doesn’t win any awards.  And trying to improve on it probably won’t result in a great deal of increased satisfaction unless it was a monumental shift in how voicemail is used today.

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Chris Adams
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