How to use the Kano Model in Product Management decisions

Product managers must be cautious when it comes to assigning value to features and prioritizing them. Although many product managers and stakeholders intuitively know that the value of features differs from each other, they are often not able to articulate these differences. Because in order to be able to articulate such a difference, one must first know and understand the different types/or characteristics of features. This is where the Kano model comes in.

Noriaki Kano, a former professor at Tokyo University of Science, first developed the Kano model. It describes the five characteristics of product features and their impact on customer satisfaction, regardless of whether they are met or not.

These five characteristics are:

• Basic features/benefits
• Performance features/benefits
• Enthusiasm features/benefits
• Rejection features/benefits
• Insignificant features/benefits

The Kano model therefore counters the often widespread belief that improvements to product features also lead directly to increased customer satisfaction. It also shows that some properties and features of a product have a disproportionately greater influence on customer enthusiasm than others.

But in addition to categorizing the features, the Kano model also provides an insight into how these different features affect customer satisfaction and how…