Customer focus
Kano analysis: Growing your customer base ... from “Whoa” to “Wow”
by Diane Ritter and Michael Brassard
Kano Analysis is a systematic method to understand how a customer's sense of satisfaction is affected when a product or service succeeds or fails to meet either spoken or unspoken customer expectations. This approach was developed by Dr. Noriaki Kano of Tokyo Rika University. Dr. Kano's model is usually shown in the form of the Kano Diagram or the 3-Arrow Diagram: Expected Quality (the Whoa), One-Dimensional Quality (the Woo), and Attractive Quality (the Wow).
#1 - Expected Quality - Customer Must-Be's - Wow!Definition: The things that customers expect anyone in your business to deliver.
Customer actions: They are silent unless disappointed, then complain and/or just leave.
Example: ACME Bagels - Bagels are always available for sale; coffee is hot.
#2 - One-Dimensional Quality - Competitive Comparisons - Woo
Definition: The things that customers compare when choosing among competitors.
Customer actions: They notice changes or improvements, give compliments, then keep coming back, unless competitors outperform you.
Example: ACME Bagels - How often new bagel varieties are introduced; waiting time.
#3 - Attractive Quality - Customer Delighters - Whoa
Definition: The things that customers don't even think to expect from you AND would be thrilled if they got it from you.
Customer actions: They are blown away, they commit to staying around to see what cool things you'll come up with next and tell their friends to do the same.
Example: ACME Bagels - Emergency breakfast items available (e.g., juice, milk, eggs, bacon, butter). Free newspapers.
Kano's Four Beliefs
It's not a new idea to begin the process of designing a product or service with the needs and expectations of the customer in mind. However, Kano's work goes far beyond just drawing up a list of "Customer Requirements" and trying to meet or exceed as many of them as possible. His analysis is based on four key beliefs:
That unspoken expectations of customers are as important to understand as those that are clearly stated. Kano Analysis uncovers these expectation. That for some (not all) customer requirements, the better a product or service performs, the more satisfied a customer feels, and vice
versa. This is the "One-Dimensional" Quality that forms the diagonal line in the Kano Diagram...the "woo". These are the stated and
well-understood product "specifications" that customers use when comparing Product A and Product B. That there are some customer requirements that don't move in a straight line as in #2. The curve in "Must-be" requirements shows
that customers don't become more satisfied as the product meets their expectations, the "whoa". In this category they only notice (and
become dissatisfied) when it does NOT perform. Likewise, in the "Attractive Quality" curve, customers become VERY satisfied when they get
something in this category because they did NOT expect this performance at all. They're "delighted"...the "wow". When it's not there they don't become
dissatisfied since they did not expect it in the first place. That you can identify all three types of Customer Requirements (Must-Be, One-Dimensional & Attractive) through a carefully designed survey. In a Kano Method Survey, customers are asked how they feel when a requirement is met and how they feel when that same requirement is NOT met. (For an excellent introduction to the Kano Method survey read, Kano's Methods for Understanding Customer-defined Quality by David Walden, Center for Quality management Journal, Vol. 2, Number 4, Fall, 1993.) A Team Activity
Before heading into a Kano analysis, it's a good idea for a team to "think" about their customers and their wants, needs, and the "unexpected". Here are the steps:
1. Identify the process you're studying and record it at the top of a sheet of flip chart paper.
2. Brainstorm three key customers of that process and record them in the left-most column of a simple 4x4 matrix.
3. Identify 3 musts, 3 wants, and 3 wow's for each customer identified.
Example:2. Brainstorm three key customers of that process and record them in the left-most column of a simple 4x4 matrix.
3. Identify 3 musts, 3 wants, and 3 wow's for each customer identified.
Doing this kind of thinking before hand can guide a team in the kinds of questions they can ask customers on surveys or in focus groups. The team is now aware of the three levels of customer satisfaction. Knowing what level they are going for will help indicate how to gather the necessary data to understand the customers' needs.