SC QUALITY GUILDKano model analysis
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Enter each respondent’s functional and dysfunctional answers for each feature to classify the features with the Kano evaluation table, count the categories and plot better and worse coefficients.
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The Kano categories
Noriaki Kano's model says customer requirements do not all affect satisfaction the same way.
- Must-be (basic, expected): absence causes strong dissatisfaction, presence is taken for granted.
- One-dimensional (performance): satisfaction rises with how well it is delivered. The more the better.
- Attractive (delighter, exciter): not expected, so absence causes no complaint, but presence delights.
- Indifferent: customers do not care either way. Reverse: customers would rather not have it. Questionable: the answers contradict each other.
Categories drift over time: today's delighter becomes tomorrow's must-be.
The questionnaire and the evaluation table
Each feature gets a functional question (how do you feel if it is present?) and a dysfunctional question (how do you feel if it is absent?), each answered on the same five-point scale: like, must-be, neutral, live with, dislike. The pair is classified with the evaluation table published by Berger and colleagues in 1993, shown in the tool. Like with dislike gives One-dimensional, must-be, neutral or live with paired with dislike gives Must-be, and like paired with must-be, neutral or live with gives Attractive. Each feature's category is the most frequent one across respondents.
Better and worse coefficients
The customer satisfaction coefficients (Berger et al.; Timko) summarize a feature in two numbers, using only the A, O, M and I answers:
- Better = (A + O) ÷ (A + O + M + I), from 0 to 1: how much having it raises satisfaction.
- Worse = −(O + M) ÷ (A + O + M + I), from 0 to −1: how much lacking it causes dissatisfaction.
Plotting better against the absolute value of worse puts each feature in a quadrant and shows when a mode category hides a split.
On the CSSGB exam
Expect to classify a requirement from a description, match the curve shapes to the categories, and know that must-be needs are rarely voiced, so surveys and complaints miss them. Kano feeds the CTQ tree and QFD.
Common questions
What are the Kano model categories?
Must-be (basic) features cause dissatisfaction when missing but no extra delight when present. One-dimensional (performance) features satisfy in proportion to how well they are delivered. Attractive features (delighters) please when present and are not missed when absent. Indifferent features make little difference either way, and reverse features annoy some customers. Contradictory answers are classed as questionable.
How does the Kano evaluation table work?
Each respondent answers two questions about a feature: how they would feel if it were present (functional) and if it were absent (dysfunctional), each on the same five-point scale from like to dislike. The pair of answers points to one cell of the evaluation table, which gives that respondent's category. The category chosen most often is the feature's classification.
What are the better and worse coefficients?
Better = (A + O) / (A + O + M + I) shows how much satisfaction the feature can add; Worse = −(O + M) / (A + O + M + I) shows how much dissatisfaction leaving it out would cause. A, O, M and I are the counts of attractive, one-dimensional, must-be and indifferent answers. Plotting the two places each feature in a quadrant.
How many customers should I survey?
Enough that the category counts are stable. With a small group, two categories can be close; treat a near tie as uncertain and ask more customers before deciding, especially when the call is between must-be and one-dimensional.