The Kano Model and the Importance of User Experience

“Quality Function Deployment,” or “QFD,” is a way of modeling business processes for good customer experiences. Sound like a lot of business jargon? Maybe it is, but it’s also very similar to something we in the interactive space are reinventing and rediscovering as “User Experience Design.” QFD was developed in the ’70’s and ’80s and continues to be refined today. I’ve been studying QFD a bit recently and found a wealth of good ideas for the RIA space.

QFD aims to find the best way to create good customer experiences. Through its well-defined process, QFD takes real customer goals and translates them into real process requirements. I was amazed by how much overlap there is between QFD and our design and development process here at EffectiveUI, though QFD certainly is more formalized.

I’d like to focus this post on one study QFD adapted for its purposes focused on requirements. The research team examined the requirements businesses produced for their projects and identified three main categories: normal requirements, expected requirements and exciting requirements. Understanding the differences in these types of requirements really crystallized for me the importance of UX testing and why UX professionals are so valuable. The team was lead by one Professor Noriaki Kano, and so this model became known as the Kano model of product development and customer satisfaction. Professor Kano's team was not doing research for QFD itself, but the QFD institute has adapted his methods and uses this model in their larger view of customer satisfaction. This oft-referenced graphic sums up the model well:

Used with permission. For more information, please contact www.qfdi.org

Normal requirements are those we can find simply by asking users what they want. Most customers have a decent though imperfect understanding of these. Example: fast delivery of ordered food. UX professionals provide little value in uncovering these. These requirements have some impact on client satisfaction in both directions - they can both enhance and detract from it.

Expected requirements are basic needs users notice only when they are absent. Most of our clients understand these. Example: Coffee must be served hot. You don’t get any points for serving hot coffee, but you get complaints if it’s served cold. UX professionals often can’t identify these, but usually, they don’t have to. Often we’re brought in because some set of expected requirements are not being met, and our clients want to know the best way to fix that problem. These requirements have no ability to improve client satisfaction above a perceived baseline, but if they're missing, the experience is perceived negatively.

Exciting requirements are those essential elements users don’t think of because they exceed expectations. These requirements are the things that really delight users and produce great user experiences. These are requirements our customers are often are incapable of considering, and the place that UX professionals can provide the most value in defining. These requirements are the big win for customer satisfaction - they have the ability to greatly increase customer satisfaction if implemented properly.

Good UX professionals specialize in uncovering exciting requirements. While we’re also adept at defining normal requirements, our clients generally are better suited to determine expected requirements. As masters of their domain, they know what’s expected better than we do. As we bring our creative processes to bear, we’re able to uncover ways to wow and excite our clients’ users in ways they might not have.

In my opinion, this model is incredibly useful in understanding what it is we do and articulating to clients why it’s valuable. Clients often believe they know their customer bases better than we, the outside user experience firm. Kano confirms this; clients do know their customers - but that’s only half the battle (or maybe one-third of the battle). While knowing the customer helps you identify the normal and expected requirements, coming up with the exciting requirements takes out-of-the-box thinking that is extremely difficult for those too close to the customer base.

Understanding this distinction and clearly articulating it to your clients can help bridge the gap between your domain and theirs.

Read more from RJ Owen.