Prioritizing Your Roadmap Items by Delighting your Customers – Part 1

How to prioritize roadmap elements based on customer delight against feature investment using the Kano Model.

Starting to work on new products can be exciting and motivating. The product team is very enthusiastic about the ideation and brainstorming sessions. Everyone has fresh and innovative ideas to make this product succeed. But the list of elements to consider for development grows and grows.

Then, you start wondering what things should the team build first, what features are most important to start with. Apart from that, you start asking yourself which of all these roadmap elements will bring value to customers and which ones will be a financial disaster for the company.

Prioritizing elements in a roadmap can be very challenging, but it does not have to always be this way. There are many prioritization frameworks, but one that I would love to write about today is the Kano Model.

First things first, what’s Kano Model?

The Kano model is a product development and customer satisfaction framework developed by Dr. Noriaki Kano in the 1980s. It helps businesses analyze and categorize customer preferences based on features and attributes of a product or service.

For example, it can be used by product teams to determine which features will satisfy and delight customers. Product managers group potential new features into categories, ranging from those that could disappoint customers to those likely to satisfy or even delight them.

Kano Model or Customer Delight vs. Features Investment

The 5 attributes of the Kano Model

According to the model, there are five types of product attributes that affect customer satisfaction:

1. Basic or Dissatisfiers: These are essential features that customers expect to be present in a product or service. When these features are missing or poorly implemented, they immediately lead to customer dissatisfaction. But just having or covering all of them, doesn't assure that customers will be super happy.

2. Performance or Satisfiers: Usually these are the features customers explicitly ask for and directly impact customer satisfaction. The more a product excels in these attributes, the more satisfied the customers become. It's like the key differentiator that makes a product stand out and keep customers smiling.

3. Excitement or Delighters: These are unexpected or innovative features that surprise and delight customers. They often go beyond customer expectations and create a positive emotional response in them. These attributes can create a strong emotional connection and turn customers into loyal fans.

4. Indifferent: These are attributes that neither enhance nor diminish customer satisfaction. Customers do not perceive them as significant factors and are generally neutral towards them. Sometimes, barely noticed

5. Reverse or Frustrators: These attributes have the opposite effect of what is intended. They can actually make customers unhappy and frustrated, lowering customer satisfaction significantly, yet their absence does not necessarily increases it either.

Implementing Kano in your process

1. Identify Customer Needs: Start by understanding your target customers and their needs. Conduct market research, surveys, interviews or gather feedback to identify what features and attributes are important to them.

2. Create a Feature List: Make a comprehensive list of all the potential features and attributes that could be included in your product or service.

3. Categorize the Features: Using the Kano Model, categorize each feature into one of the five categories: Basic/Dissatisfiers, Performance/Satisfiers, Excitement/Delighters, Indifferent, or Reverse/Frustrators. Consider how each feature impacts customer satisfaction and whether it is expected, desired or even unexpected.

4. Prioritize Features: Analyze the categorized features and prioritize them based on their impact on customer satisfaction and business goals. Give special attention to the Performance/Satisfiers and Excitement/Delighters as they have the potential to differentiate your product and create customer loyalty.

5. Address Dissatisfiers: Ensure that the Basic/Dissatisfier features are present and functioning properly. Failing to meet these essential expectations can lead to significant customer dissatisfaction, so make sure you cover the basics.

6. Enhance Performance Attributes: Invest in improving the Performance/Satisfier features. Understand customer expectations regarding these attributes and aim to exceed those expectations. Enhancements in these areas can significantly boost customer satisfaction.

7. Innovate with Delighters: Consider incorporating Excitement/Delighter features that surprise and delight customers. These unexpected extras can create a memorable experience and generate positive word-of-mouth, enhancing customer loyalty.

8. Evaluate Indifferent Features: Review the Indifferent features and determine whether they are worth investing in. If they don't contribute significantly to customer satisfaction, consider reallocating resources to areas that have a more substantial impact.

9. Mitigate Frustrators: Identify any Reverse/Frustrator features and take steps to mitigate or eliminate them. These features can lead to customer dissatisfaction and should be addressed to avoid negative impacts on your product's reputation.

10. Iterate and Test: As you implement the Kano Model strategies, continuously gather feedback from customers. Monitor satisfaction levels and make adjustments based on the evolving needs and preferences of your target market.

When to use the Kano Model

While the Kano method can be a useful tool, it's important to keep in mind that there are some potential drawbacks to consider. For example, in order to use this method effectively, it's necessary to identify potential features ahead of time through market and customer analysis. This can make surveys more time-consuming and challenging for respondents. To mitigate these challenges, it's important to carefully consider the number and complexity of features included in any survey.

Consider using Kano when

• The Kano model is a useful tool for organizations working under tight deadlines as it can accelerate decision-making.

• Conducting Kano analysis does not require expert resources, making it ideal for organizations with limited resources.

• When a current product needs improvement or increased competitiveness, the Kano method can evaluate future options and provide clear choices to pick from.

• Kano can be used when organizations want to determine what product features will wow their customers and think outside of the box.

• The Kano Model can benefit businesses looking to release a Minimum Value Product (MVP) quickly and continue research to incorporate additional satisfiers or delighters.

Delighters and excitement will decay over time

The Kano categories of features, which include attractive, performance, and must-be features, are not fixed and can change over time. As Jared Spool said in a conference (video below), what was once considered an attractive feature can become a must-be feature as technological advancements and new competitors emerge.

Do you remember when the iPhone did its first appearance back in 2007? Something that WOWed everyone was its fluid touchscreen interaction. From that they we expect that every smartphone behaves this way.

It’s not a delighter anymore, it’s must have.

So keep in mind that even though Kano is a valuable tool, yet it's not a one-time fix. Any analysis of these categories is only relevant to the current moment and may not hold true in the future. Customer preferences and expectations may change over time, so regularly reassessing and adapting your product based on their feedback is crucial for long-term success.

“Experiences that are delightful today, will be basic expectations tomorrow.”

— Jared Spool, Co-Founder CEO of Center Centre-UIE

Now that you know the basics of Kano, I’ll show you in the next part how to interpret the results of the Kano survey and measure those to align your roadmap items. Stay tuned!

The ultimate goal for UX is that users enjoy using your product

I’m ending the first part with this video from Jared Spool where he explains perfectly how to bring balance to the feature factory some companies face. You really need to watch this!