What makes digital products go from 'good', to 'great', and then 'really, really great'? Check out the Kano Model, a framework that identifies the three things to watch for every time we build something for our users. How do we turn our digital products into unique offerings in the marketplace? The Kano Model has an answer for that! Presented at WordCamp Toronto (October 3-4, 2015).

1. Jesse Emmanuel Rosario @jemrosario
Delightful Design with the Kano Model

2. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• User Experience Specialist,
Analy3cal Engine Interac3ve, Inc.
(Toronto, ON)
About Me
@jemrosario
#WCTO
SLIDES HERE:
http://ow.ly/SWLQq

3. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
PHOTO BY
Aaron Vincent Elkaim
(THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Suppose you were flying home for the holidays…

4. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
Hi! I’m Mary from (airline carrier).
You told us through Twitter that you’re
flying with us today. So we got you a little
surprise to wish you a lovely holiday!

5. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
What would you feel if your were
treated to this kind of surprise?
Awed
Surprised
Entertained
Amazed
Delighted
KLM Happy Holidays Flight

6. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
KLM Surprise (2010)
PR Campaign
Boondoggle Amsterdam

7. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
KLM Surprise (2010)
“Over 1,000,000 impressions on
Twitter alone. And a Cannes Lions
Award for PR”

8. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
FACT:
Designers and developers
haven’t been talking about
delivering delight to our users
because...
…we’re really just trying not to make
that last website we built… suck L

9. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
electrifying>mes.com
(From Buzzfeed’s “20 Hilariously Terrible Corporate Websites”)
• Our design standards
hinged on making sure
that things are
func>onal, reliable
and rela3vely usable.
For as long as it gets
the job done – i.e.
“Let’s have a
website!” – it was
good.

10. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
But things have
changed…
tswi(na+on.tumblr.com

11. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
functional
reliable
usable
functional
reliable
usable
pleasurable
OLD WORLD
(“survival mode”)
NEW WORLD
(delivering delight)
Aarron Walter, Designing for Emotion (2011)

12. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
So how do we deliver such
‘delight’ to our users?
TODAY’S AGENDA:
– Overview of the Kano Model
– Using the Kano Model
– #KanoProblems
– Alterna3ve Ways to Use the
Kano Model

13. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• A theory of customer sa3sfac3on that
iden3fies the three types of product
a_ributes and the investment involved
in building them.
• Published in 1984, Journal of the
Japanese Society for Quality Control
The Kano Model
Noriaki Kano

14. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
DELIGHT
DISGUST
POOR
EXECUTION
AMAZING
EXECUTION
Satisfiers

15. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
Sa>sfiers are oden your most explicitly stated, “desired” quali3es.
The more these desired quali3es are on the product, the happier customers are.

16. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
DELIGHT
DISGUST
POOR
EXECUTION
AMAZING
EXECUTION
Satisfiers
Basic Expectations
“Add a basic feature, nobody
notices. But take them away, well
then everyone loses their minds!”

17. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• sss
Price???
Add to Cart???
[screams internally]

18. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
BOTTOM LINE:
Don’t mess
with basic
expecta>ons.
They may not generate
a lot of delight when
you have them. But lose
it, and your users will go
frustrated.
Photo by Chuck Coker (Flickr)

19. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
DELIGHT
DISGUST
POOR
EXECUTION
AMAZING
EXECUTION
Satisfiers
Basic Expectations
Exciters/
Delighters

20. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
Delighters are your excitement generators. They bring the WOW
factor into your product and set you apart from the compe33on.
Slack’s
visual design
and super friendly
microcopy
Balsamiq’s Help Items
(dinner suggestions, play
background music,
UX & design resources)
In-car GPS

21. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
Great!
So how do we
use it?! J

22. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• STEP 1: Ask the Kano Ques>on Pair
Using the Kano Model
Func>onal Form
Adapted from Mike Cohn, Agile Estimating and Planning (2005)
How would you feel
if (product) had
(feature X)?
Dysfunc>onal
Form
How would you feel
if (product) did not have
(feature X)?

23. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• STEP 1: Ask the Kano Ques>on Pair
Using the Kano Model
Func>onal Form
Adapted from Mike Cohn, Agile Estimating and Planning (2005)
How would you feel if
elec:ons.ca had a
‘Find My Polling Sta:on’
tool/service?
I like it
I expect it
I’m neutral
I can live with it
I dislike it
Dysfunc>onal
Form
How would you feel if
elec:ons.ca did not have a
‘Find My Polling Sta:on’
tool/service?
I like it
I expect it
I’m neutral
I can live with it
I dislike it
X
X

24. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• STEP 2: Analyze all responses
M – must-haves
(i.e. basic expecta3ons)
L – linear (i.e. sa3sfiers)
E – exciters
I – indifferent
R - reverse
Q - ques3onable
Using the Kano Model
(The feature
being analyzed)
Dysfunc>onal
Ques>on
Func>onal
Ques>on
Adapted from Mike Cohn, Agile Estimating and Planning (2005)
Like
Expect
Neutral
Live With
Dislike
Like
Expect
Neutral
Live With
Dislike
Q E E E L
R I I I M
R I I I M
R I I I M
R R R R Q

25. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• STEP 2: Analyze all responses
M – must-haves
(i.e. basic expecta3ons)
L – linear (i.e. sa3sfiers)
E – exciters
I – indifferent
R - reverse
Q - ques3onable
Using the Kano Model
FEATURE:
Find my polling
sta3on on
elec3ons.ca
NOT AVAILABLE
AVAILABLE
Adapted from Mike Cohn, Agile Estimating and Planning (2005)
Like
Expect
Neutral
Live With
Dislike
Like
Expect
Neutral
Live With
Dislike
Q E E E L
R I I I M
R I I I M
R I I I M
R R R R Q

26. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• STEP 2: Analyze all responses
M – must-haves
(i.e. basic expecta3ons)
L – linear (i.e. sa3sfiers)
E – exciters
I – indifferent
R - reverse
Q - ques3onable
Using the Kano Model
FEATURE:
Find my polling
sta3on on
elec3ons.ca
NOT AVAILABLE
AVAILABLE
Adapted from Mike Cohn, Agile Estimating and Planning (2005)
Like
Expect
Neutral
Live With
Dislike
Like
Expect
Neutral
Live With
Dislike
Q E E E L
R I I I M
R I I I M
R I I I M
R R R R Q

27. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• STEP 3: Tally all responses to see which product features/
func>onali>es really maWer to your users.
Using the Kano Model
Feature/
Product
Require-
ment
E L M I R Q Total
Winning
Category
‘Find
My
Polling
Station’
10 3 8 2 - - 23 E
Adapted from Nitesh Verma (Xserve Consulting),
http://www.slideshare.net/niteshv/kano-model-for-customer-needs

28. this thing is just too involved…
P R O B L E M
I don’t have the time. “User Research” is expensive. The product is simple enough to
not warrant “user research”. We have bigger problems than what users want.
We’re too busy for this sort of work. Users are stupid… let them figure it out!

29. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
#KanoProblems
It’s a survey for heaven’s sake! :-

30. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
#KanoProblems
15 respondents
(by the way, the image is Toronto’s
dearly beloved ‘Lovebot’)
1 survey =
10 ques3ons
1 ques3on =
2 answers

31. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
#KanoProblems
15 respondents
150
ques3ons to answer
300
responses to analyze

32. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015

33. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
Three ways the Kano Model
can be useful to you beyond its
traditional usage
a.k.a. How the Kano Model has helped me do my job well… er, better.

34. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• Come up with a working feature
list to:
– Iden3fy the product
a_ributes/capabili3es you
would like to see in the final
product.
– See which might be a
delighter, sa3sfiers, and
basic expecta3on
Build a Working Feature List
Image from Leah Buley’s “The User Experience Team of One” (Rosenfeld Media, 2013)

35. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• Compare and contrast
your compe33on’s
product offering.
• Refer back to your
feature list and then
cross out features that
may be bad news for
you.
Competitive Analysis

36. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• Use your best judgment on which features are exciters,
sa3sfiers and basic expecta3ons.
• Back this up with user research (e.g. Kano survey, user
interviews, secondary research) to build a solid case for the
inclusion of this feature in the feature list.
Prioritize the Feature List

37. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
Images from Leah Buley’s “The User Experience Team
of One” (Rosenfeld Media, 2013)

38. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
Resources are limited;
Users prefer simplicity
R E M E M B E R
“Users almost always prefer a simple product with fewer
features executed extremely well over a feature-bloated
product with a lot of capabilities that are executed only
marginally well.”
Leah Buley (@ugleah)
Principal Analyst, Customer Experience at Forrester Research
Author, The User ExperienceTeam of One (Rosenfeld Media, 2013)

39. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
To End…
• The Kano Model helps
us iden3fy a product/
service’s exciters,
sa>sfiers, and basic
expecta>ons.
• Formal applica3on:
Kano survey + analysis
• Informal applica3on:
Feature ‘thinking’ and
strategizing

40. WordCampToronto 2015 | October 3-4, 2015
• Differen3a3on and innova3on happen at the delighter level.
• Over 3me, however, the delighter becomes the new normal
and eventually, basic expecta>on.
• Customer needs change.
Watch out for this and pivot
accordingly.
To End…

41. Jesse Emmanuel Rosario @jemrosario
Delightful Design with the Kano Model
Thank
you! ;-)