13 May, 2021

What is the Kano Model? Project, Product, or Feature Prioritisation | Video


The more I give you, the happier you are. That’s the essence of the Kano Model. But it’s starting to be talked about a lot in Project Management circles, so what is the Kano Model?

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The Kano Model

The Kano model is a prioritization model. It helps you prioritize features or scope during the Definition Stage of your project, or for creating a Product Roadmap in an Agile project.

Created by Dr Noriaki Kano, professor of quality management at the Tokyo University of Science – in 1984

We use the Kano Model to identify which features to build. Especially when you have time, budget, or resource limitations.

  • What do we need?
  • What will make the product excellent?
  • And what will excite our users or customers?

The Kano Model determines if you’ll add them to a product backlog or roadmap.

The Kano Model adds to Your Toolset

Differs from tools like:

  • MOSCOW Analysis
    Musts – Shoulds – Coulds – Won’ts
  • RICE analysis
    Reach – Impact – Confidence – Effort

Prioritize features according to how much they are likely to satisfy and delight customers. Weigh this against implementation costs.

The Kano Model Process

  1. Identify potential features
  2. Weigh potential to satisfy your customers against the cost of implementation (Business Case)
    – Customer delight vs Implementation Investment
  3. Decide which of five categories each feature sits in
    – 3 that you should include and 2 that you should not
  4. Consult users and customers about these features 5 categories of Customer Satisfaction

According to the Kano Model: Features to include on your plan

  1. Threshold Attributes (Basic features)
    – what customers expect and would take for granted – cf Hygiene factors or ‘musts’)
  2. Performance Attributes (Satisfiers)
    – proportionate increase in customer satisfaction to investment
  3. Excitement Attributes (Delighters)
    – disproportionate increase in customer delight (cf Motivators) – Wow factor creates fans

And Features to eliminate from your plan:

  • Indifferent features (customers don’t care about them)
  • Dissatisfaction features (customers don’t want them)

Over time, people start to treat innovation as another basic need, and the graph moves down.

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What Kit does a Project Manager Need?

I asked Project Managers in a couple of forums what material things you need to have, to do your job as a Project Manager. They responded magnificently. I compiled their answers into a Kit list. I added my own. 

Check out the Kit a Project Manager needs

Note that the links are affiliated.

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Mike Clayton

About the Author...

Dr Mike Clayton is one of the most successful and in-demand project management trainers in the UK. He is author of 14 best-selling books, including four about project management. He is also a prolific blogger and contributor to ProjectManager.com and Project, the journal of the Association for Project Management. Between 1990 and 2002, Mike was a successful project manager, leading large project teams and delivering complex projects. In 2016, Mike launched OnlinePMCourses.
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