Kano Diagram Customer Needs

Kano diagram

Kano diagram of customer satisfaction  The

Kano diagram depicts the idea that one might consider customer satisfaction on a scale from disgusted to delighted.  If the product function is a good surrogate for  the customer need being considered, one could plot a 45^degree line, which would indicate the nominal supplied satisfaction for  any specification level of the function.  This line is known as   “one to one  quality” or  linear   quality”, the minimum expectation of  any new product development undertaking.

Kano diagram (contd) • One could also plot a lower curve that would indicate the minimum, basic level of satisfaction that a customer presumes must exist for the function implementation level. • This plot, known as   “basic performance,” represents assumed functionality that must be in the product. • It is expected and latent; if it does not exist in the product, the satisfaction of the customer will be greatly deteriorated. • One could plot an upper curve that would indicate the delighted state that a customer would hope to have for the function implementation level. • The delighted state is what a design team should strive for, to provide performance beyond what the customers expect, which delights them.

• These three states of satisfaction and the spectrum between them forms the background thinking behind customer needs. • There is a spectrum of customer satisfaction from disgust to delight that changes with increased implementation of functions. • The more product function implemented, the more the customer expects. • The message from the Kano diagram is simple yet profound. Customer expectations increase over time. It is therefore paramount to stay in touch with the customers and to understand their preferences.

Customer Populations • The customer is a statistical concept; there are numerous potential purchasers of a new product being designed. • The customer population is the set of persons whom we want to be purchasers of our new product. • The customer population is varied; different objectives for the product, operate the product in different environments and generally have different expectations. • There are different strategies a company might take to such diversity, offering a single product, forcing customers to be happy with that offering; permitting customization of features on the product. • One obvious way is to determine the average response of the customer population on any set of criteria and call this average the response of the average customer.

Type of Customer Needs Customer needs were classified based on how easy the customer can express and how rapidly they change. Direct needs: Needs

that customer have no trouble declaring as something they are concerned about. Latent needs: These

needs are not directly expressed by the customer without probing. Latent

needs are better characterized as customer needs, not of the product, but of the system within which the product operates.

Constant needs: 

These needs are intrinsic to the task of the product and always will be. When a product is used, this need will always will be.

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These needs are effective o examine with customer need analysis.

Variable needs: 

These needs are not necessarily constant: if a foreseeable technological change can happen, these needs go away.

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These needs are difficult to understand through discussions with customer.

General needs: 

These needs apply to every person in the customer population.

Niche needs: 

These needs apply only to a smaller market segment within the entire buying population.

Customer Need Models •

The statistical representation of the product customer needs in the desired result.

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This result can be as simple as a list of needs, as distilled from interviews from the customer.

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The resulting list might be augmented with importance weightings, determined through questionnaires with the importance of each need determined independently.

Conducting Interviews: Like/Dislike method   A team

member interviews the customers to describe what they like and do not like abut the product at their site of usage.

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During this process, more detailed questions may be asked to explore different facts of the product.

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 At the same time, a reasonable list of customer needs is developed.

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It is important when holding interviews to have the customers run through their process of using the product.

Some general hint for effective customer interaction 

Go with the flow

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Use visual aids

Have

the customer demonstrate

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Be alert for surprise and latent needs

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watch for non verbal information.

This method is quick and suitable for determining what features of a product are ready for redesign.

Like/Dislike data collection form