Japanese and California Kano models

The Kano model offers a statistical approach to managing the development of a product or service based on an analysis of user preferences. The model was developed by Japanese professor Noriaki Kano in 1984 and represents five categories into which it is necessary to distribute all the key properties of the product. The further strategy (which properties should be developed and which should be excluded) is based on the category to which the specific property was assigned by the potential target audience. This model can be called classic or Japanese.

Moreover, there is a radically different approach, also called the Kano model. It includes only three categories, not five. It can be called a California or start-up approach. And this is not just a gross simplification, as it might seem at first glance, this approach also has its own, quite reasonable ideas.


(The Sushi California Japanese Restaurant 128 University Ave. W. Windsor Ontario N9A 5N9 (519) 258-0806 image by michael)

In order to understand the Kano model, first of all, you need to understand the categories of which it consists. It is quite simple.

5 categories of the Kano model

Attractive properties - characteristics, qualities, features of a product or service, the presence of which causes the client satisfaction, joy, delight, and lack - is not noticed. These are the qualities that the client usually does not expect to receive, but is pleasantly surprised to discover their presence.

For example: the ability to charge a mobile phone in a taxi, delicious coffee at a gas station, expensive and high-quality shampoo in the gym shower.

Such qualities are aimed at ensuring that the client returns. These seemingly small improvements, if they are supported by the good quality of the main product or service, allow you to win the hearts of consumers and make regular customers out of them.

Competitiveproperties - qualities that attract the customer the more, the better they are presented, and vice versa, repulsive if they are poorly implemented.

For example: offering a service of the same quality, but at a better price or a larger quantity of goods for the same price. Better quality photos taken with a mobile phone or longer battery life.

Everything is quite simple here, as they say, as you drown, you rush. The development of competitive qualities is largely straightforward. You need to listen to user feedback, look at competitors and make the product better based on these observations.

Basic properties - are the exact opposite of attractive. The client takes the presence of such properties for granted, but in case of their absence will be unhappy.

For example: the ability to pay by card, salt / pepper / napkins on a table in a restaurant, a cleanly cleaned hotel room, a taxi served on time, and so on.

Unlike competitive properties, in the development of which you can and should focus on customer feedback, you need to approach the basic features of a product or service in a completely different way. Quality standards must be adopted , the observance of which management is obliged to monitor directlyrather than through user feedback. The application should start faster than in three seconds, the staff should be clean and tidy, the taxi driver must follow the rules of the road, the products in the restaurant should be fresh.

A typical management mistake, especially in application development, is the opinion that "we should focus [only] on user feedback." But if you apply this strategy with respect to basicproperties, then the quality of the product will always be poor. While in one place they are correcting what users have already complained about, in another there will be a new problem that will cause another wave of discontent. At the same time, solving problems will not lead to user satisfaction - they will simply stop complaining for a while. In order for a product or service to be perceived as quality, it is important to be able to proactively solve problems with its basic properties without waiting for negative feedback from customers.

Problems with basic qualities should be solved before the client pays attention to them.

Neutral properties - qualities, the degree of implementation of which does not cause any reaction of the client. These are the characteristics of the product in relation to which the client is indifferent.

For example: a financial system in a restaurant, a navigation system in a taxi, a database, or an application programming language.

Understanding neutral properties allows you to optimize a product or service. If something should be, but it is not important for the client, you can achieve that ensuring this property is as cheap as possible, or easy to maintain, or convenient for the company employees themselves, or all of this together.

Undesirable properties - qualities, the presence of which repels the client, "no, thank you."

For instance:too many functions and control buttons in a simple home appliance or application. Or an offer of an excessive amount of services: here is your burger, would you like a hookah, or maybe dance, or an instant photo, buy our souvenir products, let me read you a book out loud?

Obviously, you need to get rid of unwanted qualities. Sometimes you just need to remove the excess. But it happens that all parts of a product or service, in various combinations, seem to be needed, but all together there are too many of them. This situation leads to the need to rethink the whole concept of a product or service, and this is always a crisis.

Dynamics in the Kano model

It is worth noting that the various qualities of a product or service do not change their category, regardless of whether they are implemented well or poorly. Basic quality remains basic, and will not delight customers, even if we try beyond measure. You can even give the waiters a new uniform every day, expenses will skyrocket, but customers will not be touched at all. Of course, visitors will not complain about untidy staff, if only because all employees are dressed upright, but this will not increase the competitiveness of the business.

Also, competitive quality does not turn into attractive, just because it is provided to a greater extent than others. Yes, the best level of service is an advantage, and you should always strive to increase it. But in the Kano model, competitive quality is what the customer expects. This means that such quality will not be a pleasant surprise for the client, will not go into the category of attractive properties.

Over a long distance, of course, changes are taking place. In the middle of the last century, the presence of a radio in a car was an attractive quality. Agree, driving and listening to the radio is amazing. Especially if none of your friends have this. But after years, the presence of a car radio in the car has become a basic quality , this is normal, this is progress.

What can translate a product property from one category to another is its qualitative, not quantitative, change. Any car should have headlights, but if all car manufacturers put incandescent lamps, and someone started using xenon lighting, this is a qualitative difference. Like night and day.

Japanese Model

The original Kano model, of course, considers all five categories. The approach implies that a list of several dozen product properties will be compiled, according to which a study will be conducted within its target audience. Further, it is quite clear that product properties that fall into the category of competitive qualities need to be developed, and neutral properties should be saved and so on.

The Japanese model is well suited for an established product or service, when in general there is a good understanding of the mutual expectations between the business and the client. Cafes, restaurants, pharmacies, hairdressers, website development, outsourcing, cars, irons, kettles, televisions, mobile phones and so on. In all these areas, it is quite reasonable to apply the full Kano model. But there are situations where this approach may be excessive.

California Model

A startup model considers only three categories: basic , competitive, and attractive properties.

Neutral and unwantedproperties are not taken into account for obvious reasons. Startup involves the creation of an innovative product, something that no one has ever done. And unlike classical products, the expectations of which are well known, it is far from easy to understand in advance what specific quality is superfluous and undesirable . Also, neutral quality, the purpose of the definition of which is to optimize the production, service and development, too, do not stand in the foreground. For a startup, the main thing is to establish itself in the market, to declare itself. And optimization issues can be dealt with later, when the cannonade of the first breakthrough subsides and the smoke clears.

It is noteworthy that in the startup model it is not recommended to try to realize all the basic qualities from the very beginning, even if they are well known. Instead, at least one attractive property should be provided . This has its own logic. Startup resources are always limited. It is impossible to immediately realize all the ideas. Something needs to be done first, but something will have to be postponed. And if you start only with basic or competitive qualities, a startup will always lose to established solutions that exist on the market. At first it will be just a bad product, and then ... then it may not come. In a startup situation, it is important to offer a cherry on the cake, even if the cake itself is not there.

If you decide to come up with another chat application, of which there are many now, and start to implement it with basic things like emoji and sending pictures, this will not interest anyone, because there are already much better solutions. But if you start with a new, fresh idea, for example, to promise complete confidentiality of communication through encryption, it may seem interesting to someone. Yes, while the application may not have many familiar functions, and users will complain about it. But in this way you can capture your audience, and basic things will increase over time.

Conclusion

Both Kano models make sense when they are used in suitable conditions. For the startup, the California model is more suitable, and for the successful product, the Japanese one. It is important to be able to distinguish whether a business conducts innovative developments or provides a classic, well-established service. Of course, the situation may change. Over time, a startup can “grow up”, and then it will be more reasonable to replace its model with a Japanese one. Also, a classic product can go into the stage of innovation, in which the California model may be more reasonable.

Of course, the Kano model is not the only possible one, and certainly not the most popular one. But behind this concept there are several interesting ideas that may prove useful, even if other approaches are used in the work.

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Dmitry Mamonov,
Wrike