KANO model survey designer Alternatives

Have you ever experienced this: your team spends lots of time developing new features, but after launch, user feedback is ice-cold? Or product managers and developers argue fiercely about which feature matters more?

Actually, behind all these problems points to one core thing—do we really understand what users want?

This is when you need the KANO model. It's a really practical way to analyze needs, helping you figure out: which features users feel they must have, which features done well will surprise users, and which features nobody actually cares about.

And SurveyMars, as the overseas brand of "Wenjuanxing," lets you easily design and run KANO model surveys, making complex analysis simple. In this article, I'll walk you through what the KANO model is, and how to use SurveyMars to do good KANO surveys.

What Is the KANO Model?

The KANO model is a tool for classifying needs, developed by Japanese professor Noriaki Kano, used to analyze the relationship between product features and user satisfaction.

The core idea of this model is: not all features bring the same satisfaction. Some features, when done, users feel they're expected; some features, when done, users are especially surprised; and some features, when done, users don't care at all.

The KANO model divides needs into five categories:

Basic Needs: Features users feel are.For example, phonesshould make calls, cars should drive. If these features are done well,users won't be especially satisfied, but if not done well, users will beparticularly unhappy

Performance Needs: Features users explicitly want. Thebetter you do them, the more satisfied users are; if done poorly, usersare dissatisfied. Like phone camera quality, battery life

Excitement Needs: Features that can surprise users.Users didn't expect them, but once they have them, they're especiallyhappy. Like phone face unlock, AirPods' auto-popup pairing

Indifferent Needs: Features users simply don't careabout. Doing them or not makes no difference

Reverse Needs: Features that, when done, actuallyannoy users. Like forced ads, pre-installed apps that can't be deleted

Why Is the KANO Model So Important?

Many product teams, when making decisions, either go by gut feeling, or listen to whoever talks the loudest. The result is resources wasted on features nobody uses.

Helps You Spend Money Where It Counts

I have a friend who runs a skincare business. Originally she planned to put all her budget into packaging design. Later, using SurveyMars to run a KANO survey, she discovered users cared most about natural ingredients (that's basic), were also sensitive to shipping speed (that's performance), and packaging just needed to be simple and clean. What actually surprised users was the free samples included with orders (that's excitement).

Then she adjusted her budget, focusing on ingredients and logistics, preparing more samples. And what was the final result? Sales increased by 15%.

See, the KANO model is like a map, showing you where to invest your resources.

Avoid Doing Useless Things

The KANO model has another benefit: it helps you find features that are useless even if done. Some needs look important, the team discusses them for several rounds and all feel they should be done, but users simply don't care. If you can discover this early and give up early, the time and money saved can go toward more valuable things.

How to Use SurveyMars to Run a KANO model survey?

Okay, the principles are clear, now let's jump into the practical stage.

Step 1: List Candidate Features

Don't rush to design the questionnaire. Sit down with your team and list every feature you can think of.

Where can these features come from?

Needs mentioned in user interviews

New ideas from team brainstorming

Features discovered through competitoranalysis

Problems often mentioned in userfeedback

Organize the list well, and later design the questionnaire around these features.

Step 2: Design the KANO Questionnaire

KANO questionnaires have this characteristic: for each feature, you need to ask two questions—positive and negative.

For example, if you're asking about the feature "phone supports face unlock":

If the phone supports face unlock, howwould you feel?

If the phone does NOT support faceunlock, how would you feel?

Options usually have five:

I like it

I expect it

I'm neutral

I can tolerate it

I dislike it

SurveyMars has ready-made KANO questionnaire templates. You just select the template, replace the questions with your own. No need to start from scratch, it's quite convenient.

When designing, pay attention to keeping the tone neutral, don't lead users. For example, don't ask "Don't you like face unlock?"—that already hints at the answer.

Step 3: Distribute the Questionnaire to Collect Data

After the questionnaire is designed, the next step is to send it to users to fill out.

SurveyMars supports multi-device filling, both mobile and computer. You can generate a QR code from the questionnaire link, send it in user groups, or put it in the product community.

When collecting data, pay attention to sample size. Generally speaking, each target group ideally has at least 30 valid questionnaires for the results to have reference value.

Step 4: Analyze Results, Categorize Needs

After collecting the data, it's time to start categorizing. SurveyMars will automatically help you do this.

The logic of categorization is based on users' answers to the positive and negative questions, comparing them to a standard table to determine which category each feature belongs to.

For example, if a user's answer to "supports face unlock" is:

Positive answer: I like it

Negative answer: I dislike it

Then this feature, for this user, is a Performance Need.

After tallying all users' answers, see which category has the highest proportion, and this feature goes into that category.

Step 5: Use Better-Worse Coefficients to Prioritize

Within the same category, there might be several features. Which one to do first? This is when you need to calculate Better-Worse coefficients.

Better coefficient: This indicates, if you do thisfeature, how much satisfaction can be increased. The closer the value isto 1, the more obvious the improvement effect

Worse coefficient: That is, if you don't do thisfeature, how much will satisfaction decrease. The closer the value is to-1, the greater the impact

Plot these two coefficients on a chart, and you can clearly see where each feature sits:

First quadrant: Performance Needs,very high priority

Fourth quadrant: Basic Needs, must bedone

Second quadrant: Excitement Needs, canmake good things even better

Third quadrant: Indifferent Needs, canconsider dropping

What to Do After Getting the Results?

Analysis is done, don't just leave the report sitting there. The value of the KANO model lies in guiding action.

Basic Needs must be guaranteed. If these types of features aren'tdone well, users will leave directly

Performance Needs need continuousoptimization. This iswhere you compete with rivals; the better you do them, the more satisfiedusers are

Excitement Needs invest appropriately. Can be used to create surprises,improve口碑，but don'tspend too many resources

Indifferent Needs simply cut them out, don't waste time on things usersdon't care about

Using SurveyMars to run KANO surveys doesn't just help you understand users more clearly, but also lets the team argue less and do more.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Which product stage is the KANO model suitable for?

A: It can be used in the new product planning stage, to determine which features the MVP needs to include. For existing product iterations, it can also be used to evaluate the priority of new features.

Q: Does SurveyMars have KANO templates?

A: Yes, it does. Just pick the KANO template, replace the example questions with your own. No need to design the format yourself, saves time and effort.

Q: If every feature needs both positive and negative questions, won't the questionnaire be too long?

A: It might be a bit long. It's recommended not to test too many features at once, within ten is more suitable. SurveyMars can set up a progress bar, so users can see how many questions are left, making them more patient to finish.

Q: How much sample size is enough?

A: At least 30 copies; the more, the more accurate. If there are multiple user groups, each subgroup ideally has at least 30 copies.

Q: How should the Better-Worse coefficients be used?

A: Mainly used for situations like prioritizing within the same category. The higher the Better value, the more it can increase satisfaction; the lower the Worse value (closer to -1), the more you absolutely must do it.