Objective Tagging: Kano Maps
Using Kano Maps to Build Love, Not Just Loyalty
Beyond Satisfaction Surveys: Using Kano Tagging to Build Love, Not Just Loyalty
In 1984 Japanese scholar Noriaki Kano rocked quality circles by proving that customer satisfaction is non-linear: fixing irritants stops churn, but delight comes from unexpected magic. The Kano Model formalised this into three categories:
- Must-Have (Basic) Attributes – Absence enrages; presence barely excites.
- Performance Attributes – More is better; linear satisfaction curve.
- Delighters (Exciters) – Surprise features that delight even in small doses.
Two additional categories—Indifferent and Reverse—exist but rarely consume roadmap resources. Tagging backlog items accordingly helps PMs avoid the common trap of chasing Delighters while Must-Haves rot, or shipping only basics until competitors steal hearts with delight.
I’m a big fan of a Kano map - it’s very rare that I don’t draw one at some point when talking to a CTO or CPO. Again, it’s more of a thinking tool, but the really important point is that if you don’t have the Must-Have’s, then the delighters are completely irrelevant! You can’t achieve Product/Market fit, or an MVP (remember V is for Viable) without hitting the must-haves).
Visualising the Curves
A traditional Kano graph plots feature investment (x) vs customer delight (y). Must-Haves stay low only until absent; Performance slopes linearly; Delighters spike early then plateau. Over time, delightful innovation becomes a basic need - this is both a benefit and a curse. Must haves create moats that competitors need to address, but the amount of complexity in our own solution necessarily increases over time as we need to sustain all the features. See also innovaton ambition matrix . for Innovators Dilemma.
Tagging Workflow
- Customer Research First – Use surveys (“functional + dysfunctional” questions) and interviews to categorise features.
- Create Exclusive Tag Group – Must-Have, Performance, Delighter.
- Set SLO Guard-Rails – Must-Have items tied to reliability KPIs; failure escalates capacity automatically.
- Delighter Budget – Cap Delighter spend unless NPS ≥ 40 and Must-Have SLOs are green.
Practical Examples
| Feature | Kano Tag | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Two-factor authentication | Must-Have | Absence triggers churn in enterprise buyers |
| Dashboard load time | Performance | Faster directly lifts CSAT curves |
| Confetti animation on goal completion | Delighter | Surprise joy; low incident risk |
Case Study: HealthTech App “WellBuddy”
2023: Team shipped gamified badges (Delighters) while appointment-reminder reliability (Must-Have) lagged at 85 %. Churn hit 9 %.
Fix: Introduced Kano tagging, triaged backlog. Must-Have SLOs hit 99.5 %; churn fell to 3 %. Delighters returned with measured budget once Basics stabilised, boosting NPS from 45 to 61 within two quarters.
Avoiding Anti-Patterns
- Delighter Frenzy – PMs over-index on shiny demos. Cure: No Delighters when any Must-Have SLA is red.
- Neglected Performance Ramps – Speed, accuracy, or choice range rarely go viral yet drive paying upgrades. Tag them visibly.
- Static Tags – Attributes drift; a Delighter often becomes a Must-Have (mobile check deposit, dark mode). Schedule annual recategorisation.
Integrating with Pricing Strategy
- Must-Haves dictate entry-level SKU competitiveness.
- Performance features ladder into tiered pricing.
- Delighters support premium or loyalty campaigns. Tagging clarifies which features justify upsell slides.
Board Conversations
“We’ve ring-fenced 25 % of next sprint to eliminate Must-Have SLA breaches—cheap insurance against churn. Only after that do we spend 10 % on Delighter animations tied to referral targets.”
The hierarchy is logical, visually enforced by tag allocations.
Key Takeaways
- Kano tagging prevents delight theatre by ensuring basics and performance ramps stay funded.
- As features commoditise, tags must evolve—RoadmapOne’s recategorisation history shows how expectations shift.
- Balanced Kano portfolios beat rivals twice: fewer defections, more love.