A novel integrated model to increase customer satisfaction

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel model encompassing the Kano model (KM), fuzzy theory, and Taguchi method (TM) to precisely define customer requirements and increase customer satisfaction. Therefore, the proposed model has the following capabilities: (1) defining the true requirements of customers, (2) quantifying customer satisfaction, (3) organizing possible solutions or proposals for products, and (4) analyzing product feasibility. In addition, we validated the proposed model with a case study of media player appearances, attempting to compare the design outcome of our proposed model, TM + fuzzy Kano model (TMFKM), with other models. A test session was attended by 32 students aged 16–18 who rated their experience with these media players. The results, analyzed by the ANOVA and Scheffe tests, show that the TMFKM is more suitable for product design than competing methods in enabling designers to precisely quantify user needs, analyze product feasibility, and increase user satisfaction.