Application of Kano method to life cycle design

Abstract

Market success is important, not only from the economical side, but also from the environmental point of view. A product which is made but not sold, and therefore not used by the consumer, is the most useless product there is. Therefore, methodical support is necessary to clearly identify the relevant customer requirements. One method capable of this is the Kano method, which is evaluated in this paper. For this, two surveys were carried out using a coffee maker as an example product: The first survey was a conventional Kano questionnaire and the second one was a modified and improved Kano questionnaire. To evaluate the results of both questionnaires, each was combined with a self-stated importance questionnaire. Finally, the results of the original and modified Kano method, as well as the self-stated importance method, were analyzed and compared to identify similarities and dissimilarities. It was found that the improved and modified questionnaire is a more effective and efficient way to identify even more polarized results.