SUMMARY
Purpose: The Kano Model helps prioritise features based on how they impact user satisfaction, enabling teams to make user-informed decisions about scope and roadmap.
Design Thinking Phase: Ideate
Time: 45–60 min session + 1–2 hours analysis
Difficulty: ⭐⭐
When to use:When planning or refining a product roadmapWhen prioritising new features or enhancementsAfter collecting feedback from user interviews or surveys
What it is
The Kano Model is a framework for categorising customer preferences into five buckets — Basic Needs, Performance Needs, Exciters, Indifferent, and Reverse — to assess how features drive satisfaction (or frustration). By evaluating features from the user's emotional lens, we can better align product scope with meaningful value.
📺 Video by NNgroup. Embedded for educational reference.
Why it matters
The Kano Model enables teams to avoid common prioritisation traps like stakeholder bias, over-indexing on competitive features, or simply investing in functionality that doesn’t resonate with users. It gives structure to the messy middle of roadmap planning, using data and emotion to identify what's truly valuable from the user's perspective.
When to use
- During roadmap definition or feature slicing for MVP
- When comparing competing user needs or team priorities
- As a sanity check during design handover to product or engineering
Benefits
- Rich Insights: Helps uncover user needs that aren’t visible in metrics.
- Flexibility: Works across various project types and timelines.
- User Empathy: Deepens understanding of behaviours and motivations.
How to use it
- List potential features or enhancements under consideration. These can be sourced from discovery research, user stories, stakeholder input, or technical opportunity.
- For each feature, run a pair of survey-style questions with target users — one framing their reaction if the feature exists, and one if the feature doesn’t. Use Kano-style phrasing: “How do you feel if this feature is present?” and “How do you feel if this feature is not present?”
- Assign response options: “I like it”, “It must be this way”, “I am neutral”, “I can tolerate it”, “I dislike it”.
- Cross-tabulate results to classify each feature into one of the five Kano categories: Must-have, Performance, Exciter, Indifferent, Reverse.
- Use this classification alongside effort/cost analysis to define feature priority in MVP vs. future releases.
Example Output
| Feature | Kano Category | Team Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Biometric login | Basic Need | Expected by all users — absence causes frustration. |
| Dark mode UI | Exciter | Delights some, irrelevant to others. Low effort, high impact. |
| In-app profile ratings | Indifferent | Users don't value nor dislike. Cut from MVP. |
Common Pitfalls
- Assuming without evidence: Don’t guess category placement — always source from real user feedback.
- Over-relying on exciters: Exciters are powerful, but only if core and performance needs are fully met.
- Analysing too late: Run Kano classification early, before build decisions lock in scope or resources.
10 Design-Ready AI Prompts for KANO Model – UX/UI Edition
How These Prompts Work (C.S.I.R. Framework)
Each of the templates below follows the C.S.I.R. method — a proven structure for writing clear, effective prompts that get better results from ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or any other LLM.
C.S.I.R. stands for:
- Context: Who you are and the UX situation you're working in
- Specific Info: Key design inputs, tasks, or constraints the AI should consider
- Intent: What you want the AI to help you achieve
- Response Format: The structure or format you want the AI to return (e.g. checklist, table, journey map)
Level up your career with smarter AI prompts.Get templates used by UX leaders — no guesswork, just results.Design faster, research smarter, and ship with confidence.First one’s free. Unlock all 10 by becoming a member.
Prompt Template 1: “Classify Features Using the Kano Model”
Classify Features Using the Kano Model
Context: You are a UX researcher preparing prioritisation insights after a concept testing round.
Specific Info: You surveyed [200+ target users] on [7 proposed feature ideas], using structured Kano-style questions.
Intent: Help the product team classify each feature into a Kano category for roadmap planning.
Response Format: Return a table showing Feature, Kano Category, and Short Rationale for each placement.
If any Kano response mappings are unclear, ask for raw data or source phrasing before continuing.
Then, suggest one follow-up method to validate category alignment with engineering feasibility.
Prompt Template 2: “Draft Kano Survey Questions for a New User Journey”
Draft Kano Survey Questions for a New User Journey
Context: You are a UX designer refining the onboarding journey for a health tracking app.
Specific Info: You want to test four new touchpoints: goal setting, reminder customisation, coach avatar, and community challenges.
Intent: Create Kano-style survey questions that can be tested with real users.
Response Format: Generate two paired questions for each feature — one assuming presence, one assuming absence.
Review for clarity and emotional framing. Then suggest a user-friendly visual layout for web/mobile testing.
Prompt Template 3: “Map Raw Survey Answers to Kano Categories”
Map Raw Survey Answers to Kano Categories
Context: You are an interaction designer reviewing voice-of-customer feedback from a quarterly survey.
Specific Info: You have five common feature-related comments per feature, with original sentiment phrasing.
Intent: Translate user language into Kano model categories to guide planning conversations.
Response Format: Output a table listing User Quote, Feature, and Mapped Kano Category.
If there are ambiguous quotes or sentiment, ask for context or offer multiple possible mappings.
Prompt Template 4: “Create a Kano Model Prioritisation Matrix for MVP Planning”
Create a Kano Model Prioritisation Matrix for MVP Planning
Context: You’re facilitating a MVP workshop for a multi-modal transport app.
Specific Info: Feature list includes [gesture-based ticketing], [AI route assistant], [safety zones], and [promo pass integration].
Intent: Help the cross-functional team rank them using Kano and technical effort.
Response Format: Return a matrix with Kano Category vs Effort vs Priority Score.
Recommend ways to visualise trade-offs and edge-case considerations.
Prompt Template 5: “Write Coherent Kano Findings for a Product Brief”
Write Coherent Kano Findings for a Product Brief
Context: You’re updating a strategic product brief to reflect recent UX research.
Specific Info: You’ve categorised 6 key features — 2 Must-haves, 2 Performance drivers, 2 Delighters.
Intent: Express these insights clearly for exec and product stakeholders.
Response Format: Provide a product brief excerpt summarising Kano outputs with implications.
Ensure tone is crisp and aligned with cross-functional decision making. Suggest quote snippets to support each takeaway.
Prompt Template 6: “Generate Hypothetical Kano Scenarios for Early Concept Testing”
Generate Hypothetical Kano Scenarios for Early Concept Testing
Context: You’re a design strategist storyboarding ideas before user research begins.
Specific Info: The product is a re-commerce app for gen Z users. Features include ethical sourcing tags and instant trade-in offers.
Intent: Create provocative Kano classification examples to help internal teams pre-align on feature value debate.
Response Format: Output short-writeups of pretend user feedback, each ending with likely Kano category.
Keep scenarios realistic but clearly marked as fictional. Suggest how each could be validated in actual interviews.
Prompt Template 7: “Summarise Stakeholder Bias vs Kano Reality”
Summarise Stakeholder Bias vs Kano Reality
Context: You are preparing a stakeholder readout after running a dual-track discovery on a new dashboard.
Specific Info: PMs pushed hard for 3 specific metrics widgets; Kano data shows users don’t find them helpful.
Intent: Reconcile business expectations and user signals using respectful, data-driven language.
Response Format: Draft a one-slide summary or email-friendly narrative comparing stakeholder goals vs user priorities.
Include language suggestions to frame difficult news constructively.
Prompt Template 8: “Prepare a Client Workshop Using Kano Model Outputs”
Prepare a Client Workshop Using Kano Model Outputs
Context: You are a service designer running a prioritisation workshop with a non-digital-first client.
Specific Info: You’ve already run Kano surveys on 10 service touchpoints.
Intent: Make Kano results visually digestible and actionable in an in-person Miro session.
Response Format: Suggest layout, activity script, and visuals for interactive conversation.
Include facilitation tips and one backup activity if data comprehension becomes a blocker.
Prompt Template 9: “Detect Competing Delighter Features and Recommend One”
Detect Competing Delighter Features and Recommend One
Context: You are a senior designer balancing value and effort for v2 of a user rewards system.
Specific Info: Three “exciter” features scored equally well via Kano: surprise badges, gamified leaderboard, and eco-donation unlocks.
Intent: Recommend one to pursue, based on clarity, delight potential, and strategic vision.
Response Format: Ranked feature comparison chart + single feature rationale.
List considerations like accessibility, localisation, and novelty fatigue.
Prompt Template 10: “Translate Kano Survey Plan for Non-UX Stakeholders”
Translate Kano Survey Plan for Non-UX Stakeholders
Context: You're presenting a user research plan to marketing and sales leaders.
Specific Info: Your next study will apply Kano model to validate product-market fit of 5 roadmap bets.
Intent: Convey the value of this method without technical jargon.
Response Format: Draft an executive summary slide and 3 FAQ bullets explaining why Kano is used.
Include tips for answering scepticism around emotional research methods.
Recommended Tools
- Optimal Workshop – supports survey logic and sentiment mapping
- Miro – ideal for laying out Kano quadrants interactively during workshops
- FigJam – collaborative space for post-survey analysis and feature clustering
- Survicate or Google Forms – for creating Kano-style question pairs quickly
