Presentation: Delightful Design with the Kano Model
“First and foremost, I have to state that the Kano Model isn’t that new. It is a well-respected product development theory from the 1980s that has been used by various industries to build products that users would want. Since 2012, usability expert Jared Spool has been introducing the model to drive User Experience (UX) strategies and has been the subject of most of his keynote addresses one of which happened here in Toronto.
The concept of a ‘delighter’, ‘satisfier’, and a ‘basic expectation’ was so compelling to me that I wanted to find out how I can use it for my next UX project whenever that will be! That involved scavenging for the 1984 paper – which was in Japanese! – and assembling a working library on the Kano Model just to really understand how this thing works. There is a way to tease out delighters, satisfiers, and basic expectations! And Professor Kano does it in a very involved fashion – great for theory geeks like me.
Now, while we appreciate ‘researched’ ways to do, say, user research or usability analysis, I’ve noticed that they seldom consider some workplace realities such as limited time, limited budget, and objections to doing user research, among others. I want to show that the Kano Model can still be useful to you with or without a formal, rigorous user research process. That this model can help you conduct just enough research to build digital products that your users would want.”
What unique perspective are you bringing to this talk?
“We live in a time where innovation is at its white-heat peak, Lean UX is the entire craze, and doing ‘just enough research’ to power your next sprint is the order of the day. Despite the supposed ‘shrinkage’ in strategic work (a.k.a. the move from big, up-front design research to more iterative, lightweight ones) what really hasn’t changed is the desire to deliver the valuable thing that delights users.
This can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be this way. As digital media workers, our job, following The Beatles, is to “take a sad song and make it better”. We live to solve our clients’ and users’ problems and the best part of it is that we get to make the digital world a better place. So aside from me insisting that the digital pro’s theme song should be “Hey Jude”, I’d like this talk to be a mini-reminder of why we do what we do and that we share the same mission regardless of your job role – to make things better!”
What’s one really cool thing people will discover during your session?
“That the Kano Model can be used to bring digital products from ‘good’, to ‘great’, and then ‘really, really great’! It can also help structure your ideas around your digital products way before a formal user research process begins. You don’t need someone telling you, “Do user research now!” just to use this model. What you need is a mind that can be imaginative and aspirational but realistic enough to ground your cool ideas on reality (a.k.a. what your users really think).”
What are you most looking forward to at WordCamp Toronto?
“This is my first WordCamp and I’m participating in it as a first-time speaker. I’ve gotten some very great reviews about WordCamp the best of which is the friendliness of the Toronto WordPress community and the diversity of themes we’re willing to talk about – content, design, development, plugins, accessibility, favourite themes, business strategy, and community involvement. I look forward to meeting new people, seeing some friendly faces, and learning with everyone during those two days.”