Contrarian Kano?

Over the past several years, I have done quite a bit of work with clients that has used the Kano methodology.  For those of you who are not familiar with this method, it is designed to test the attractiveness of a potential product feature by testing the new feature in comparison against the status quo.  You can find out a bit more about the Kano method by going to this past of the website. 

Lately, for some different clients, we’ve developed a new twist on the Kano methodology.  I’ve taken to calling it the Contrarian Kano.  It is applicable for use when the introduction of one feature may result in some consequences that are less attractive, and you want to test for the down-side risks that are associated with those less attractive consequences.
 
How might such a situation develop?  We’ve seen two different models:

1. In one instance a client serves two different customer groups, and the proposed change will necessarily impact both groups – one groups positively and the other group negatively.  Testing the same feature in both groups allows us to assess the downside risk for Group A, which can then be rationally counter-balanced against the benefit to the Group B.
2. Another situation that warrants the use of a Contrarian Kano feature is with testing a possible side effect that is associated with the introduction of a new feature (e.g., the risk of injuries associated with deployment of a steering column air bag).  The Contrarian Kano feature tests the undesired consequences as a “feature” with the goal of determining the degree of aversion to the negative consequences.

​The implementation of the Kano proceeds identically to a normal Kano, with the feature presented in a straightforward fashion.  At the analysis stage, we focus on looking at the number of Reversals to determine the degree to which the negative feature is producing substantial push back from the target audience.