Design for Next Connected Appliances

Abstract

After a deep recession in 2009, home appliance manufacturing has evolved quickly, increasing sales and forecasting of a huge spread of Internet of Things connected products. Despite the potential of the IoT as a future scenario for the development of major home appliances, data collected on actual purchases seem to contradict the trend. Manufacturers justify this gap with the consumers' resistance to adopt new technologies and to change their habits. Nevertheless the consumer claims a lack of perceived benefits in connected appliances, showing strong concern about data transfer to third parties. Investigate user needs and focus on the environmental sustainability of products could solve this techno-stress, allowing the user to perceive the benefits. This paper aims to guide companies and designers, through the application of the Systemic Design approach, to change their goals, allowing them to achieve product innovation together with an environmentally conscious product design.

A Framework to Design Appliances for the Circular Economy Scenario

“…• project (kitchen) Flow 2 by studio Gorm (Studio Gorm, n.d.; Fiore, 2018) which considers the entire kitchen and uses some innovative solutions as the evaporative cooling fridge box; • project (kitchen) Green kitchen by Whirpool Design (2013) that through the connections among the elements permits saving up to 70% on energy bills; • project (kitchen) Larder part of the microbial home system by J.&W. Arndt for Philips where there is an evaporative cooler and a vegetable storage on the dining table (Domus, 2011;Fiore, 2018).…”

Exploring The Future of Data-Driven Product Design

“…balance the development of two design attributes: "I would like data to support my decision" (P32). This approach has been explored in 'transition products', where existing domestic appliances are fitted with sensors to inform future designs, particularly for usability and environmental sustainability [25].…”

“…There was a suggestion that data gathering outwith the device's desired functionality should only happen if there are specific questions that the design team is interested in investigating. Rather than sensorizing all manufactured devices, a subset could be instrumented as probes or transition products [25], as well as early iterations of product testing and prototyping [9].…”