Redesigned the basic interface of the microwave to be more intuitive, user friendly and practical. informed by research and observation.
UI/UX Designer
User Researcher
Prototyper
Project Manager
Richard Wu
Azuna Ekundayo (Partially absent)
Adobe Xd
Autodesk Sketchbook Pro
1 Week
Adobe Creative Jam
Innovation often can start from seeing the world in a new way. Sometimes, there can be important problems existing in plain sight, but they go unseen or aren't investigated. This Creative Jam tasked us with taking another look at the everyday world around us and asking, are there are any new opportunities for innovation we can find?
In this case, we investigated the design of the microwave, and its often unintuitive design that you need to learn and get used to, rather then one which should be seamless and easy.
A microwave interface redux that increases intuitiveness, accessibility and as well as critical functionality to support easier and more seamless usage.
Using a dial rather then a keypad offers greater intuitive control for timing the microwave - Almost as easy to specify a specific time like a keypad, but also more tactile and easier to understand and use by feeling.
Reduction of the numerous standard and often unused settings just the power control, an important feature that is often ignored or unlearned. Controlled by a knob for intuitive use, learnable with other kitchen appliances.
Removing all barriers to cooking and heating food, allowing for fully intuitive usage of the microwave, especially for fast or every day usage, as well as for less precision and more intuition based cooking cultures.
This project lasted a full week and was open ended.
Notably the prompt of "redesigning a physical object" did not give us a definite problem, but rather a direction. A critical first step was to find a sufficiently significant opportunity for improvement.
We started with some desk research, brainstorming about possible avenues we could take, and interesting objects that we could investigate. We explored the space quickly and as nonjudgmental as we could be, coming up with many promising directions.
We reflected on our own experiences and thinking critically about how we interacted with the world and the design of the objects around us.
To focus down for insights and specific problems I did a deep dive into the usage of a microwave
I conducted interviews with users, especially those from a different demographic then me, and I sat down during lunch hours by Sheridan’s banks of microwaves, observing and sometimes asking about people’s experiences.
The vast majority of microwave users only care about cook time, and do not use any other functions. Many report that the other functions got in their way.
Usage is often more instinct and experience, and a function of trial and error. Setting a cook time is often habitual or arbitrary, and is still mostly intuition, especially for more feeling based cooking cultures.
The power setting is the most misunderstood function, but also has a large effect on quality of experience. For example, unevenly heated food is a power issue.
Armed with several good insights and a clear understanding of the problem space, I moved on to creating a new and improved experience. I started with brainstorming solutions and co-creating with users, and prototyped a solution using AdobeXd.
Almost everybody uses microwaves.
I drew on this expertise by co-creating with friends and family to help me nail the interactions to be as seamless and as intuitive as possible.
Some lessons include dial orientation - a vertical dial being the most neutral and can be operated by both left and right handed users, or the fact that touch screens were not preferable in the tactile, and often dirty and greasy environment of a kitchen.
I opted for a style that is in line with current industrial design practices and trends for kitchen appliances - Black finish and brushed steel.
Users preferred the stainless steel finish, stating that it would fit better in their current kitchens - They still preferred safe over trendy in terms of visual impact. Familiarity also adds to the usability by taking advantage of previous knowledge. If it looks like a microwave, its probably a microwave, even if it functions slightly differently.
Because this was a more physical interface, so I opted to use some animation features to bring my prototype to life, making the skeuemorphic design more compelling.
I was mindful of competition tools around auto animate tools and was sure to take advantage of those resources and opportunities to show off.
An overall challenge was learning and building new skills in an active environment. It was not the same as a classroom, but rather in an environment where performance was the standard, and learning is just a part.
I found that a couple of key strategies effective in helping me learn better:
Firstly is drawing connections and analogies with your background knowledge. You may not be familiar with the exact situation, but you may be familiar with a structurally similar situation that can help you get a leg up. For example, I have a working background familiarity with industrial design, as well as concept design/concept art - Using that knowledge helped me learn to build UI that reflected a physical product.
The second idea is operating on first principles. Understanding the actual nature of what you are doing or learning, in combination with background knowledge can help you intuit the fundamental ways the subject works or operates. For example, understanding the general first principles of how prototyping software works, layers, components, prototyping, screens, is helpful for prototyping tools in general - Figma and Xd today, or something new tomorrow. Same thing with animation - It probably worked based on a frame / keyframe system, like how most animation systems works. Working off that inference helps you learn.
Another major challenge and something else that I learned was how to deal with unfavourable constraints and how to maximize value for time spent. This project was originally meant for 3 participants, but we started with just me and my partner, who had to leave early on, leaving me alone to handle a 3 person challenge. I learned how to better triage my time and efforts in order to maximize the effectiveness of what I could reasonably do. One thing I learned and practised was in relation to my decision making - Understanding that sometimes decisions have to be made without all of the information, and that your process will have to be cut and triaged for the pieces that will be the most effective.
Speaking about decision making, time was a critical consideration to that. This project took place over the course of a week on top of school work. Time was a primary constraint and a scarce resource - spending it strategically and decisively was key.
What parts of the process do we go with, what parts can we afford to leave out? What type of research is most effective for the insights you need right now? Ethnography is useful for general exploration, observing problems, suited for this challenge to start.
What types of insights are the most significant to help you solve your problem? Getting real world observation of habits and usage beyond assumptions - actual behaviours, not just answers to questions from say a questionnaire would probably be the most useful.
How long should you spend on each part of the process? Well I don’t know the tools so developing would take a larger then normal amount of time, so compressing my iteration and relying on good enough and my own design sense rather then a fully rigorous process would be preferable - In my experience, often a complete, rounded and shipped good enough design is better then a perfect design that never ships.