GRUNDIG SLIDE

INTUITIVE MICROWAVE OVEN CONCEPT

EASY & CONVENIENT

Award

2014 iF Design Award, Design Concept

CONCEPT DESIGN

2014

 

 

OVERVIEW

WHEN YOU SEE IT, YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO.

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Who doesn’t like sliders? Don’t you feel fancy when you see a well-built, sleek bit of slider in a product? Well… We admit that we’re fans of slider controls. Because a slider can be regarded as one of the best control system for its simplicity and the level of expertise.

 

In the past, our design team has been involved in many microwave oven projects. While conducting market and user researches on microwaves, we noticed that the big majority of the existing products in the market have vast numbers of buttons, knobs, displays, printings which, in the end, results in a user interface as complicated as a Boeing 747 : )

DESIGN

USER-CENTRIC CONTROL PANEL DESIGN FOR DIFFERENT PRODUCT LEVELS

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The findings of our market research and UX studies led us to the conclusion that many microwave users just set the temperature and time functions while operating the product and many of the other functions remain untouched. At this point, our design team decided to bring a totally novel, and “intuitive” approach to simplify the controls on the oven. We have developed 3 concept forms of control panels with 2 sliders in each: one for the temperature and another one for the time. What you need to do is to simply set your desired values for them by sliding them into to position and the counter will start counting back to their original stage.

 

After successfully deploying the interaction mapping, our design team went further and developed a product strategy by creating three layers of positioning: GOOD, BETTER and BEST. The model GOOD have control system through the usee of mechanical switches, while in the BETTER and BEST versions, they are made of touch sliders. The BEST model even has an APP for enhanced UX and usability. Finally this new intuitive approach in microwave ovens received the prestigious iF Design Award for its unique design!

MODEL 1: GOOD

There are two knobs sliding on a slim rail.

The time and heat function is marked on control panel.

User slides the knobs to the desired position and presses the start / stop button.

MODEL 2: BETTER

Slide control is used to adjust the time, indicated by LED lighting changing from amber to red colors.

The functions are located behind the glass door, operated by touch.

To initiate the program, the user presses the start/stop button. 

MODEL 3: BEST

The time and heat  functions are controlled by sliding, accompanied by touch-based start/stop button.

Customised controls and programs are controlled by APP through wifi connection.

There is a silver border around the control area.