Change is the only thing that’s constant in this world, and nowhere is this truer than in the field of innovative design. The term “innovative design” alone engages anyone immersed in it to come up with novel and interesting ideas that can be carried out in real life. The funny thing is that when you say, “innovative design”, most people think of smartphones and laptops as a couple of prime examples of its real-world applications, and not much else. They’d be forgiven for thinking like that though as the technology sector has always placed a great deal of emphasis on combining form and function in designing gadgets and computers for mass consumption that are put out at a staggering rate. Appliances, on the other hand, are just starting to catch up with consumer trends. Just go window shopping in an appliance store nearest you and you’d immediately notice how most of the appliances displayed there look as if they’re all products of a different period that you might as well ask a clerk working there for a time machine while you’re at it. While it might have taken them a long time to realize it, appliance manufacturers have suddenly woken up from their eternal slumber and started putting out products that embrace innovative design. But you might be asking, how does the appliance industry incorporate innovative design in appliances such that they’d turn out to be both stylish and useful without one completely overtaking the other? This guide to innovative designs for appliances aims to answer that question.
Why Have Appliances Been Given the Least Priority When It Comes to Innovative Design?
If there’s an entire sector that’s been faithfully following the adage “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” for the longest time, it would have to be those working in the appliance industry. Here are a couple of reasons why the appliance industry fell by the wayside before coming to their senses and realizing that they need to embrace innovative design in order to keep up with the latest consumer trends:
- Appliance manufacturers have traditionally been one to place greater emphasis on function rather than form when putting out products for the masses to buy. In fact, you might know someone whose house has a stylish look both inside and out but whose appliances look like they came from the Cold War era.
- Appliances are also generally seen as long-term investments by homeowners. No self-respecting homeowner would replace a fridge or a washing machine with a new model every month. This might have led appliance manufacturers to slack off on innovative design and just put out utilitarian products in the past.
How Do Appliance Manufacturers Incorporate Innovative Designs into Their Appliances?
With technological innovations sprouting faster than the time it takes you to even finish reading this, it’s frankly a bit surprising that appliance manufacturers took a long while to start designing their products with innovation on the forefront. Now that they’re finally beginning to catch up with the technologically driven lifestyle of the average consumer, here are some factors that come into play whenever manufacturers put out appliances that have innovative design written all over them.
Research and development
As consumer preferences tend to go side by side with the latest trends in technology, the appliance industry has started researching the needs of consumers alongside developing products that are designed to address those needs.
- Most appliance manufacturers have taken to studying cultural phenomena as well as conducting observational studies that seek to analyze consumer trends as well as previously unaddressed needs.
- Two of the most common consumer needs that appliance manufacturers have identified thus far are lessening energy consumption and improving work efficiency.
- Thus, appliances that aim to save a considerable amount of energy while operating well, as those that make their owners’ lives easier have been coming out in the last few years with more innovations being introduced as part of the appliance industry’s continuous research and development activities.
Accessibility
Appliances don’t always have to conform to a prefabricated set of design standards that only able-bodied people would be able to use.
- Most visually impaired individuals, for example, often find themselves having a hard time using appliances that were designed without their needs in mind.
- Thus, manufacturers have since started designing appliances with tactile controls that are supposed to make them easy for a visually impaired person to operate without having to ask for assistance from a fellow member of their household every time.
Upgradability
A lot of appliances used to be and are still being manufactured with the outdated notion that they would all just be used as is.
- Some appliance manufacturers have since started breaking the mold by designing products that allow for customization.
- While most of the concepts for customizable appliances have yet to be implemented in real life, a basic example of their potential real-world application is through a refrigerator unit whose door and outer cabinet can be easily detached and replaced with another door and outer cabinet of a different color.
Longevity
While most appliances have been built for long-term use, some of the technologies ingrained in those appliances that attempt to be smart might not last as long.
- Innovative designs for appliances don’t have to come out as cheap gimmicks integrating the hottest gizmo at the moment with some random appliance in an attempt to tap into the technologically driven consumer market. Manufacturers have realized that this population might not find much use for it anymore in a few years’ time.
- Thus, manufacturers have to make sure that whatever smart technology they’d be including in the appliances that they’re putting out would stay relevant and not get overtaken by any emerging replacement technologies too easily.
Innovation has always been all about thinking out of the box and coming up with better, more practical solutions to consumer problems. Combine innovation with making those solutions visually appealing and the result is innovative design. As the average consumer is getting more and more technologically savvy by the hour, manufacturers have been increasingly incorporating an innovative design approach to the products that they put out for public consumption. But one manufacturing sector that has been a bit too slow to understand the current needs of consumers is the appliance industry. In fact, a lot of households still contain appliances that aren’t in tune with the demands of modern society. Good thing then that manufacturers have been starting to catch up with consumer trends and incorporating innovative designs into the appliances that they produce. The experts at Appliance Reviewer can only hope that more appliance manufacturers continue combining both form and function into products that are designed to make life easier for everyone.
Sara Worth is an expert reviewer and writer at Appliance Reviewer – a comprehensive and unbiased online guide, which helps readers to buy the right appliances for their home. She moved from Manchester to London where she studied electronics. At the same time, she was working as a freelance writer and also pursued her passion to be an independent interior designer. After graduating from university, she worked for over 10 years as an electronic engineer, consulting with some of the largest appliance manufacturers around the world. Sara has since joined the team at appliancereviewer.co.uk where she uses her vast knowledge of style and functionality to write about the best home appliances available on the UK market – Helping her readers to make an informed decision on their investment purchase without having to try each item first. When she isn’t writing or fixing things around the house, Sara can be found enjoying live music with her friends, or relaxing in front of the fire with her dogs.
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