Interaction Design Institute Ivrea
DFFN case study: Whirlpool Europe
Interaction Design Institute Ivrea
 Jan-Christoph Zoels
 Silvia Gabrielli
 Linda Norlen
 Brussels, 20th June 2002
Why Whirlpool
 Leading Company of Domestic Appliances world-wide
and in Europe
 Consumer focussed
 Strong investment in design and innovation
 Project F: Research and design study on European
future needs for clothing and fabric care
Project F: Fabric Care Futures
 Forecasting consumers’ tastes & needs for the next
5-7 years
 First informed by an observational study of in-home
behaviours by internal Whirlpool team
 Around the activities of washing and laundry
 Households in 4 European countries
 Parallel ethnographic research on New Domesticity
conducted by FutureConceptLab (led by Francesco
Morace)
Goals for Project F
 Provoke cross-fertilization between internal and
external design teams
 Pose questions that will influence product
development in the future
 Open the way for innovation within the company
 Invite buy-in from internal constituents
(executives, marketing,engineering…)
 Test the marketplace
Process: The Research Level
 Examples of trends identified:
 EU countries differ about the place in the house
where appliances are located
 Shared positive feelings about “things being
clean”
 Brainstorming workshop with 4 design teams
(1 internal, 3 external)
 Global Consumer Design, Whirlpool Europe
 Deep Design, Italy
 Designkoop, Germany
 designRAW, USA
 From research to design
Process: The Strategic Level
 Trend research guided the project brief:
observational study of in-home behaviours around the
activities of washing and laundry; technology
roadmap; design trends…
 Proposals presented & discussed by design teams in
multiple workshops
 “New Domesticity” study: little impact on designers’
proposals?
 From design ideas to 3-D Prototypes
 Prototypes as physical embodiments of forecasting
 Prototyping delays deferred user testing until after
European tour of projects
Emerging Design Themes
 Awareness of the senses (relationship between body,
clothing, and washing)
 Organic forms
 Tactility, softness of human touch, behaviour of
human hands
 Space
 New relationship between products, spaces,
humans
 Open-plan living, flexible walls and transparency
 Rituals, social interaction
 Fabrics of the future
 Water-less laundry
 Environmental concerns
 Networked home: focus on services and connectivity
Cleanscapes
design raw
Pulse
deepdesign
BioLogic
GCD Whirlpool Europe
OM
GCD Whirlpool Europe
Body Box
designkoop
Cleanscapes
design raw
Project Communication
 Hometech Berlin (February 2002)
 Observed audience reactions (unstructured
study so far)
 Encouraged Whirlpool engineers to understand
what design can do
 Salone di Mobile, Milano (April 2002)
 Exhibit tour in Europe (e.g., Paris, June; Brussels,
August; London, September 2002)
 Book, CD-ROM, Web site
 Feedback analysis & selection of ideas for production
starting in 2003
Opportunities created by Project F
 Widens parameters for design within this market
sector
 Stimulates coverage in the design and business press
 reaches opinion makers
 helps Whirlpool to become ‘top-of-mind’ in the
design field
 Contributes to starting new projects on related themes
 Attracts new partnerships
Current Assumptions to be Tested
 Difficulties in exchange between research and design
teams
 “New Domesticity” study run concurrent to
design proposal, not enough impact on design
 Designer bias toward aesthetic concerns
 forecasting and research under-utilized
 Difficult translation of research insights into
actionable design solution
 Effect of regulation policies in EU on innovation
Case Study development: next steps 1
 Investigate & document design forecasting techniques
used in the project by interviewing other key actors
 Vice President, Whirlpool Brand
 Director of Communication, Whirlpool Europe
(involved in Domesticity study)
 Italian market authority
 Members of research & design teams
 Document range of design forecasting methods and
tools used
Case Study development: next steps 2
 Deeper investigation & documentation of the “New
Domesticity” study
 Interview research lead Francesco Morace
(FutureConceptLab) and country researchers
 Evaluate opportunities & impact of Project F on
strategic planning, design resources, product
development, brand image, investments
 Discuss case study development with DFFN partners
“ Research is not research until it
makes a difference” Gillian Crampton Smith
www.interaction-ivrea.it
jc.zoels@interaction-ivrea.it
s.gabrielli@interaction-ivrea.it