Case Study : Microwave interaction panel redesign

Introduction

Brief:

Choose an electronics consumer product, find problems people face with existing interfaces, suggest redesign. Individual done college project in a timeline of 2 weeks.

Project Goals:

• Uncover what the functions people use in a microwave are.
• Create a more streamlined microwave UI based on user data.

Why Microwave❓

Microwave ovens have long been used but are overloaded with functions and a cluttered interface. Microwaves are still confusing and not accessible for many users (how would a blind user use them?), forcing them to primarily use the safe features and not experiment with unknown features through trial and error.

“How might we create a frictionless microwave experience to enable users to feel confident and in control while using the microwave?”

Design Process ✅

Design Process Followed

Goals & Challenges as a Designer 💁‍♀️

1. User Control & Feedback- The challenge lies in balancing user control and freedom for flexibility with automatic controls and presets by giving them ownership over the settings and proper feedback mechanisms.

2. Minimize user mental load- By providing clear and actionable labels, minimal functions yet full functionality, but how not to eliminate functionality while catering to a minimal interface

3. Accessible for all user groups-Providing instructions, user guide, and assistance in interactions but how to incorporate help and assistance to suit all types of users and their needs.

Market Research in Pandemic😷

Existing Product Study

The current product study was done as I visited a few stores nearby to check on the various features offered across multiple brands. Cramming a lot of elements together made it very tough for people to choose which one product they wanted. The users were often going just by the brand name despite seeing the features as they felt all of them were equally confusing to use.

Interviews and Inquiry 🗣️

To understand the extent of these usability problems, one on one user interviews, as well as surveys, were taken. The interviews were kept semi-structured while I took the survey through google form with 25 participants. Critical points for questions of interview and survey were:

• The kind of food cooked in the household in microwave
• The general frequency usage of microwave
• Various ways of microwave usage
• Who all use the microwave in the house, and for what activity
• The special occasions/recipes that require a microwave
• Most commonly used functions/buttons
• Factors considered while buying a microwave
• Time spent in microwave cooking
• Where do they get stuck

Insights generated

Research Insights📝

• Heating is the primary function used. Touchpads become greasy from prolonged use.
• Combining all functions is necessary as people prefer a microwave with convection, grill, autocook, etc.
• Most users don't know all functions. When using an unfamiliar oven, time is the most critical adjustable function to the users. The majority use a microwave for a short duration of 1–2 minutes.
• Cost and ease of use influence buying decisions.
• Most microwaves beep as they finish the timer. Users either wait by the device or return upon hearing the audio feedback.
• Most users use the 30 sec+ buttons the most when deciding the time. Prefer to add time incrementally.

Research in process

The contextual inquiry was done to understand what goes behind users' actions. I studied users with different scenarios and, based on that, made my observations. Different Scenarios considered were:

• 👴🏻Senior Citizens wish to feel independent, and cooking a small snack without external help is a big deal for them.
• 👩🏻‍💻Working professionals need food real quick. They don't have time to explore various options or repeatedly check if the food is ready or not. They want instant feedback on their actions.
• 👦🏼Kids are relaxed, playing around with the microwave panel and press various buttons to explore possible reactions to the product.
• 🙍🏽‍♀️Maid needs to perform only repetitive actions but often gets confused with too many buttons on the panel (The maids didn't fiddle a lot since she thinks of the microwave as an expensive commodity and likes it better not to experiment)

I observed that:

• Grill, Combo & Autocook don't become part of the daily routine because of their complex menus.
• Often parents have to wait for their children to do complex tasks as they don't understand all functions.
• There is no way to understand the next step and identify your current state in the process.

Modeling 👥

Persona

After studying the main user groups identified, i.e., Kids- experimental users, Middle Aged Adults- decently experienced users, and Senior citizens- inexperienced users, I created the personas and a basic journey map to align the current expectations of the user with my upcoming design.

How the journey looks like currently

Requirements 📝

Over to the 3rd step now, defining the user needs and wants. After the research phase, I noted all that users did or said to derive users' experience and end goals.

Experience Goals:

• "I want food quickly, and I want transparency for the entire process."
• "I want help and guidance when I get stuck while operating the microwave."

End Goals:

• "I want to feel confident & in control of the cooking process."
• "I don't want to spend time figuring out how to operate a microwave."

Must Haves ✅

• All necessary features but simple to use
• Progress of the cooking process
• Feedback from microwave
• Clear Labels and Instructions
• Assistance/Help whenever required

Framework 💭

Experiencing the change new design brings in

I started with the ideation and listed down all the necessary features for the microwave panel.

Conceptual ideation for the redesign💡

• Microwave, Grill, Convection, Defrost, Auto Cook will be used for heating/cooking food. The most used features, according to users, are convection & timed cooking to cook food.
• Feedback will be provided through voice and visual (light and colors), timer countdown, and progress bars.
• Cooking can be done by time/temperature (most preferred by users).
• Interactions provided will be tangible, voice-based, touch.
• Buttons will be provided Start, Stop, and various modes.

After having a clear idea of what all features are required, I took to pen and paper to start rough sketches and explored the placement of various buttons.

Coming up with the redesign

Made use of gestalt principles and UX laws to make the placement of buttons suited for all users.

The new-look

Features👇

• The panel starts with a welcome message — "Hello" for the user.
• It has five modes- Microwave, Grill, Convection, Defrost, and Autocook.
• The round knob dial controls the amount of time/temperature for cooking.
• Users can give time or temperature settings for cooking; this can be adjusted through buttons below the knob.
• The blue circle at the top has the voice assistant help + written feedback/instructions for user ease.
• Start and stop buttons are given with classic color feedback of green and red.

New look for microwave interaction panel

Check out the screens here!

Reflection 👈

This project made me think of the various other products we've been using daily, but we still face usability issues in them. It made me think of multiple solutions that can be implemented for mass usage products and the challenges faced in redesigning an existing one; here, it was inculcating all the necessary functions in a minimal space and yet making the interface clean.

Thank you for checking out my project till the end folks!