Learn UX Case Study from The Perfectly Toasted Bread!
Have you ever tried to make a perfectly toasted bread? Hope it would be like the one you ordered from a bakery shop but finally got a failed one? If yes, what if I told you that there is a toaster that could make a perfectly toasted bread at home. Yes, it really exists in this world, BALMUDA The Toaster.
In Japan, the land of creativity, mostly Japanese-companies emphasize on a key factor in designing a successful product which is having empathy for users — understanding what they think, do or feel as well as Balmuda, a creative technology company.
The idea of the toaster occurred in 2014 during a particularly rainy afternoon. Gen Terao, CEO, and his employees were warming bread on a grill and realizing that they have just produced the perfectly toasted bread! Terao taught that humidity could keep the toasted bread moist. And that brought them to sell the toaster which costs ¥24,000 ($212), or almost five times the price of a regular device in Japan, with a wait list of at least three months in stores.
Why did they succeed?
Terao said that he doesn’t design products but he’s designing “experiences”. Customers didn’t buy the toaster because they want a toaster, but they are after the moment they get to taste the delicious toast they made. So that is why every time that Balmuda design, they start from the user’s experience. And this is the idea of a company that didn’t just design the product but also empathizes with the customer by giving them the best experiences.
“Consumers are embracing gadgets that do one thing well,” said Hiromi Yamaguchi, Euromonitor analyst in Tokyo. “Larger appliance makers are selling products with too many functions, and not a lot of people use them.”
Now, if you go to Balmuda site, you will see pictures of food that could make you hungry and want to test that experiences right away. So if you want to succeed in designing your product, find the right customer experience!
Happy designing :)
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