OVERVIEW: This project aimed to strengthen LG’s foothold in the Indian market through India-centric product offerings. Applying UCD processes, we designed India’s first Multi-Door refrigerator designed specifically to cater to Indian food habits and usage patterns.
This project really helped me sharpen my design skills especially around research methods such as co-creation, in-depth interviews, moderating focus groups and physical prototyping research probes. Collaborating closely with other teams such as development, manufacturing and marketing, right from the start of the research study helped us deliver insights learnt from this complex project rather smoothly.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:
A pan-India ethnographic study was conducted to uncover refrigerator usage patterns in Indian socio-cultural context. This was coupled with co-creation sessions that revealed unique user-product interactions. Bodystorming and scenario testing using full-scale mockups helped us define user behaviours. The key concerns were ergonomics, storage access, storage duration of food items and culture perceptions around food.
We also studied and considered the cultural and geographical aspects of food storage in Indian refrigerators while synthesising our findings. Although 65% of Indians consume non vegetarian food, Indians consider themselves vegetarians. The key reason behind this is that in popular hindu traditions, non vegetarian food is considered impure and many households don’t like to keep it inside the fridge. India being a tropic country, fridge has a lot of utility for storing cold water. Thus, having a larger space for water is considered a plus however during winters that space is not used for water.
RESEARCH SYNTHESIS:
Based on the extensive pan-India research conducted, we gathered various data sets on Indian food habits and refrigeration. The key aspect of the analysis was to seek out patterns of storage and usage. We created heat maps for the amount and location of various food items. This was done by colour coding different food items and then using the same colour dots to mark them on research photographs. After overlapping more than 200 such images we got very exciting results to redefine storage patterns for Indian usage.
IDEATION & CONCEPT SKETCHES: We visualised over 100 ideas that emerged from the usage and behavioural patterns study. These ideas were refined into concepts through filters of usability, uniqueness and manufacturability. Armed with models and partially formed concepts we received rapid and effective feedback from co-creation sessions with users and experts. This process was incredibly rewarding and I found the exercise of storytelling, synthesis and design opportunity identification an incredibly effective way of understanding true consumer value.
FINAL DESIGN CONCEPT
1. Quick access pantry: The ergonomic cooling drawer was identified as a frequently accessed section of the refrigerator and promoted as a health zone. It is a dedicated section for accessible storage of healthier food options. The visual accessibility and convenience of use of this pantry door makes it easier to retrieve frequently used items while minimising loss of cool air (enhancing energy saver feature).
2. Refrigerator layout: The new layout aids better organisation and segregation for small sized items like cosmetics and spices. The format bears correlation with kitchen cabinetry based on user testing insights.
3. Localised design elements: Contextual insights highlight low usage of the freezer section (contrary to western usage) because of the large vegetarian population in India. Also, the need for a large water dispenser emerged from the insight that cold water consumption from the refrigerator is high in tropical parts of India.
PROPOSED DESIGN