10-week term project in collaboration with Whirlpool
The starting point of the Sensing the Futureproject was not only
to design new products, but also to imagine solutions that would
enhance the evolution of the domestic experience. The project was
carried out in collaboration with Whirlpool, a major American
producer of kitchen, laundry and home appliances, as a part of
their celebration of the company's 100th year anniversary.
The task given to the students was to investigate the
possibilities of creating new segments or lines of consumer
products that would respects the core values and design identity of
Whirlpool, at the same time as targeting relevant customer groups
with innovative and engaging-to-use products that could facilitate
new sustainable and desirable living rituals of the future.
As an essential and natural components of any term project at
the Advanced Product Design programme, the work methods included
initial group research and creative sessions where the brand, the
market and the users were analysed and later documented in an
individual design brief before each student was asked to carry out
his or her own project.
The students final results presented to Whirlpool covered a wide
range if conceptual design solutions like; an environmentally
friendly closed-system washing machine, in-vitro-meat appliances
for the home kitchen, intelligent products for first time buyers, a
modular cooking system, concept for an educational and engaging
cooking experience for both children and parents, a concept for the
gathering and storing of cooking experiences and knowledge
overtime, a service and product design for an urban grocery bag and
a concept for a domestic in-house food composter.
External project tutors:
Fredrik Goffhé, industrial designer and co-founder of Formal
Design, a strategic design consultancy based in Stockholm.
Alex Liebert, industrial designer and design manager of the
Industrial Design Competence Center at Atlas Copco, where they
manage, develops and differentiate more than 30 different brands
and their unique design languages within the Atlas Copco Group.
Internal project tutors:
Thomas Degn, Programme Director for the APD programme
Oscar Björk, Programme assistant
Course responsible:
Thomas Degn, Programme Director for the APD programme
