Whirlpool Smart All-In-One
Washer & Dryer
Touchscreen display.
Working long-distance with a Whirlpool UX designer who was based in Italy, I created the touchscreen UI for this European product. With a limited overlap of only three hours a day, most of the progress was made unassisted, with occasional meetings to report on changes and verify intent. Occasionally, I would make suggestions to clarify certain aspects of the UX to help users reach the desired outcome. Attention had to be given to ensure the final look and feel followed Whirlpool’s global branding in order to create a consistent product experience.
METHODS USED:
Interface Design, Brainstorming, Revisions, Style Guide, Client Approval, Design Handoff
CES 2019 Innovation: Smart Home Honoree
MY ROLE
I was the Primary UI Designer on this project for five months, taking direction from a UX Illustrator document to a Sketch UI file with a design handoff in mind. The UX for this product was defined by a designer in Italy, and the final UI was reviewed by my manager. Another UI designer assisted in stages of this project.
DISCOVERY
Refining details.
I took over this project from another coworker to allow them to focus on a different task. While the initial concept was in place, I helped to refine the details, scale and placement of icons, images, and layout. Special attention needed to be given to the numerous cycles and options represented by this combo washer/dryer, as well as ensuring brand guidelines were met. It was challenging to include everything in the interface while still providing an easy user experience. My work on this project, and several other Whirlpool touchscreens for oven and microwave, gave me the expertise required to help create a style guide for Whirlpool touchscreen products.
CREATION
Innovative challenges.
This project made me think a lot more about how I did my laundry, and various settings on my own machines that I had never fully explored. Because this product combines the functions of both a washer and dryer in one device, there was a need to provide an interface that took the interactions of both machines into account. The product also boasted features like a multi-load fabric software dispenser, which generated a need to create a variety of states for the indicator icon that clearly showed the user at a glance where the levels were. Additional challenges included adapting the font character set when unique characters were needed to meet product requirements.
The product launched in January 2019 and took home a CES 2019 Innovation: Smart Home Award.
