Vent Redesign

Principles of UX Design Final Project

The Assignment

Redesign a system, application or product with a user-centered approach to address a notable usability issue. Develop customer personas, draft a storyboard demonstrating user workflow and create a final prototype based on wireframe designs.

The Core Problem: Confusion

It was only after living in my apartment for over two years that I discovered the functions of my kitchen’s touch-activated Fotile range hood overlooking my stove. It had been there, unassuming and unused, during the entire time I lived there, with my roommates and I only discovering its uses by accident. This left us confused as to how we had ignored the range for so long, and made it an excellent candidate for a redesign. My goal would be to transform it into a household necessity rather than a seemingly purposeless appliance.

The central usability issue I identified is that, without being explicitly told that it is there, the features of this range blend in completely with its surroundings. As shown in this photo, from afar the touchscreen options are barely visible, with the center circle the most prominently displayed. Once activated, the feature icons are illuminated with an orange light which then makes the functions more obvious, but they become virtually invisible otherwise.

This could potentially be an intentional part of the range’s design, aligning with its sleek, smooth aesthetic so it comes across as innocuously as possible. However, that design choice sacrifices the actual function of the product, and assumes the user to be more intuitive about its uses than they might be.

Project Progression

  • Initial Ideation

    Brainstorming was needed to determine adjustments to the original design

  • User Persona Research

    Exploring user needs and behaviors to inform the design

  • Storyboarding

    Demonstrating the average usage of the newly-designed range

  • Wireframing & Prototyping

    Creating a physical model of the new design with added interactivity

Initial Ideation - Key Adjustments

Distinct Function Icons

Multiple Means of Activation

Ensuring the usage of the range is obvious to the user even when the range is inactive

Allowing the user the ability to power the range on and off while multitask on other activities

Additional Features

Building in additional user-centered tools, such as a clock display, a timer, adjustable light settings and a remote control to turn the range on and off

Creating a user persona: Anna Green

To identify my ideal user, I began with research about the existing range. Newer models of this vent retail for between $1,200 to $1,400, so given this price point and the quality of the vent, my user would likely be someone with a higher income who is using their stove frequently, can afford high-quality appliances and values the time they spend cooking to make such an expense feel worthwhile. This person therefore needs their appliances to be efficient and intuitive, almost like a partner to them in the kitchen who eases their way rather than hindering it.

With these considerations in mind, I created my ideal user: Anna Green

  • Anna is a woman in her thirties who is an avid cook. She has a long-term partner and a young child, so she is very used to multi-tasking and having her hands (figuratively and literally) full

  • Anna has a long-time passion for cooking; it’s something that relaxes her, makes her feel creative, and helps her spend time with and show care for her family

  • She has a demanding job as a financial analyst, so while her day can be stressful, it makes her value time with her family at the end of the day as they prepare a meal together

  • The combined income of her and her partner’s jobs means they’re comfortably upper-middle class, allowing her the funds to spend more on products she’s buying, including the appliances in her kitchen

  • Given how complicated her job can be, she values being able to afford tools, such as this stove range, that make partaking in her passions easy, ensuring she has one less thing to juggle

Storyboarding

To visualize the new range design, a storyboard with an interaction perspective was chosen for the redesign, taking into account the specific uses Anna would require for the vent to best work for her.

The storyboard details an average night for Anna after work as she considers what meal she is planning to make, her preparation process and how the range helps her accomplish her tasks. It demonstrates the various scenarios in which she would use functions of the range, and specific actions of the range as she interacts with them throughout the evening:

On an average day, Anna is up early both for work and to help her partner take care of her child. Her partner drops their child off at daycare on the way to their job while Anna can work from home. By the end of the day, her partner has returned home with their child and Anna has started dinner, activating the range using the touch-free sensor, the remote control from across the room or by tapping on the underside of the range while she places pots and pans on the stove. She also adjusts the brightness of the underside lighting for extra illumination as the sun goes down and the night goes on, allowing her to clearly track the progress of the food she’s making.

As more of her food starts cooking up and steaming, the control panel right at her eye level with the clearly marked function options makes it easy to select a higher-speed setting for the range fan, avoiding accidentally setting off the smoke alarms in her house and interrupting her cooking. Once she has completed her meal, she can turn off the range as easily as she turned it on, giving her a smooth end to her night.

Wireframing & Prototyping

Physical Mockup

Added Interactivity

Features such as a timer and brightness adjuster were added to the display

Wireframe was constructed from cardboard with illustrated display features

Medium-Fidelity Prototype

Details display functions and select feature workflows

Key Takeaways

  • Where limitations with the physical wireframe fell short of demonstrating actual interactivity, the below digitized Axure wireframe was able to fill in missing gaps

  • Major challenges centered around the redesigned layout of the range touchscreen display and determining what features would be changed or updated

  • The redesign would require a rapid analytical evaluation to understand the full breadth of the range’s use and to identify any user challenges

  • More user feedback in general would be beneficial from the outset of the design to determine desired features and changes