Product Design

Emotionally Durable Design for Microwave 2.0

  • Posted by Dienamics
  • June 30, 2013

For many, the microwave is a product that has seemed the same for over 50 years. Yet Savannah Institute of Art and Design student, Marshall Jamshidi, redesigned the microwave oven for the Design for Your Product Lifetime student design challenge.

Jamshidi chose to redesign the microwave because he said it is symbolic of our ‘throw-away’ culture, in which functioning items are disposed of.

He said, “So much talk of sustainability is focused on making the materials and are they recyclable, assuming it’s a very short product life cycle.”

With this in mind, Jamshidi felt challenged to design a mechanically durable microwave that is easy to maintain. It also needed to be ‘emotionally durable’ as well.

Thus Microwave 2.0 was created. Jamshidi used replaceable ceramic inner panels to make the interior of the microwave easy to clean. He also capitalised on cutting-edge solid-state microchip technology. This technology uses low-voltage integrated circuits which eliminate the need in all other microwaves for transformers and capacitors characterised by high voltage.

Integrated circuits also make fewer demands on energy and can be easily and safely replaced in the case of failure.

A user-friendly diagnostic program, coupled with integration of internal components, makes it possible for a user to follow a sequential process to administer repairs.

Source:  http://www.triplepundit.com/2013/04/microwave-20-study-emotionally-durable-design/