Relevance Regained: Designing More “Democratic” Domestic Kitchen Appliances by Taking into Consideration User Needs and Other Relevant Opinions

Appliances Design ......................................................................................294 16.4.1 Case History 1: Breaking New Ground Together with Alessi ...... 295 16.4.2 Case History 2: Billy, the Bar Blender with Personality ...............297 16.4.3 Case History 3: A Juicer with a Difference ................................... 298 16.4.4 Case History 4: “Hardware plus Consumable” .............................299 16.5 A Visionary Program Focusing on the Future: Culinary Art .....................299 16.6 Conclusions: The Democracy of Development ........................................... 301

We do believe the fi rst thing to bear in mind when designing meaningful appliances for food preparation is that you have to think beyond the notion of just developing a new mechanical device. Certainly, factors such as available technology and mechanical construction are of paramount importance; a blender, after all, must be able to blend. But without an intimate knowledge of whom you are designing for and what they expect a product to achieve for them, then you are extremely unlikely to hit the so-called sweet spot.