The kettle and the toaster are two iconic silhouettes that have been design staples within our kitchens for since after the second world war. However in that time, the form, function and experience hasn’t changed all that much.
In the day and age we live in with intuitive user experiences, I believe that the kettle and toaster should be as easy to use, as it is to unlock your smartphone.
After looking at the current products in the market, I moved to conducting design thinking research.
The Kettle is an object that creats a social setting, much like a tea pot does. With its omnidirectional vessel, the kettle can be placed in the middle of a dining area and interacted by anyone around it.
The kettle takes the weight of the user but keeps the 'pouring' interaction intact.
Filling of the kettle is done by forcing the user to think about sustainability, by moving water into the kettle from a tap, via the mug that they are using.
With the ability to add a diffuser or cafetiere, the kettle object can change into a tea pot or coffee pot.
The toaster is a product that corrects the issues with a conventional toaster while creating a visualy obvious journey from toast being placed in the top of the object, to baking in the middle, and then finaly landing on the ceramic plate rack below.
The plate rack being removable means that the crumbs collected can be moved to the bin with ease, but also creates a social interaction between toaster and user.
Taking the Kettle and Toaster to the New Designers Exhibition in London, the feedback I gained was positive and insightfull on how I could impove the designs.
