With kitchens becoming an integral part of the modern living room we set out to design an induction cooker that is discrete and naturally blends with the interior when it’s turned off, and also intuitive and fun to use during cooking. For premium cooking appliances manufacturer ATAG we developed new product concepts for induction cooking. The mat induction cooktop with its new intuitive UX design and induction accessories is recognized with the renowned iF design award 2021.
Consumer insights
Many people believe that strategy is something that is developed top-down by managers. Strategies are often written like horoscopes to make it easier to agree on for all stakeholders. When ATAG asked us to help create their new product strategy for induction cookers, first thing we did is ask consumers about their experience (instead of just looking what the competition was doing). With the insights found we did ideation and visualized a range of new product features. This made it much easier for all stakeholders (consumers, marketeers, production engineers etc) to jointly create a product strategy for induction cookers.
Next generation induction cookers
We did this for the first time in 2011 and the insights were checked again when we set out to develop the new generation ATAG induction cookers. The insights we found resulted in many smaller product updates and improvements (quick wins) but also to innovative product features that set ATAG apart from the competition. The first induction cooker with mat cooking surface and a range of robust grilling accessories are just two examples of many exciting new product concepts that we created with ATAG in the previous range that was launched in 2014.
A truly domestic appliance
If kitchens are moving into the living space, the look and feel of appliances needs to change accordingly. We set out to design an induction cooker that is discrete and naturally blends with the interior when it’s turned off, but that is intuitive and fun to use during cooking. Instead of a shiny glass surface, this induction cooker has a mat finish.
Still waters run deep
Behind the ‘hidden until lit’ cooktop lies a lot of embedded technology. Building on the success of the first generation Iris Slide Control® WAACS designed a complete range with an intuitive user interface ready for smart cooking and that is just as iconic as its predecessor. The improved UI’s agile controls allow you to work more intuitively and gives you more direct input into your device.
The WAACS Story
For more than a decade WAACS has been developing appliances together with the in-house design teams at ATAG in The Netherlands and ASKO in Sweden. In close collaboration we worked on washing machines, gas and induction cookers, hobs, hoods and refrigerators.
In all projects user driven design has been the key success factor. The majority of the designs have been awarded by design awards such as Good Design Award, Red Dot and iF Award for their design excellence, innovation, quality and functionality.
