Case Study#6 Kitchen appliances for everyone IA Collaborative X GE Appliances

When it comes to household appliances, it is important to consider the versatility of consumers’ lifestyles, since it is one of the most intimate devices we purchase. This consideration should be done even immersively and extensively for kitchen appliances, not only because it is one of the devices that mankind has been utilizing from the very primitive era, but also the workspace it is used is a place for ‘eating’.

I believe ‘eating’ does not only indicate ‘having food’. In scientific terms, it is a way of nourishment, which is essential for maintaining life. In social terms, especially in eastern cultures, sharing mealtime is consider as being a member of the family, since ‘食口’ for Chinese character, which is the origin of ‘식구’ in Korean, which also means family, refers to ‘食’ : to eat, ‘口’ : mouth – so basically it means the members who share food.

Of course, in modern society, such meaning has subtly changed through time, however even for now, sharing mealtime is often recognized as one of the most intimate socialities, or for those who want themselves to become such.

Unfortunately, however, there are too many kinds of lifestyles, life stages, and situations for just one product to embrace. Under this belief, Samsung electronics launched the ‘BESPOKE (2020)’ refrigerator, which is an even – more module-type fridge than Mod refrigerator (2016) to meet a variety of needs. I personally believe that this is not just an adaptation to versatility, but a stepstone of fridge-revolution, since there has been no significant change in terms of external appearances of refrigerators.

Just like TVs, tables, or lamps did, it is time for fridges to undergo rearrangements...