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Discovering and Uncovering Design

The 2008 International Home + Housewares Show (www.housewares.org) will be one of the best places in the world to experience the ascendance of design for the home. In addition to seeing design through products on the show floor, attendees can view design on display at the Designed Defined exhibit in the Grand Concourse Lobby and the annual Student Design Competition in the Housewares Design Theatre in the Lakeside Center Level 3 Lobby. The Design Theatre also features 19 presentations on design, energy efficiency and sustainability.

There's no doubt that design in housewares product is a critical, often single deciding factor in a consumer's purchase choice in housewares products, according to several designers who will speak in the Housewares Design Theatre.

"Housewares are an expression of our personalities," says Mark Dziersk of LAGA/One80 Design (www.one80design.com). "We leave them out on our countertops and we show them off, and they are comfort products when we use them. They are an external expression of personality and they provide an internal feeling of satisfaction. So the design has to be crucial. If it weren't, we wouldn't have any feelings about them. We wouldn't leave them out on a counter, and we wouldn't care as much about which product we purchase. "

What makes for great design? What other factors play into the purchase and design equations? Chris Rockwell, president of Lextant (www.lextant.com), says that consumers continue to connect emotionally with products, and that, in turn, translates into great design. "One of the biggest changes is to focus on consumer experience," he says. "In the past there was a focus on the price point, but that's not necessarily the case any longer."

To learn about customer experiences, Rockwell and his staff go into consumer homes to research what motivates them, to find out their family goals and aspirations. "We give them images and smells, and we create what an ideal experience would be like. We then use that information in the design process," he says.

For example, Rockwell and his staff will watch a consumer use a blender and ask him or her to create a photo journal of the foods they blend, what meals they make, what's difficult or frustrating about the process, and ask them to talk out loud about what matters to them in a blender.

"A designer needs details and design criteria to make better design decisions," he says. "You can't design a product without that information. You also want it to continue after the sale, to follow through the entire experience, so that the consumer forms a positive judgment about the brand and will buy that brand and product again."

Another direction in product design that Rockwell says he's seeing is a convergence of marketing, design, research, manufacturing, and human factors people into the entire process.

"Previously, the product's design was defined by the marketing department, then tweaked based on input from other departments," he says.

"That's no longer the case. More companies are looking to lead the pack in terms of innovation. Everyone is involved now. We even see professional designers coming from other types of fields such as anthropology and psychology. It's a huge opportunity for the future of product design."

JohnPaul Kusz, founder and associate director of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise (http://www.stuart.edu/cse/), echoes Rockwell's sentiments about the importance of dialogue between all interested parties in housewares design. "The relationship between all parties is more transparent," he says. "Design is now about collaborative design, about uncovering emotions and thoughts, asking hard questions and getting very candid answers. Blogs are gaining importance in design research, as it's another source of feedback, and are beneficial to both parties. It's cross designing with your customers in ways we haven't seen before."

Yet another opportunity in product design comes from the use of color. Pantone, a color communication company, works with many designers creating product for the housewares industry. The company provides color standards and color forecasting tools, and works with Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training, who will once again this year provide International Home + Housewares Show attendees with her color forecast for 2009. Visit the ColorWatch Display in the Lakeside Center Level 3 Lobby to see how exhibitors' products illustrate these forecasts.

Beyond color forecasting, however, Pantone(www.pantone.com) continues to be a source of inspiration for those working in the design community worldwide, says Laurie Pressman, marketing manager, Home and Interiors for Pantone. "For designers working within the international housewares industry, our wide ranging color palettes are used to access color trends, communicate color choices, and control consistency of color across every imaginable surface, texture, material and finish."

All this design energy will converge at the 2008 International Home + Housewares Show, March 16-18 in Chicago.