Project Swan
Garment-Care Category Innovation Strategy
PROJECT INFO
Brand | Midea
Design | frog design
Year | 2021
ROLE & SKILL
Design Strategist | Market analysis, User research, Design validation, Design strategy, Market communication strategy
Industrial Designer | Concept ideation, Styling, 3D modeling, Rendering
Identifying the Next Innovation Breakthrough
for a Global Appliance Leader
Since its establishment in 1968, Midea Group has occupied a seat on the Forbes Global 500 list. It is also the 32nd company among the Fortune China 500 and is the leader in the white home appliance industry. Midea's Washing Machine BU hopes to find new opportunities for each of its categories through this innovative project, so that it can keep its leading position in the industry.
CHALLENGE
Reinventing the decades-old industry across various categories
The washing machine industry hasn't been changed in the past decades, but it somehow has reached a point of market saturation and technological homogeneity. While product innovation has stalled, consumer demand for specialized clothing care and hygiene has surged.
The secondary challenge was to identify strategic entry points across various categories, including Front-load, Top-load, Dryer, and potential innovation categories.
Our mission was to transform lifestyle trends into viable product opportunities by uncovering unmet user needs within a compressed timeframe.
APPROACH
From isolated interactions to holistic life patterns
This approach reveals how laundry fits into their routines. This broader perspective uncovers deeper insights into their needs and challenges, leading to more relevant and effective solutions.
Focus on single product experience
Understand how garment-caring connects to user's life
FRAMEWORK
Deconstructing clothing care to frame research
By breaking down complex aspects of laundry routines into a structural map, we were enabled to identify specific research topics and scope more precisely, ensuring that our investigation addressed relevant concerns and opportunities.
DISCOVERY
Exploring through hypothesis and concept stimuli
We began by hunting for inconsistencies in market reports, turning those contradictions into a map for our investigation. To ensure unbiased and insightful interviews, we didn't just ask questions, we introduced low-fi stimuli as conversation starters. This allowed us to observe the users’ honest, gut reactions without our own hypotheses leading the way.
Generate hypotheses
Transforming data contradictions into testable hypotheses for emerging user needs
Test with low-fi stimuli
Testing the user needs hypothesis with concept stimuli instead of asking hypothetical questions
Cluster and synthesize
Collecting feedback and synthesize them to validate the initial hypothesis of userneeds
REFINING
Iterative Research Process:
Gaining new insights from what we've learned
This iterative process helped us uncover deeper pain points and unmet needs related to clothes care by adapting our questions and stimuli to address emerging insights. As a result, we came up with 5+ versions of interview guidelines and stimuli, gained 30+ profound insights of users' potential needs and expectations in clothes-care experience.
KEY INSIGHT
It’s not about performance,
it’s all about perception.
We discovered a core tension in the laundry process: users can’t actually "see" a machine's performance while it’s running. Without a direct way to measure cleanliness or fiber care, they rely on a subconscious system of proxies. We identified that their sense of "success" is built on three distinct pillars of perception: hygiene, dedicated garment care, and effortlessness.
These tangible experience principles
shape user’s perception of washing machine:
Perception of
Hygiene &
Cleanliness
Participating in key process
making users feel it’s more effective
Smelling fresh makes users feel it’s clean and hygienic.
A dry environment enhances people's sense of hygiene and comfort.
Perception of
Dedicated
Garment Care
Washing and drying different garment types separately is believed to offer better protection.
Using non-chemical detergent,
specific settings, and adequate space is believed to provide good protection to the garments.
Perception of
Effortlessness & Effectiveness
Enjoy effortless operation and intuitive perception of the results.
Believe that official services are the most easy and reliable solution.
Warm, soft, and dry clothes evoke feelings of effectiveness for people.
ARCHETYPE
Defining archetypes based on their unique perception priorities
Perception priorities are the subconscious filters users use to define "quality." While one user may judge a wash by its clinical hygiene, another might focus on tactile garment care or the mental ease of an effortless process. Mapping these subjective leanings allowed us to move beyond demographics and segment the market into archetypes based on their primary drivers of satisfaction.
Germophobic
Homemaker
"My family's health is paramount."
-
High demands on environmental hygiene and family health.
-
Feel relaxed and at ease when being in a clean environment.
-
Hate humidity since in could breed bacteria. Dryness makes them feel clean and comfortable.
-
Prefer multi-functional products to free up space at home.
Scientific
Fashionista
"I am What I wear."
-
Believe the way they look defines how people see them.
-
Meticulous about outfit and clothes-care.
-
Do research to find the best way to keep the garments in good and new condition.
- Pay attention to program settings , prefer manually add detergent and antiseptic liquid to boost the result.
Smart Lazy
White Collar
"No time to waste on doing laundry."
-
Hope home appliances could get jobs done for them, regardless of whether the result is good or not.
-
Enjoy effortless operation and intuitive perception of the results.
-
Believe that official services are the most easy and reliable solution.
-
Have high acceptance of new technologies and services.
CONCEPT EXAMPLE
HEALTH GUARDIAN
Integrated Entry Sanitization Hub
ARCHETYPE A
Germophobic
Homemaker
-
High demands on environmental hygiene and family health.
-
Feel relaxed and at ease when being in a clean environment.
-
Hate humidity since in could breed bacteria. Dryness makes them feel clean and comfortable.
-
Prefer multi-functional products to free up space at home.
Sanitize everything once entering the door to reassure the hygiene of home environment.
Sanitize not only the hand, but the whole body and every item coming from outside.
Prefer multi-purpose home appliance that embedded into the interior design.
VALUE PROPOSITION
"
Keep your family safe
from germs and harmful factors.
Once enter the room,
no more worries but peace of mind.
HEALTH GUARDIAN
Entryway Smart Sanitizing Closet
Health guard is an integrated "decontamination buffer" that neutralizes external threats at the threshold.
It creates a seamless barrier that shifts the burden of safety from the user to the environment.
-
Human and package shielding: Instant sanitization for bodies and incoming parcels via vertical air ducts.
-
Total garment care: Automated disinfection for shoes and worn clothing to prevent cross-contamination.
-
Engaging hygiene: Interactive "air blade" hand washing that turns a chore into an effortless family ritual.
The result: A worry-free transition where the outside world stays out, delivering total peace of mind.
CONCEPT EXAMPLE
COLOR MASTER
Garment Color Care All-in-One Washer-Dryer Combo
ARCHETYPE B
Scientific
Fashionista
-
Believe the way they look defines how people see them.
-
Meticulous about outfit and clothes-care.
-
Do research to find the best way to keep the garments in good and new condition.
-
Pay attention to program settings , prefer manually add detergent and antiseptic liquid to boost the result.
Add detergent manually and use accurate settings to keep garment in good condition.
Choose non-chemical detergents to protect garments and personal health.
Prepare different washbasins, tools, and liquids for different garments. Wash and dry them separately for better protection.
VALUE PROPOSITION
"100% natural and healthy solution
for you and your clothes.
Keep it colorful, keep it pure.
COLOR MASTER
Garment Color Care All-in-One Washer-Dryer Combo
Color Master is a high-performance washing system designed to preserve the "day-one" look of your wardrobe.
By replacing harsh chemicals with fresh, electrolyzed solutions and precision drying, it addresses the core user need for effective yet gentle garment care.
-
Fresh-made color-care: A transparent electrolysis chamber generates natural solutions on-demand, providing visual reassurance and vivid color retention.
-
Smart concentration control: Intelligent dosing adjusts solution levels for specific needs, from "ultra bleach" intensity to "daily brighten" maintenance.
-
UV low-temperature drying: Ultraviolet rays and negative pressure restore whiteness and remove stubborn stains without the fabric damage caused by high heat.
The result: Professional garment restoration at home that keeps colors vibrant and fabrics healthy, cycle after cycle.
HOW IT WORKS?
CONCEPT EXAMPLE
LAUNDRY BUTLER
Intelligent End-to-End Garment Care Solution
ARCHETYPE C
Smart-Lazy
White Collar
-
Hope home appliances could get jobs done for them, regardless of whether the result is good or not.
-
Enjoy effortless operation and intuitive perception of the results.
-
Believe that official services are the most easy and reliable solution.
-
Have high acceptance of new technologies and services.
They keep clothes worn over multiple days in the hamper and wash them all at once every week.
Go to laundry service regularly to save time and maintain delicate clothes.
Bought robot vacuums to liberate their time from housework, hoping to spend more time on work and relaxing.
VALUE PROPOSITION
"
Leave the worries at the laundry room.
Liberate your time, space, and mind.
LAUNDRY BUTLER
Intelligent end-to-end garment care solution
Laundry butler is an AI-driven, all-in-one ecosystem that bridges the gap between home laundry and professional care. It minimizes the user’s mental and physical load by intelligently managing every garment, ensuring that even the most delicate items receive expert treatment.
-
Smart garment protection: Integrated sensors automatically detect fabrics to set optimal programs or suggest and book professional services for specialized care.
-
Dual-mode service interface: A streamlined physical interface allows users to toggle between "normal wash" and one-click professional pickup for dry cleaning and shoe care.
-
Integrated high-efficiency drying: A built-in hot air circulation system eliminates the need for separate appliances, delivering dry, ready-to-wear clothes in a single cycle.
-
Space-saving vertical design: A narrowed, elevated drum architecture reduces the machine’s footprint while maintaining high capacity and enhancing rinse perception.
The result: A seamless, space-efficient solution that removes the guesswork from clothing care, providing a true concierge experience at home.
HOW IT WORKS?
Midea+ service is a professional-grade ecosystem that extends garment care far beyond the machine.
By integrating laundry stores, cleaning experts, and on-demand delivery into one transparent network,
it provides a trustworthy support system for every fabric challenge.
This holistic approach ensures that users are never limited by hardware, offering a seamless bridge to
expert services the moment they need them.
VALIDATION
Validate the value proposition and features
with visualized concepts
To ensure authentic feedback, we validated our value propositions and feature concepts through intuitive visual prototype. Users prioritized and priced these designs, allowing us to cross-validate their satisfaction levels against perceived value.
Visualize the concept
Making the ideas more tangible to collect instinctive feedback.
Score for setting the baseline
Set a standard across the concepts, to prevent inconsistent responses.
Prioritize for cross-validation
By prioritizing concepts, the users reveal their true opinion.
The ten dash boards showcasing the concepts and
value proposition we wanted to test with the users
RESULT
6+ Rounds of Innovative Process:
From value proposition to tangible concepts
Over six iterative cycles, we translated latent user needs into tangible value propositions and design concepts. Through rigorous co-creation and validation, we delivered seven final concepts to Midea, completing with market communication strategies, to guide their product roadmap for the next five to seven years.
RESULT
Beyond Product Strategy:
Empowering organizational innovation
To ensure a lasting impact strengthening Midea’s internal development capabilities and unlocking organizational potential, we supplemented our deliverables with a bespoke research handbook and facilitated a series of innovation training workshops and co-creation sessions.
CREDITS
Brand
Midea
Design
frog design
Team
River Cheng, Mingmin Wang, Kuo-Chieh Wang,
Tsungyu Lu, Roxie Chiu, Jane Liu, Chloe Wang