Household appliances have come a long way since many of them—such as refrigerators, electric stoves, and dishwashers—were first developed in the 19th century and commercially produced in the early 20th century. Very early household appliances had basic functionality and were—by today’s standards—comically clunky, such as the 150 kg Siemens “dust suction pump” (vacuum cleaner) from 1906. Still, they were also, without a doubt, very innovative for their time. And they resulted from early design processes that required everything to be done manually, from hand-drawn sketches to physical models and prototypes.
Since the advent of computer-aided design (CAD) software a few decades ago, household appliance design has become ever more flexible, efficient, and innovative. Today, CAD software for appliance design and other product design has become extremely sophisticated and can include simulation technology for testing appliance designs virtually, as well as computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) functionality.
All this technological progress has allowed household appliance designers and engineers to be more precise in their work and to iterate faster on their creations. But the steps of household appliance development have remained mostly in place. Appliance developers still begin with conducting market research such as surveys and focus groups, and analyzing trends and the competition to understand the desires of their target customers. Teams then take these insights into the ideation stage which may include brainstorming, mind mapping, and copious product sketching to explore new appliance possibilities.
Next, the designers start to refine the appliance’s aesthetics, features, and manufacturability by designing detailed and more precise 3D models in CAD software. Some CAD software, such as Autodesk Fusion, also offers virtual prototyping that puts product designs through simulation tests so designers and engineers can iterate in the digital realm. When it’s time to create physical prototypes, Fusion also has CAM features for setting up making on CNC machines, 3D printers, and other machines. Additional rounds of iterations put physical prototypes through stress tests, functional tests, and user tests before incorporating feedback and finalizing the design, materials, and manufacturing processes for production.
