Client: OXO
A suite of fridge organization products designed to decrease food waste.
Brief:
OXO came to Smart with the statistic that the US wastes 40% of it’s food annually, and the provocation that better fridge organization could help make an impact on that statistic.
Their ask was twofold — First, determine what products users wanted, and second, realize the design of said products via a complete family suite that worked as a system, and with existing food storage products.
This project started with early product strategy and road-mapping, went through generative research, opportunity area identification, product concepting and physical prototyping, evaluative testing, and through final design for manufacturing.
Role: Project Lead Timeline: 8+ Months
Organization. Visibility. Accessibility.
The OXO Fridge Organization System was design to increase organization, visibility and accessibility — all with the goal to reduce food waste, and help people effortlessly maintain a clean fridge space.
Product Vision
After a quantitative study via Survey Monkey, the team narrowed in on a product line via synthesizing survey data. The vision was to create a modular system that maximizes fridge space. The initial line scope consisted of:
Drink Storage
Condiment Caddy
Modular bins
Pull out drawer
Undershelf rail attachment
Pull Out self
Shelf Riser
Early Prototyping
After determining what products the collection should consist of, we created a series of rough prototypes to determine what sizes worked best across a range of fridge types, and common product assortments.
Early size validation
After testing low fidelity prototypes in house, we determined preliminary dimensions and created mid-fidelity vacuum formed prototypes to conduct longitudinal testing.
Longitudinal testing
After testing low fidelity protoypes in house, we determined preliminary dimensions and created mid-fidelity vacuum formed prototypes to conduct longitudinal testing.
Our recruit criteria made sure to include a diverse range of fridge types, household sizes, and organizational habits.
Programming Study
Research exercises were conducted via Dscout, and consisted of a generative Madlib exercise, and a diary study weekly documentation. Before the study kicked off, I conducted 1:1 onboarding sessions to prepare users for the study, and again at the conclusion of the study, I conducted 1:1 interviews to review homework exercises and probe on trends that we were identifying across testers.
“I would love to see something for the veggie and produce drawers.”
- Elizabeth
“If the small bin was just a little wider, it would have fit by berries and dips— then it would be a lot more useful.” -Holly
Research Takeaways
01/ Merchandising visualization is key to communicate system benefits
“At first I didn’t see the value of the system, but after testing I don’t want to give them back.” Elizabeth
02/ Dialing in dimensions is key for mass adoption
“If the small bin was just a little wider, it would have fit by berries and dips— then it would be a lot more useful.” -Holly
03/ Users are interested in a fridge ecosystem
“Would love to see something for veggie and produce".” -Elizabeth
“I wish it worked better with my Tupperware".” -Leah
Form + Usability Iterations
Tried a variety of different handle types/positions. Desire was to create a simple bin, that still felt like an ownable brand expression.
Mechanism Iterations
The shelf riser mechanism needed to be quickly adjustable, affordable, and discreet. In tandem with engineering I went through many different iterations before ending up at the final version. To the right is an iteration we didn’t end up going with, but informed where we netted out.
and thoughtful interaction moments.
Since the majority of users will likely be installing this product in a crowded fridge space, we wanted to ensure the interaction moment were simple, and straightforward.
flexibility across use cases…
The system was designed to encourage a flexible approach to organization, that works across a range of different fridge types, and alongside common items found in the fridge.
Designed with future extensibility...
OXO has an expansive offering of food storage systems, one of the design goals was to ensure this collection worked with existing food storage products, and considered the system