Milk Frother (Alex Shook)

Ikea Frother

Ikea Frother	Number of Parts=12	Number of materials= 6
Number	Name	Function	What parts does it connect to/Interface?	Material?	Individual Price (USD)
1	Battery Cover	Cover batteries from exterior	Connects to exterior cover and battery	Hard Black Plastic	.05
2	2 AA Batteries	Power Device’s motor	Connects to component 8 and 1 to power motor	Metal and Chemicals	.39
3	Main Component Sleeve Half 1	Cover motor and batteries from exterior	Covers batteries and motor, allows the user to hold device	Hard Black Plastic	.09
4	Lever Switch	Allow the device to be turned on and off	Connects to components 3 and 7 and motor, allows user to power motor	Hard Black Plastic	.05
5	Motor Clamp 1	Keeps motor in place	Connects to Components 3 and 7 as well as motor, prevents vibrations from dislodging motor	Metal	.07
6	Motor Clamp 2	Keeps motor in place	Connects to Components 3 and 7 as well as motor, prevents vibrations from dislodging motor	Metal	.05
7	Main Component Sleeve Half 2	Cover motor and batteries from exterior	Motor connects to batteries and frother, heart of frothing device, creates all motion, takes energy from batteries	Hard Black Plastic	.09
8	Plastic Motor Cap	Keeps motor in place, connects battery to motor	prevents motor from dislodging, works as connection to allow for the power to move from batteries to motor	Hard white plastic	.05
9	Motor with coils, walls, dowel	Powers Device	Motor connects to batteries and frother, heart of frothing device, creates all motion, takes energy from batteries	Copper wire, metal, some plastic, possibly other things	.30
10	Metal Motor Cap	Connects motor to frother rod, contains motor	connects motor to frothing rod to allow for motion of rod, protects motor from exterior pressure	Metal	.08
11	Frother Rod	provides twisting motion to allow for frothing	connects to motor and coil, twists rapidly to allow frothing	Metal	.08
12	Frother Coil	Froths the milk	attached to coil rod in a circle to allow for effective milk frothing	Spring	.08
				Total Cost=	1.38

 

 

Ikea Frother

2. You push the lever up and the rod with the coil spins rapidly to froth the milk. I put it in water as I did not have mill. When put in the water, it spins the water in a clockwise circle creating bubbles and rapid movement. It vibrates but produces minimal splash back.

 

3. Affordances- The button slides up to turn the coil on and down to turn it off. It is intuitive and requires no labels.

Mapping- There is one lever to work the one and only function, the frothing. It is intuitive and requires no labels. There is a small grove in the battery cover to denote the sliding off in order to reveal the batteries.

Feedback- It is loud and there is some splash back. The vibration annoys the wrist after prolonged use.

 

4. Strengths- Easy to use, intuitive, effective

Weaknesses-A little loud, could be difficult for people with wrist problems as the vibrations may irritate problems with the hands

 

 

Expensive Frother       # of Pieces= 12      # of Materials= 6

Number	Name	Function	What Parts it connects to/Interface?	Material?	Individual Price? (USD)
1	Button with Sleeve and Battery Cover	Allows the machine to be turned on	Connects to batteries	Rubber and Hard Plastic	.07
2	2 AA Batteries	Powers motor	Connects to motor and the other components to power motor	Metal and other battery materials	.39
3	Main Outer Sleeve	Protects interior and allows user to hold machines	Contains batteries and other hardware, allows user to hold machine	Hard Plastic	.09
4	Metal Strip that connects Components 3 and 5	Connects batteries to motor and connects pieces	Connects to batteries and motor, transmits energy	Metal	.02
5	Motor Ledge	Prevents the motor from dislodging due to vibrations	Connects to motor and inside of the exterior sleeve	Hard Plastic	.05
6	Rubber Exterior in-between Components 3 and 10	Covers unsightly gap between components	Connects the outer sleeve covering batteries and the outer sleeve covering motor, mainly aesthetic in function	Rubber	.02
7	Bottom Motor Lodge	Connects batteries to motor and stabilizes motor	Connects motor and batteries, helps transmit energy and keep motor from dislodging	Plastic and conductive metal	.08
8	Motor with Copper Coils and Exterior Walls	Powers Device	Connects to batteries and frothing rod, creates motion necessary to power machine while taking energy from batteries, heart of device	Metal, Copper Wire, Plastic, Possibly others?	.30
9	Interior Metal Motor Cover	Protects motor from exterior pressure	Covers sleeve, acts as barrier	Metal	.08
10	Exterior Plastic Motor Cover	Protects motor	Connects to motor, acts as barrier to outside, farthest exterior	Hard Plastic	.10
11	Frothing Rod	Provides Twisting motion to allow frothing	Connected to battery and coil	Metal	.09
12	Frothing Coil	Froths the milk	Connected to circular end of the frothing rod	Spring	.09
				Total Cost=	$1.38

 

Expensive Frother Questions:

2. Pushing the button on the end causes the rod to twirl in a counterclockwise spin. When introduced to water (or milk, though I had none) it creates rapid movement and generates bubbles. Effective.

 

3. Affordances- There is 1 button that compresses. It is intuitive and easy, no signage needed.

Mapping- There is 1 button to control main function. It is intuitive and there is no need for labels.

Feedback- It is annoying that you must constantly apply pressure to get continuous frothing. It vibrates less, but is still annoying to the wrist.

 

4. Strengths- It is easy to use and froths well.

Weakness- Constant compression is needed, making it taxing to use for extended periods of time.

 

Through disassembly of the devices, I have learned that there is very little difference between the expensive and inexpensive models. It is a relatively simple machine, basically a motor, batteries, an exterior, and the frothing rod. The interiors of these basic machines are not as complex as I thought. It takes away a little bit of the fear around breaking and not being able to fix technology. As to the difference between the high end and Ikea models in regards to price, they aren’t different. Maybe the motor runs a little better or is more stable as the high-end one had less vibrations, but overall they were not too different to manufacture. You would do just as well with the cheaper model.

My device

My Device

 

1 straw connects twisted twist tie. A brass brad connects the two together. Total cost $.04.

 

By either twirling the straw, rubbing it between your palms or blowing through the straw, you can create bubble in the milk. The twirling like a spoon is the best as it gets a result closest to the motor-powered frothers, but all methods are pretty ineffective.

 

Affordances- The fact that there are three ways to move the machine, one of which I didn’t even think about until later, means that device is not intuitive. The straw has no clear directions. The only intuitive, I think, part of the entire device is which end goes into the milk.

 

Mapping- There is no clear place or distinction of any of the pieces. Most people could infer that you twirl the straw, but some might choose to blow through the tube. The fact that they are simple functions, though, make this a little better as one can figure it out with a bit of experimentation.

 

Feedback- For the rubbing, it does not have enough friction. The straw plastic slips out of the hands. It is possible that after a few uses the coil might need changing or at least restructuring.

 

Strengths- It is very cheap to produce and easy to repair or replace, depending on the damage. It also has three different ways to froth, allowing people to do whichever they desire.

 

Weaknesses-It is not very effective. The milk doesn’t froth well. The materials are all very flimsy; it would not last many uses.

 

In order to improve the device, I would probably switch to some sturdy materials. I would want to give the coil more edges to create more bubbles in the milk. I would also include a hand grip that allows easier twirling and rubbing.