Prediction
- What is the purpose of this product? To froth milk and increase its volume.
- How does it work? You put the frother in the milk and turn it on so it will whisk the milk rapidly.
- What market was it designed to appeal to? Anyone who likes foamed milk in their coffee or in general.
- List some of the design objectives for the product. It’s very light and easy to hold so it’s accessible to a large audience.
- List some of the constraints that may have influenced the design. Cost might have influenced the quality of the materials used.
- Observation
- How do you think it works? – The switch starts an electrical connection between the motor and the whisk which causes it to rotate.
- How does it meet design objectives (overall)? It is a very simple design – the only visible pieces on the frother is the tiny steel rod, the small coiled spring at the end, the black handle, and the switch.
- Why is it designed the way it is? I believe having less visible parts makes it much easier to understand how devices work.
- What affordances, mapping, and feedback can you identify? Affordance: the switch is curved and has ridges which indicates that the user should turn the switch left or right instead of pushing down. Mapping: The whisk should be pointed downwards, not to the side or upwards, into the milk as indicated by the design.
- Test
- Operate the device and record observations about its performance in terms of functionality (operational and ergonomic) and projected durability. It’s easy to use and is able to fulfill its task quickly. It is also quite durable thanks to the hard plastic handle which covers most of the parts.
- Discuss how well (or poorly) it fulfills its task. It works very well. Our milk had increased to twice its volume in less than two minutes.
Now, consider your own device.
- Describe its function. Discuss how well (or poorly) it fulfills its task, in comparison to the Ikea frother. It fulfilled the task of frothing the milk. It did not increase the volume of the milk as quickly as the IKEA frother, but there was still foam.
- What affordances, mapping, and feedback did you identify?For those who are familiar with shaker bottles, it is probably easy to understand that the bottle needs to be shaken in order for the milk to be frothed because of the shaker bottles that are on the inside as well as the lid. However, those who are not familiar with either milk frothers or shaker bottles might have a harder time understanding what they should do first.
- What are the strengths of your product? What are the weaknesses? It did successfully foam the milk but there was also quite a bit of milk that spilled out.
- How would you change your device to improve it? I would make a seal of some sort just to make it more spill proof.
Ikea Disassembly
- Batteries (x2) – provides power – $0.50 each
- Plastic cases (x2) – covers up and protects underlying parts. – $0.50 each
- Switch – turns on electrical current, attaches to one of the metal plates – $0.25
- Metal plates (x2) – continues electrical current (iron) – $0.25 each
- Motor – provides electrical current and attaches directly to whisk to move rod. (plastic + copper) – $5.00
- Plastic Cap – covers up the end of the handle. – $0.25
- Small rubber tube – connects rod to handle. – $0.10
- Rod + whisk – extends the whisk into milk/beverage (iron) – $1.00
- Small plastic tube – connects whisk to coiled spring – $0.25
- Small coiled spring – attaches around whisk to effectively foam milk. $0.25
Total cost: $9.60
Overall this product is super convenient and I can’t think of anything that I would change. What I learned from disassembling this product is that many products that have simple layouts such as milk frothers, smart phones, etc. contain a lot of parts all of which have crucial functions.