NEST : The development of functional furniture as product convergence

Abstract

This report deals with developing functional furniture for single-person households as product convergence. As times change, the number of single-person households is increasing globally, especially in Western Europe, North America, and Northeast Asia. As a result, the size of houses is getting smaller, which means that people do not need huge pieces of furniture. According to previous studies, single-person households generally have space limits, and members of these households want to utilize resources efficiently. To reflect this, companies are releasing a lot of furniture and products to target single-person households in the market, such as built-in appliances, transformable furniture, and multifunctional products. According to this trend, this project aims to develop suitable functional furniture for single-person households. To suggest suitable functional furniture for single-person households, an analysis was conducted. By doing this, the needs and wishes of those living in single-person households could be obtained. As a user study, 20 members of single-person households were interviewed, which took approximately 65 minutes. A focus group interview was conducted, which consisted of two sessions. For the first session, participants were asked questions regarding multifunctional products and furniture, and for the second session, they were asked questions regarding the experience they want from their space. As a result, it was found that they want to utilize their space more efficiently, and they want to rest in their space. Additionally, they want to invite their friends to their houses. Through further research, it was found that they spend their money on maintenance fees. In sum, this project tried to develop a product that could save their maintenance fees by redesigning existing heating appliances. There are two problems with existing heating appliances. Firstly, they are seasonal. This means that they occupy space even though they are not used in certain reasons, such as summer. This creates problems for single-person households, which have space limits. Secondly, some large heating appliances are energy consuming compared to small and local heating appliances, especially in Korea, Japan, and some parts of China. This is not suitable because members of single-person households want to utilize their resources, such as money and energy, efficiently. Designing a heating appliance so that it can be used as a stool allows members of single-person households to utilize their space more efficiently because they can still use the appliance even when they are not using the heating function. Furthermore, they can provide an extra seat for their visitors. A mood light function was added because they said they wanted to rest in their houses. A feedback session was held to get some feedback from the participants regarding this heating stool. They gave various opinions. In particular, they wanted to be able heat their lower body parts with this heating stool. They not only preferred the mood light function, but also many other functions. However, only the mood light function was applied. To make a mock up, the exterior of the stool was chosen from among various sketches and 3D models. The heating wire was densely inserted into the stool. Finally, the LED mood light was installed based on the need derived from the user study. After the prototyping, a user evaluation was conducted to evaluate the stool in terms of usability and users’ emotions. As a result of the evaluation, the following refinements were made. First, the user needed to be able to control the temperature of the stool. Second, the stool needed to heat up more quickly after the power was turned on. Third, proper feedback regarding the temperature of the stool needed to be given to the user. Through this project, we designed the heating stool as a product convergence, and we hope to contribute to the users in the following ways. First, it will enable the users to utilize their space and energy more efficiently. Second, it will be aesthetically pleasing to the users. Third, it will enable the users to provide a seat to their visitors who drop by. Most importantly, users will be able to utilize the stool as they please to have a positive experience. For example, they can dry their wet clothing quickly or put their feet on the stool to warm up. Additionally, they can use it as a mini table to prevent their food from getting cold. We expect that we could quickly manufacture large quantities of this stool to provide a positive user experience to more users.