Luis Reyes's profile

Refrigerator TM 13cu.fts Whirlpool

Luis Reyes
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This was one of my last projects that I did in Whirlpool and one that I am most proud of.
The project was very challenging as it was developed during the economic crisis of 2009-2010 and there were many challenges to overcome besides the economic.

This project was the first to implement the new Global VBL of the Whirlpool brand.
Also involved the development of a new global platform that required the participation of a big and great multidisciplinary and multi-regional team that I thank them very much for their support and hard work to overcome the challenges of the project and made it real:

Juan Ramos / Design Manager in Mexico.
Augusto Rizzolo & Bertha Aguirre / Mkt team / Mexico
Ryan Bradley / Global Design Integrator / USA
Camila da Rosa and all the Technollogy team / Brazil
Fabio Moneta / CFM Specialist / Italy
Sushant Jena / Design Lead / India
 
The project was developed with a  very close interaction with the Marketing team to meet the needs and the opportunities of the market and to offer the product that the consumer really requires.
The product is currently in production with a volume of 295K units per year and 13 skus (including 11cu.fts, 12cu.fts and 13cu.fts) in the market, just in Mexico.
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
Another remarkable point of the project was the close interaction with the UX team that did a great job in developing an efficient interior layout based on extensive studies focus on the user.
The final result is a roomy and clean interior with a good space distribution even though the platform is small. Most surprising was that the layout in the 13 cubic feet model is so efficient that it even had better storage capacity than some 22 cu.ft models on the market*.

* In tests conducted by the UX team consisting in measure how many products can be storage in each compartment.
Despite the bigger volume of the products (22cu.ft), these had small compartments or dead spaces without practical utility.
** The picture below is not about the test.
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
One of the challenges was the exterior control.
As this is not a hi-end product, the control had to be economic, nothing fancy but functional.
Again, the UX team together the Engineering team did a great job developing an efficient control that gives to the user all the functions for the best use of the product.
 
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
As it was a multi-regional project, each region required adaptations for their specific trends, likes and market needs, but the Global VBL and the design intent keeps along the regions.
In the picture below, the tropicalized design for Asia, whose implementation was greatly performed by Sushant Jena and his team in Whirlpool India.
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
And every project starts with an idea and a conceptual design. Sometimes the final design changes a lot due to many factors, sometimes most of the design keeps until the final product. I think the main idea of the design keeps in this case.
Here are some pictures of the first concept.
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
appliance design refrigerator design White line design kitchen design whirlpool design Consumer product design
Refrigerator TM 13cu.fts Whirlpool
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Luis Reyes's profile

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Luis Reyes's profile
Tokyo, Japan

Refrigerator TM 13cu.fts Whirlpool

Refrigerator TM (11cu.ft - 13cu.ft) for Whirlpool Mexico. This was a very challenging project for many factors, starting because it was develope Read More

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