KitchenAid

As the Design Studio Manager for the KitchenAid brand, at Whirlpool, I was responsible for the leadership, and creative-direction, of a 20+ member multi-disciplinary product development team, including Industrial Designers, Human Factors Engineers, Graphic/Visual Designers and CAD Modelers. Our team was responsible for the design and development of a global portfolio of premium major, and countertop, appliance suites.

KitchenAid Pro Line Electrics

The KitchenAid stand mixer is a design icon. Its cast metal components and robust mechanicals have made it an heirloom-quality product for generations of families. The Pro Line series was envisioned as a halo suite of products that would deliver on the promise of quality established by the stand mixer. I managed the development program, and personally designed several of the products. The KitchenAid Pro Line suite represents the "best-of-breed" in terms of performance, quality, materials and design.

KitchenAid Pro Line Waffle Baker

This waffle baker's cooking surface rotates, ensuring that every nook and cranny is filled with batter during cooking (like a restaurant-style appliance).

KitchenAid Pro Line Burr Grinder

KitchenAid's distributor, in Europe, is Alessi. As Europe was a major market for this product, I used several of Alessi's more whimsical designs as inspiration.

KitchenAid Pro Line Espresso Machine

This program was a collaboration with the legendary Milano-based Gaggia. Our team designed the machine from scratch, using Gaggia componentry.

KitchenAid Pro Line Espresso & Grinder

These two products were conceived, from the very beginning, as complimentary to one another, with the hope that a user would purchase them as a set.

KitchenAid Pro Line Coffee Maker

I took the inspiration for this product from restaurant-style coffee makers from the 1950's.

KitchenAid Pro Line Toaster

The toaster borrows its basic mechanical design from restaurant-style toasters (like Dualit in the UK), while its design language is entirely KitchenAid.

KitchenAid Pro Line Ice Cream Maker

Our team worked with the leading commercial ice cream machine manufacturer to create an entirely new category in the consumer market.

Pro Line Design & Development

The team chose a “best-of-breed” approach, selecting OEM/ODM suppliers that were leaders in their respective industries. The challenge was that nearly every product was manufactured in a different part of the world. In addition to designing the products and developing robust documentation, my team spent countless hours on the ground, collaborating directly with the suppliers to ensure that our design intent and brand attributes were maintained.

KitchenAid Pro Line Coffee Maker

Concept sketches and early 3D CAD development - John Ledingham, Whirlpool Global Consumer Design

KitchenAid Pro Line Burr Grinder

Concept sketch and 3D CAD development - John Ledingham, Whirlpool Global Consumer Design

VBL Guidelines

Visual Brand Language Guidelines & Documentation - John Ledingham, Philip Thompson, Whirlpool Global Consumer Design + Ziba Desgin, Portland, OR

VBL Guidelines

Visual Brand Language Guidelines & Documentation - John Ledingham, Philip Thompson, Whirlpool Global Consumer Design + Ziba Desgin, Portland, OR

VBL Guidelines

Visual Brand Language Guidelines & Documentation - John Ledingham, Philip Thompson, Whirlpool Global Consumer Design + Ziba Desgin, Portland, OR

CMF Documentation

Color Material & Finish documented in the form of color palettes, by suite.

KitchenAid Commercial Series Major Appliance Suite

In order to more effectively compete with “super-premium” appliance brands, like Wolf, Sub-Zero and Viking, our team was given a clean sheet of paper to create a new suite of commercial-quality appliances. This was an opportunity for KitchenAid to do some very meaningful soul-searching. Our design team embarked on a journey to re-learn who our users truly were, who our future users could be, and how best to tap into their passions. The result is a collection of truly thoughtful, timeless and beautiful products.

KitchenAid Commercial Series Suite

The commercial-style range was the heart of the suite. The benchmarks were Viking and Wolf, but with the addition of more user-friendly features, superior dependability, and better performance.

KitchenAid Commercial Series Suite

3D renderings of the entire collection.

KitchenAid Commercial Series Suite

All in the details - our research told us that well-designed user touch-points were the most critical contributors to an overall perception of quality.

KitchenAid Commercial Series Range

This rendering shows the cast grates, high-powered burners and advanced (for a commercial-series range) GUI.

KitchenAid Commercial Series Refrigerator

The benchmark was Sub-Zero, but with the addition of more user-friendly features, superior dependability, and better performance.

KitchenAid Commercial Series Outdoor Cooking

There were many different variations of this suite (multiple grills, outdoor refrigerators, etc.), based on an easily platformed set of components.

Commercial Series Design & Development

Our team started the design process by posing a very simple question to users: "Does KitchenAid have permission to play in the super-premium space?" We utilized many research methodologies, including contextual inquiry and ethnography (returning to the same users over time), to arrive at the answer, which was ultimately "yes", with several caveats: Perceived quality needed to equal that of the Stand Mixer, and surpass that of competitors. Touch-points needed to be flawlessly executed - knobs, handles and all moving parts needed to feel heavy and precise, and the UI intuitive and contemporary, without taking away from the heritage-inspired design. The program ultimately followed a very traditional product development process (Discovery, Definition, Design and Delivery), with an emphasis on insight gathering and story-telling.

Discovery and Definition

We started the journey with discovery and definition. This was our opportunity to truly understand the user and his/her needs. This information was used to craft the scope, and goals, for the program.

Development

This phase focused on conceptualization, formative research and validation.

Delivery

This phase focused on refinement, manufacturing liaising, documentation and summative research.

Formative Design Research

Our team worked with BMW Designworks to build a full-size model of a potential future KitchenAid commercial-style range. We took the model to a variety of venues, allowing users to compare the model with existing KitchenAid products. The goal was to measure users' level of "permission" for KitchenAid to enter the super-premium space.

Brand Architecture

The Commercial Series was positioned above the most premium offerings from KitchenAid's legacy portfolio. This led to new messaging and marketing.

Design Governance

Because of the large number of products and SKUs in the suite, defining and documenting the design rules was critical to platforming and repeatability.

KitchenAid Europe Major Appliance Suite

This suite of major appliances was a collaboration between the US-based Design team, and the European Design Center in Cassinetta Italy. I was the creative director, working both in the US and in Italy. KitchenAid electrics have been sold in Europe for years and have been extremely popular. Major appliances, on the other hand, have been a tough sell for KitchenAid. European kitchens are traditionally smaller than those in the US, and a heritage-inspired American brand isn't a natural fit with European architectural tastes. This suite successfully combines the simple geometry of contemporary European kitchens, with subtle details from KitchenAid's design language.

The kitchenAid User & Brand

In 2006, Whirlpool acquired Jenn-Air. As a result, Whirlpool now owned two similarly positioned premium brands; differentiating the two would be key to their survival. The Jenn-Air Design Manager and I worked with our partners, in the Whirlpool Brand organization, to craft two very different stories about the brands and their users. These stories were based on authentic insights, gathered through ethnography, contextual inquiry and participatory design activities. Working with key influencers, like chefs and cookbook authors, our "Friends of KitchenAid” enthusiast panel and independent end users, we were able to paint a picture of two very different and relevant brands.

In Our Users' Own Words

The way our user describes his or her passion for cooking, food and entertaining. This is the starting point for understanding our user.

Brand Persona, pg. 1 of 2

This is not a traditional persona. It is a personification of the brand; i.e. if the brand were a person, this is who it would be. This "caricature" is an amalgam of many very real "Home Enthusiasts"; users we met through our team's research activities.

Brand Persona, pg. 2 of 2

Because KitchenAid products live within the home, it was critical for the design team to be intimately familiar with our users' environments. We visited countless homes across the country, from Chicago to Marin County, CA.

Brand Positioning

An illustration of how the high-level Brand Position is manifest at an emotional, rational and product/portfolio level.

The Brand Promise

An illustration of the KitchenAid Brand Promise, and the "reasons to believe" that make the brand authentic. High-level aspirations are cascaded down to tangible portfolio offerings and product characteristics.

Brand Architecture

This is a very simplified version of the KitchenAid Brand Architecture. The design team used this document nearly everyday, as a reference, to ensure that design characteristics, features and experiences didn't overlap from one suite, collection or brand to another.

Other Design Work at Whirlpool/KitchenAid

A collection of programs, completed during my tenure with Whirlpool/KitchenAid, that don't fit neatly into one of the categories above.

Fun Cold™ Dorm Refrigerator

This small, whimsical, fridge was the genesis for the PLA line of appliances, a collaboration between Whirlpool and Best Buy. The fridge is easily customizable using inflatable "wraps".

KitchenAid Super-automatic Espresso Machine

This machine was designed using an OEM platform from a Swiss manufacturer.

KitchenAid Architect Series Espresso Machine

This machine was designed to fit in small spaces, like studio apartments in densely populated urban environments.

KitchenAid Architect Series for Macy's

This line of countertop appliances, for Macy's, was designed to compliment the Architect suite of major appliances.

KitchenAid Architect Series Coffee Maker

This coffee maker received very wide distribution and was extremely well received - even at a higher-than-average price-point.

KitchenAid Architect Series

This enormous program included a tremendous number of SKUs spanning several product categories. Architect Series has always been KitchenAid's "cash cow", so getting it wrong was not an option.