Blog Assignment 5

When my team started project 4, we realized that a refrigerator is more than just a cold box that holds food. When a user looks at a refrigerator, yes, the top-level mental model is of a cold box with food inside, but there are layers of implications packaged within that model. A fridge is a staple of most established households, and thus a symbol of a certain level of achievement in life. This is important, especially in approaching a project where we intend to imbue a product with more than its usual physical attributes (i.e., a personality, interactive capabilities). Any personality would have to be designed to assist and build upon this mental model. If a refrigerator is also an affirmation of a certain status, its personality should follow the same lead.

For a designer, the concern with a refrigerator would be more on the functional side of the product’s implementation. First and foremost it is to be a cold box that holds food. Everything else is a secondary consideration. Luckily for the designer, a normal refrigerator comes with the status affirmation inherent in the product’s existence. However, for an interactive refrigerator, the designer would have to be careful to not design a personality that would be out of character for a refrigerator.