Appliance Design - June 2008 - (Page 12)

I Twenty First Annual EID Winners Look Smart, Work Smart Highperformance designs display high style. oday’s designers must conquer many conflicting challenges. The products that they develop must differentiate themselves from the competition while simultaneously achieving similar objectives, such as energy efficiency and ease of use. The winning entries in the 21st annual Excellence in Design competition are products that meet such demands. The designers behind the winning products have found a way to produce sophisticated technology that is intuitive to use, and presents itself with an eyecatching appearance. Balancing the need for increased functionality without creating a level of complexity that confounds the user is a tough trick to pull off. Sometimes tradeoffs need to be made, and good designs are evidence of good decisions. Most importantly, many of the winning products in this year’s competition tackle the time constraints faced T by both consumers and professionals, who need to work smarter, better, and faster. Many of the winning entries employ a combination of high technology and wellthought-out usability features to meet those demands. Entries for this year’s competition were slotted into one of several categories. Winning entries were recognized with a Gold, Silver, or Bronze award. The winners are not evenly distributed across categories because there was no predetermined number of awards established. The idea was to recognize excellent product designs, regardless of how many or few a given category produced. An independent panel of three experts in the field of design evaluated the entries based on four criteria: aesthetics, human factors, innovation, and technical merits. Information on the judges can be found on page 20. < by larry adams Electronics GOLD The Tatung VOIP Phone from the Tatung Co., Tucheng, Taiwan, and its industrial design firm Nova Design Co. Ltd., Xizhi City, Taiwan The Tatung VOIP phone is designed to be intuitive to use, especially for new users, children, and the elderly. The simplified user interface features a clear display keypad that has touch sensor operation that simplifies the function key and keypad. EID Juror Seth Orsborn called it a counterexample to the current ‘feature avalanche’ in most consumer products. “By only providing the necessary features, the interactions become intuitive and easy to accomplish,” he says. The phone comes in a basic geometric shape with a square cutout that simplifies the form element and makes it easy to grab and carry. Rounded edges soften the phone’s appearance and enhance user comfort, according to the company. A sleek and retro style antenna appearance emphasizes its wireless nature, and, according to Orsborn, differentiates this from other similarly looking products. Key players: Design team at Nova Design Co. Ltd. 12 applianceDESIGN June 2008 www.applianceDESIGN.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

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Appliance Design - June 2008 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch 21st Annual Excellence in Design Winning Designs Combine State-of-the-art Technology with . . . Meet the Judges Design Marts Fans & Blowers Mother Nature Has Her Own Ideas About Designing for Fluid Flow . . . Using CFD Simulation Software Early in the Product Development . . . Electronics Digital Signal Controllers Enable Digital Motor Control . . . Classifieds Meetings Advertiser’s Index Association Report: AHRI

Appliance Design - June 2008

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