Electrolux Group recently challenged design students at the prestigious Umeå Institute of Design (UID) in Sweden to create home appliance concepts for people with disabilities.  

This is the seventh year of Electrolux Group’s cooperation with UID, in which teams of advanced product design students develop ideas in just three weeks. Under the design theme “Design for All Abilities,” four teams created unique products that are easier to use for people with disabilities, from deteriorating eyesight to arthritis. 

“These talented students really stepped into the consumer’s shoes,” said Timo Mashiyi-Veikkola, Electrolux group head of design research.

“They came up with creative solutions that not only made it easier for people with a range of disabilities to use, but also considered safety and aesthetics. These fresh ideas are inspiring and suit our Human Touch design philosophy. One important element of that is design with empathy and quality.”  In the top photo, student Sharvin Sawant simulates arthritic hands while testing a mock-up of the team’s design.

Read more about their ELVA design and the three other unique concepts below:

ELVA 

ELVA (Pictured top) is a semi-built-in hot beverage maker designed to reduce the risk of burns and require little arm strength. Lowering the pouring module minimizes the risk of hot water spilling, and the user selects the desired water temperature with a simple slider. Signals are acoustic and visual, not textual. 

• Team: Cheolhun Cheon, Leonie Schüttler, Sharvin Sawant, Jakob Höxterman

ALVA

ALVA is a dehumidifier whose top-positioned water tank enables effortless refilling. An ergonomic handle ensures a secure grip. The tank pops up when full and has a flat side so that it can be set down for emptying. The control interface is simplified; voice commands can operate it, and the companion app enables remote operation. It doubles as a drying rack. 

• Team: Thorben Westendorf, Yixin Zhu, Artyom Shpagin 

EASE

With a top-loading mechanism, the EASE oven eliminates the physical strain of bending and lifting required by traditional ovens. Users slide dishes onto a tray at countertop level and the oven lowers it into the heat cavity. It features single-button control, high-contrast lighting and clear visual indicators to enable an easier, safer cooking experience.  

• Team: Kiki Veenhof, Nils Heider, Linyue Zhang 

“It’s always rewarding to work with Electrolux Group on these design sprints,” says Thomas Degn, Associate Professor and Director of the MFA Advanced Product Design Program at UID. “It’s a real-world test of our students’ skills and helps us all imagine a better world through design.”  

Martin Alexanderson, Senior Design Lead Air Care, Timo Mashiyi-Veikkola, Director of Design Research, and Thomas Degn from UID lead the Electrolux Group collaboration with UID.  

The collaboration’s previous themes have included designs for an artificial intelligence-assisted home robot as the primary user (2023), single people living in small spaces (2022), and multi-generational homes (2021).