Joint efforts by Cesaroni Design and The West Bend Company created a new product design introduced to the housewares industry. The Cesaroni Design product design firm determined that significant product differentiation could be established through effective interface design.

We performed a competitive feature analysis to feed the development process with valid design inputs. Then we developed full size styling models of different component configurations for focus group testing. 

Model testing and user inputs drove the basic functionality and industrial design opportunities. The design team angled user interface components for better viewing at countertop height. We developed a horizontal door instead of the top lid seen in the competition. This design strategy made it easy for the consumer to remove the bread pan. Competitive products also featured vertical bucket-like bread pans. We created a bread pan shaped more like a loaf that consumers would use for baking.

This small appliance is aesthetically and mechanically designed with overlapping plastic joints. These forgiving joints reduced manufacturing costs and rejection rates.