Lavazza Voicy Coffee Machine by Florian Seidl

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DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

FS : Voicy is the first espresso machine with built-in voice assistant.

DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

FS : A smart product combining quality coffee with functions provided by Alexa - all in a beautiful and innovative device.

DI: What are your future plans for this award winning design?

FS : The product had a limited, but very successful production run.

DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

FS : The complete product development from initial concept to product launch took about 20 months.

DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

FS : Lavazza wanted to explore a new type of user interaction with this particular product.

DI: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

FS : The appliance has been developed by Lavazza in Italy.

DI: What made you design this particular type of work?

FS : We were looking to integrate the voice assistant and the speaker appropriately and make sure it plays a significant role in the design of the product.

DI: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

FS : The product was designed and developed internally. There were several different design proposals and the most promising one was further developed for production.

DI: Who is the target customer for his design?

FS : This is a very specific product and we're aiming especially at a young and modern user group - early adopters who are interested in new user experiences and fantastic coffee.

DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

FS : The built-in voice assistant allows for a unique user interaction.

DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

FS : The name was developed by colleagues from the marketing department.

DI: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

FS : The design process involved everything from analog and digital sketching to 3D modeling, mock-ups and prototypes.

DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?

FS : As mentioned before, Voicy is the first coffee machine with built-in voice assistant.

DI: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

FS : The design was developed by the small in-house team in collaboration with colleagues from the technical department.

DI: What is the role of technology in this particular design?

FS : Technology really is the main differentiator in this case. We wanted to explore how a digital voice assistant might improve the user experience in our own product category.

DI: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

FS : The design was developed based on market analysis, the target group and relevant trends.

DI: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

FS : It was quite challenging to integrate the voice assistant into our own development process.

DI: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

FS : Design competitions play an important part in communication. They help in product and brand positioning. This is why we submit our products to these competitions.

DI: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

FS : We learned how to integrate a user experience that might be considered a bit of a stretch compared to our standard coffee machines.

DI: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

FS : That's all.