A refrigerator does not need to be in the kitchen. Open-ended products that inspire freedom in use
Greater convenience, at a readily affordable price. In the manufacturing of mass products (products and other items made in a mass production system), which have continued to develop in the attempt to meet such wishes of consumers, the search for new value is progressing. One aspect drawing attention in this regard is how to design products that consumers can actively engage with, going beyond simply using the completed product to become actively involved in the process of making the product and uncover new and personalized ways to use them freely. What does this mean in concrete terms? How do we go about enjoying such products?
In this discussion, Sho Nozue and Tomohiko Sato, both of the Design Center, are joined by Yosuke Ushigome, who cooperated in research on giving form to the value born of such involvement. Together, they examine what it means to design an “open-ended product” and try to gain insight into the research process.
The images are of "half-houses"
An early example of the "open-ended products" concept is the "half-houses" project in Chile (Photo credit: ELEMENTAL).
Nozue: We are carrying on our research based on the hypothesis that "Giving consumers room to be involved in the uses and appearance of products and letting them take the initiative might become one axis for finding new kinds of 'excellence' in products." The name we gave to this hypothesis is "open-ended products." Along with Ushigome-san, I would like us to think anew about what it means to be an open-ended product, and how such products can be designed.
Quinta Monroy is a social housing project in the Republic of Chile (South America), where multi-unit houses are provided to residents in a half-completed state. The half-houses come with plumbing, electricity, and other essential infrastructure, such as water systems and electrical wiring; the remaining construction is left to the residents themselves to complete as they like, on their own desired time frame. The original intention was to reduce the costs to society; but the resulting appearance of the "half-houses" turned out to have a wonderful atmosphere, full of beauty quite unlike that of houses completed entirely by the designer. As I recall, I approached Ushigome-san about whether it would be possible to realize this atmosphere in products.
Ushigome: I still clearly remember about this photo. Over the past few years, we have begun to hear it said that the notion of what is "good," be it sustainability or the ideal vision of the future, in fact differs with the country, region, or culture. A pluralistic worldview having come to be valued, the design world is also seeking the meaning of "design for a pluralistic world." When Nozue-san approached me for the first time, I thought, this is truly an excellent theme for pursuing such questions.
Will the public accept mass products with non-guaranteed functions?
Ushigome: While I found the half-house concept quite interesting, I also had concerns as to whether the same idea could be pursued in mass products. In 2023, when we held a workshop to think about product ideas for encouraging people’s involvement, focused on vending machines, the differences between a house and ordinary products stood out, as you will recall. Whereas a house or other building is generally seen as something to be adapted in form to the residents and developed together, the view of a product as something provided with certain set functions is strongly established both in manufacturers and consumers.
Ushigome (left) pointing out that “What’s possible with a house becomes more difficult with a product”
Sato: I had the same concern from the beginning. People start out with a set image of products, like “This product is this sort of thing.” The question is, when we deviate too much from this, will people see the gap with this image as negative and decide they cannot accept it, or will they view it positively so long as there is an interesting story, and be able to accept it? One more factor is that if users can become involved in a product, this will heighten uncertainty regarding quality. A concern I have is to what extent this uncertainty will be tolerated. Should the focus be on fulfilling pluralistic needs even with the uncertainty about quality, or should the aim be to fulfill needs while maintaining a certain level of quality? In any case, at the stage where the product is first touched, an agreement needs to be built in as to the preconditions of the maker and user.
Three requirements of “open-ended products”
Nozue: Now that a number of points have come into view, such as the difference between a building and products, and tolerance for uncertainty, let us try confirming anew the concept of “open-ended products.” When asked what “open-ended products” are, we talk about three requirements, namely, their “room for involvement,” “encouraging involvement by removing the barriers for involvement,” and being “pluralistic.” It means making it easier to become involved in the processes up to completion of a product, and being able to create uses and value matched to each user.
The first requirement of an “open-ended product” is “Room for involvement.” Deliberately leaving some margin in form and function of products makes it possible for people to become involved in the process of bringing the product to completion.
Nozue: That said, leaving margin by itself will not give rise to involvement. To get actors* who are not experts to participate in the process, financial incentives, a compelling story or some other motivation is needed. This is “encouraging involvement.” In encouraging involvement, issues like reliability and quality pointed to earlier by Sato-san may come into the picture.
* What is an actor?
Someone who does not simply use a product but becomes actively involved in the product, including the process of bringing it to completion, and creating their own way of using it and new value.
When new actors become involved in the product development process, because the actors or the way they involve themselves may differ with the region and culture, the product can take on different forms and functions; moreover, different values can be delivered to different types of users. In this way, “open-ended products” are pluralistic, changing in various ways dependent on the context.
The second requirement of an “open-ended product” is “encouraging involvement.” By properly creating motivation, even people who are not experts become able to take part in the product development process.
Winning acceptance of deliberately “uncompleted” products
Nozue: I share the concern raised earlier by the two of you about “gaining acceptance.” Another way of looking at this problem, however, is that if consent is obtained for the preconditions, the barriers to acceptance may instantly be removed. This got me to thinking, how about trying to build such a product where such a culture is in place from the start? By creating something intended for a place where a value system open to this kind of involvement has already been developed, it should be easier to win acceptance. If, for example, you were to make a home appliance for an outdoor brand, I believe it would be completely different from anything up to now.
The third requirement of an “open-ended product” is “pluralistic.” As diverse ways of involvement grow, values become more pluralistic.
Ushigome: In other words, if you opened a refrigerator and there was no cold drink to be had, normally you would be angry; but if you took the refrigerator to a place with a culture open to value in a refrigerator other than “cooling things,” it might be accepted, right? Even so, when it comes to turning this thinking into an actual product, it may be quite difficult.
Nozue: A major issue going forward does seem to be how to go about gaining public acceptance for incompleteness in mass products that up to now have been thought of as completed items. The definitions we initially gave to “open-ended products” were “room for involvement,” “encouraging involvement,” and “pluralistic”; but it seems necessary to add the requirement of somehow building an ecosystem in which this incompleteness will be accepted.
New value made possible by the modular refrigerator Chiiil
The modular compact refrigerator Chiiil broke down the stereotype of a refrigerator
Nozue: The Hitachi product Chiiil is a refrigerator that I think may be a good case study for thinking about “open-ended products.” Sato-san, as you took part as a developer, could you give us a brief introduction to this product?
Sato: Chiiil was developed as a compact modular refrigerator that can be placed not only in a kitchen but in various locations, chosen based on your own preferences. Among the various uses, it can be placed in the bedroom to allow you to quickly grab cold water when you need it when you are thirsty, or in the dining room so that salad dressing or drinks can be taken out during a meal. The modular design means two units can be combined and laid out freely, such as side-by-side or vertically stacked. It comes in a choice of ten colors, thanks to a collaboration with the interior shop ACTUS, as a home appliance with an unprecedented level of freedom.
More than simply a compact appliance, I see Chiiil as a product that provides lifestyle choices. What was interesting when we asked users for their views is that, beyond the image we assumed of storing only foods, there were people storing cosmetics and other non-food items. Seeing it used in such ways, I thought that this is right in line with the pluralistic values noted earlier by Nozue-san.
Sato talking from the standpoint of developer about Chiiil as an “open-ended product”
Nozue: So it’s a matter of giving the consumer room to choose regarding form and also ways of using it, right?
Sato: Yes, I believe that is right.
Nozue: From my standpoint of not being the developer, I see the significance of Chiiil as the ability to change the product to match people’s lifestyle, as opposed to changing the lifestyle to match the product.
For children helping out with meal preparation, for example, having the refrigerator in a low position may make it easier to use; whereas if children are always opening the refrigerator just for the fun of it, putting it in a high place out of reach may be preferable. I suspect that the freedom of Chiiil enables it to support diversity of living styles, meeting use cases that makers of products up to now have left out of their assumptions when thinking about “ease of use.”
Ushigome-san, how did you feel seeing Chiiil?
Ushigome: I see Chiiil as a case very near to the “half-houses” idea. I doubt that the designer had in mind using it to store cosmetics. There are many more uses that can be imagined, like taking it to events, or using it in a disaster situation. Whereas up to now optimization to the assumed users meant making refrigerators increasingly larger, it turns out that making them smaller allowed more freedom of use. This presents a most interesting case study.
Providing value that was overlooked in the "standard"
Ushigome: What is good about Chiiil is that despite its small size, it is totally capable as a refrigerator. Also, while a certain amount of ingenuity is asked of the user, I believe it’s a low bar to clear. It strikes a really nice balance among marketability, room for involvement, and presenting a low bar for ingenuity.
Nozue: That’s true, balancing marketability and room for involvement is important. Sato-san, what thoughts do you have after developing Chiiil?
Sato: Among the factors in deciding to buy a refrigerator, as you would expect, capacity comes out at the top. That’s why as our main business we will no doubt continue to provide large-capacity models; but in addition to this, I suspect we will proceed on a second track as well, providing value in areas other than capacity, as with Chiiil.
Nozue: So this two-track approach has to do with the product vision?
Sato:That’s right. I believe that up to now, manufacturers have continued providing products that try to satisfy what people want in the things they buy. But this is different from manufacturing in the era of high economic growth. Both society and products have matured, with products becoming things whose existence is taken for granted. The trend I see in coming product development is that along with products supporting today’s lifestyle as infrastructure, a second track will be aimed at fulfilling pluralistic desires. As the level of consumer needs for what are considered life necessities has continued to rise, there is a feeling that the product features have become standard; but separate from that, I believe people are looking for different kinds of products aimed at pluralistic values.
Nozue: So what you see happening is that new product concepts are arising from desires that have been overlooked up to now in the standard assumptions about product functions.
From the notion of “open-ended products,” new possibilities are coming into view that can overcome issues with conventional products
Excessive standardization needs to be reexamined
Ushigome: That makes sense; I share the same view regarding products that satisfy pluralistic values. At the same time, I feel there may be a need to reexamine the things that are now becoming standardized.
In the case of large-capacity refrigerators, for example, there are potential problems like leaving the same foods in the refrigerator day after day, leading to food spoilage and unnecessary electricity consumption over time . Yet the products boasting large capacity are the ones that sell, so many manufacturers aim for this market, with technology development seeming to proceed in lockstep. What reaches the saturation point in the process becomes standardized. As a designer, I never want to forget addressing the question as to whether this is really the best situation.
Sato: Oh, that’s quite true; I feel exactly the same way.
Nozue: Of the problems that might be included in conventional products, besides the possibility of providing excessive value, there is also the risk that as some people get left behind in the process of standardization, an unnoticed division emerges between those who can use a product and those who cannot. As in the case of Chiiil, I believe this kind of gap may be filled by leaving up to each user the place and scenes in which a product is used.
Ushigome: With the existence of a product like Chiiil, then, as people come to realize that maybe a refrigerator does not really need to be so big, it would be nice if the standard gradually changes as a result.
In Part Two, we will look at how those who design “open-ended products” need to have ideas and ways of thinking that differ from those of conventional designers. We will talk about the role of the designer in giving birth to more pluralistic values.
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Yosuke Ushigome
Takram (at the time of the discussion in February 2024)
Specializing in futures research, digital prototyping, and interaction design, he designs for better-informed decision-making about our future. He has been involved in many projects that focus on the interplay among people, technology, and the planet. He received the 2018 Swarovski Designers of the Future Award. He has also written for design publications such as Core77 and ICON magazine.
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SATO Tomohiko
Chief Designer, UX Design Department, Design Center
Research & Development Group
Hitachi, Ltd.
After working in London on design and development of furniture and interior, he joined Hitachi, Ltd. in 2015.
In his current position, he designs and develops home appliances, with a focus on refrigerator development.
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NOZUE Sho
Design Lead, UX Design Department, Design Center
Research & Development Group
Hitachi, Ltd.
An industrial designer. After working on development of professional projectors, TVs and other information devices, as well as home appliances, he took up his current work developing railway cars. While stationed in the UK office for two years from fiscal 2022, he was engaged in railway car development along with this project. He assumed his present position in fiscal 2024.
