Project lead and innovator of Pet Hair Filter Feature for Samsung’s Top Load Washers for the US and international markets. Samsung launched Top Load Washers with the Pet Cycle in August 2023.
How might we relieve pet households from their ultimate pain point- removing pet hair from their household fabrics?
As an Innovation Manager at Samsung Electronics America’s Product Innovation Team (PIT), I was assigned to lead the project for the top load washing machine range. The company was establishing a new manufacturing plant in South Carolina and approached PIT to offer a compelling innovative solution and harness the opportunity offered by the plant’s new tooling requirements.
A few years earlier, an innovation from PIT India became a global success. It was called ActiveWash that addressed the user need to do pre and post wash touch ups on a top load washing machine. The innovation offered a tap and basin feature that allows soaking and scrubbing surface to resolve stain issues. Inspired by the innovation’s global success, PIT US wanted to redefine the concept with much advanced solutions - calling it ActiveWash 2.0.
The project that started with the intention to create the next version of an existing solution, soon took a dramatic turn to address a much bigger and unmet user need that had not just local but also global implications. A project that triggered other innovative projects within the department and brought company’s attention to the big subject - PETS!
Problem
The need for laundry is largely driven in US households by kids and pets, to clean tough stains and remove pet hair. As more and more US households open doors for pets, the owners are also exposed to increasing number of challenges to deal with, with washing being a major one.
Pets shed hair seasonally or perennially – compromising the owner’s quality of life as it impacts everyday fabrics that people wear and use in their homes. The need to remove pet hair is currently unfulfilled in the market and there are no effective solutions available to solve for the same. Kids on the other hand, are stain magnets soiling clothes with food, dirt, spills etc. There are currently no washers available in the market that effectively remove tough stains through powerful pre-treatment.
ROLE
Project Lead and Innovator for Samsung’s Top Load washing machines, Industrial Design, Stakeholder Management
Teams
Product Planning, R&D, Innovation Concept and Planning, external design & research agencies
PRODUCT
Torrent (Top Load Washing Machine)
TIME
6 months
COMPANY
Samsung Electronics America, California
BACKGROUND
As shared, the ActiveWash’s basin feature was an Indian innovation that became a global success. Samsung US needed a localised innovation that suited the US consumer needs. At PIT US, we initiated the project by conceptualising the advanced basin feature that offers a dual wash opportunity for the growing athletic wear (athleisure) need of the Americans. The feature would allows small load of athleisure wear to get washed gently and separately - along with the rest of the load.
With the drop down ‘basket’ concept in mind, I (along with the support of the ID team) experimented to create a number of quick and dirty prototypes to understand the impact of water inside the basket. While experimenting with the hard surface baskets, we realised that the movement of water at the centre of the drum was quite weak. As we didn’t want to propose a solution to modify the pulsator movement to achieve optimum water agitation at the centre for the drum, we decided to explore the soft surface basket solutions to achieve better water/clothes movement.
Quick and dirty functional prototypes created to test water agitation (washing capability) achievable inside the basket
However, by the end of the quick and dirty prototyping exercise, we were not able to get the get the results that we expected. It was not possible to achieve acceptable results unless we modify the pulsator movement and create a lengthy exercise for R&D. Instead, we started looking for something out of the box - even if it meant addressing a new user need. Fortunately, our request to convert the project into a fully funded New Concept Development exercise was accepted by HQ and were granted a budget to conduct fresh research, hire external agencies to partner with us and create compelling innovations.
Secondary research
New concept development project starts with a desk research as a preliminary step to investigate the user needs. The exercise helps in developing a point of views which later can develop into hypothesis. Such hypothesis are quite critical as they provides the structure that helps in a productive field research. It also provides the basis on which the discussion guide can be developed with precise and clear questions for the end user to answer. While developing the hypothesis, we also validate the business value proposition. This is achieved through market research and various online resources like statistica, business insider etc.
One of our hypothesis was based on the stain issues. The solutions offered in the market were not helpful in stain removal and users had their workarounds to address the issue eg. keeping variety of brushes beside the washer to deal with stains. The best way to share and test such hypothesis is by building Sacrificial Concepts. These are visualised form of preliminary concepts that have a clear value proposition. The objective of such concepts is not to zero down upon the concept right away and start developing the concept, instead its about understanding presence/absence of user resonance with the issue.
Sacrificial Concepts
I created sacrificial concepts for the stain removal hypothesis, while the hired external design agency also created a few at their end. For the stain removal concept, I created 3 different design forms that allows water jet and scrubbing solution.
Primary research
The response to the sacrificial concepts for stain removal was positive and as expected, it has been an age old problem in every households (more so with the kids households).
Understanding user responses using sacrificial concepts during the in-home interviews. Inset: Conducted passive camera study to understand user behaviour in the real environment.
An Exciting Discovery
The key to a good field research is to keep all the sense open and to keep an eye out for something more than what meets the eye. Fortunately, we came across a household that had a high number of wash loads, not because of kids but a relatively a new entrant that has become a family member of majority of households in the US i.e. Pets.
The stark difference in the number of loads and washing chores between the pet and non-pet households was quite evident and opened new opportunities for innovation. Such a discovery in the field triggered the need to have a deeper investigation focussed on pet households only.
Need for an Additional Primary Research
The surprise find of pet hair pain point need more substantial proofs and deeper research. For the same, an extra primary research became highly critical. After convincing get HQ for the time and budget, I ran another round of pet households using the company employees and personal network. I conducted in-depth research on another 5 pet households that had variety of pets from cats and dogs to rabbits and hamsters. The research unearthed new pain points and unmet consumer needs.
research synthesis and workshops
Workshops were conducted with the project stakeholders from HQ (product planning and R&D), marketing, innovation team and external agencies (design and research) to share the field learnings and to analyse the data.
The Insights
The objective of the workshop was to also share the insight with the team, have consensus and to conduct a preliminary ideation session to have generate concept based on the insight and design principles.
1. Pets are the new kids
America has largest number of pet households in the world. Out of 126 million households in US, there are 54 million households with kids and 60 million with pets. There are about 27 million households with pets and kids – both impacting laundry immensely due to pet hair and stains.
2. Households with pets have higher frequency of laundry
Pet households wash almost double the number of laundry loads as compared to households without pets. Its not only the everyday wear but also the bigger sized laundry (dog beds, blankets, towels, couch covers etc.) that get impacted by pet hair.
Design Principles
To create concept that supports in stain removal utilising the active wash basin area.
To generate concepts that support in pet hair removal - with or without the use is active wash basin.
Concept Generation
The preliminary concepts were generated and segregated into the Pet Hair and Stain removal categories. Different options to pre and post treat the fabrics under the two categories were explored.
After multiple rounds of reviews, two concept directions - a. Floating Filter b. Wall Filter were shortlisted for further development under the bigger Pet Hair Filter umbrella. Below is the detailed description of the second direction i.e. Wall Filter
The Concept
Before conceptualising the pet filter features, an understanding of the fluid dynamics inside the wash drum was indispensable. I spent hours observing and documenting the water movement during the wash, spin and rinse cycles of the ActiveWash washing machine. The inspiration for the pet filter concept came from a 25 year old filter design. As a kid, I was intrigued by the lint filter of our first washing machine at home. It had a hanging mesh that used to collect lint as the water flowed through it during the wash cycles. Based on the same idea, I imagined if it was possible to radically redesign the filter in such a way that it allows for a larger volume of water to flow through it (as pet hair are bigger/longer than lint) and then use a sieve to catch the pet hair.
The basic concept that came to mind was to project the filter into the drum, allows bigger ducts for water inlet and provide flap, instead of mesh, to work like valves - forcing water to flow only in one direction and collect pet hair. The pulsator in a top load washer moves the water is clockwise and anticlockwise fashion and therefore, the valves of the pet filter should utilise the existing water flow to enter the filter using this two directional water movement.
The innovative working principle of the concept is as shown below, beside the then existing magic filter based on a different mechanism:
Design Hypothesis
Concept Development
In a typical New Concept Development project, the project deliverables include the research, insights, user needs and 3 concepts proposals in 3D showcasing the idea and working principle. The concepts are then handed over to R&D in the Korean headquarters and the department develops the concept further based on the leadership feedback.
However, the periodic restructuring of the company left the future of the project hanging with no assurance that this concept, that I truly believed in, could see any further development. In such a scenario, I took the responsibility to go above and beyond to craft the proof of concept and prove that it can actually work.
Image above: Rigging the ActiveWash machine with camera and lights to observe and capture the water flow through the pet filter. Developing the pet filter in the workshop, using existing magic filter’s front sieve part.
Proof of concept
Developed proof of concept in the prototyping lab using the front part of the existing magic filter. The mounting box at the back was remodelled and 3D printed. The valve design took 3 iterations to arrive at the right solution. Finally, a complete assembly was created to be tested in the actual environment i.e. in the washer drum during a wash cycle
From left to right: Utilising the existing magic filter’s front (sieve) part with a 3D printed mounting box at the back. The front part has flaps on both sides that work like valves - to water to pass through them, block the other end and force water through the sieve. The complete assembly is a simplified construction of front sieve, side valves and back mounting box.
Testing
After creating the functional prototype, it was time to test the capability of the concept. For the same, an actual front load washing machine was used within the facility. In order to present the authenticity of the concept, the washer was rigged with camera and lights. The pet filter valves needed 3 iterations before achieving the optimum results.
From left to right: The pet filter getting docked in the washer drum using industrial strength velcro strips. A laundry load with pet hair is put in the drum and given a quick wash cycle. The pet hair get captured by the filter by the end of the cycle.
REcommendations To Product Planning
While conducting the experiments, there were few modifications that were found to be better suited to dislodge pet hair from fabrics and thus, enhances the pet filter performance. A proposal was made to include the new Pet Cycle on the washer UI that incorporates the two modifications in the existing wash algorithm:
10 litres of extra water intake for the wash cycle
25% longer pulsator movement during the wash cycle
Project presentation and appreciation
The project and proof of concept was presented to the CEO of Samsung’s Home Appliances, Mr. H.S Kim during the concept fair at the South Korean headquarters. I was invited by the ICP team to present the idea to R&D team at HQ. The concept was highly appreciated by the leadership and was recommended for the next top load washer launch.