04. Moen Revolution - Revolution
Improving the shower experience with design engineering
When research proved that two-thirds of consumers were not satisfied with their showers, Moen knew they needed to provide a solution. The challenge was two-fold: create a compelling experience for people with different shower preferences, and communicate this at the point of sale.
To comply with US energy conservation standards, Moen could not simply change the force of the water stream. The new product needed to be engineered in a different way. To uncover frustrations with the shower experience, Continuum created a shower lab with an infinitely adjustable showerhead— giving users complete control over everything from water pressure to drop size and drop shape. In this setting designers and engineers were able to observe behaviors such as when people avoid the water and when they make setting changes. Noting the range of preferences, designers first worked with engineers to "design the water" (droplet shape and size, frequency, distribution) and user interface well before the showerhead itself. The resulting mechanism takes ordinary water, spins each drop, and then twirls the entire stream; this shower environment envelops users with larger drops moving at higher velocities so that they increased movement of the water drops creates the perception of more water and higher pressure. 
Designers avoided traditional radial dial controls around the showerhead as findings showed they are difficult to rotate with soapy hands and force users to reach into the water stream for adjustments. Instead, they chose to create a "clocking system" dial located below the shower stream, enabling the user to select a desired position visually via familiar clock settings that are easy to see and adjust with limited visibility and slippery hands. Branded the Revolution "Freedomdial," the showerhead offers an exceptionally wide range of settings. The environmentally friendly restricted-flow showerhead delivered phenomenal results. Within 8 weeks of introduction at one home improvement store chain, the Revolution Showerhead became their number one selling showerhead.
"Moen Revolution was an example of engineering the product based on the design. We worked in reverse to design the inner workings that would improve the shower experience."
- Kevin Young, Industrial Designer Related Content |