Abstract:
Microwave oven is one of everyday products with many types and brands offering similar
functionalities and capabilities. These similarities create tough competition, and in this case,
product usability and users’ emotional responses to product appearance often become key
determinants of purchasing decision. This research combines product emotions measurement and
usability testing to evaluate and redesign existing microwave products. Modified PrEmo was used
to measure positive and negative emotional responses of thirty participants to three different
microwaves. Usability testing involving eight participants was then conducted to the product
receiving the most negative emotional reactions. Through these procedures, usability problems and
product features that evoked positive emotions were identified and analyzed. The redesign of the
microwave encompassed its physical form, color, control panel, and display. Three redesign
alternatives were generated, each of which was evaluated using the previous methods. It was
found that all alternatives resulted in better usability and product emotions scores, where
alternative 3 produced the highest total (combined) score.
