what's out there, what's not
I've been trying to identify different users and environments for compact fridges (I've started using the industry lingo). For instance, retailers offer the following suggestions for where you might want to use your compact fridge:
+ dorm room
+ studio apartment
+ marine
+ mobile home
+ garage
+ rec room
+ outdoor pool / patio
+ office
+ restaurant / food service
+ lab / medical /pharmacy
+ ADA counter /assisted living home
Why are some compact fridges better for certain contexts? Here's some of my findings and impressions:
Summit and a few others manufacturers offer compact fridges designed and advertised to fit under ADA counters (32 inches high). Some of these fridges (particularly the top-of-the-line models) have unique designs which seem well suited for people trying to use compacts as full-size fridges.
Summit Professional SPDS 3 drawer is ADA compliant, designed for under-counter use. Price: $1599.00
Custom/interchangeable panels, stainless steel doors and fine finishes seem most appropriate for certain office, marine, mobile home apartment and home uses where appearance is imporant.
The GE Monogram 2.5 cu.ft. is a top-of-the-line compact that accepts decorative panels. Price: $1199.00
Features such as exterior controls, front ventilation, door latches and locks, cooling fans and thermometers appear well suited for people who are mounting them under counters, for specialty applications (e.g. medical), or for people who like features for the sake of features.
The Norcold 1.7 cu.ft. is designed expressly for mobile and marine applications and features front ventilation, exterior controls, door latch and a cooling fan. Price: $609.99
I found a few compact fridges that are geared towards game rooms, tv rooms, patios, etc.
The Maytag SkyBox Rookie Fridge 2.8 cu.ft., designed with rec rooms in mind, features castors and a top compartment for drinks or food, as well as interchangeable sports panels.
The Soleus Party Fridge Cooler also features castors, as well as flip up table and racks, so it can be used as a mini-bar. Price: $299.00
A few manufacturers offer compacts that come with attachable microwaves. These are designed with dorm rooms in mind. There is a rental service that rents these models to college students at IIT and other schools.
Microfridge 2.9 cu.ft. 3-1 appliance. Price: $469.99
Vertical beverage can storage and other interior configs designed with beverages in mind seem most appropriate for rec rooms, offices, dorms
The Danby DCR158W 5.4 cu.ft. features twin GenI canstor beverage dispensers. The picture suggests its well-suited for storing beverages. Price: $259.00
These products I've mentioned above are somewhat exceptional; most compacts are designed for more general use.
At a glance, these 1.7-1.8 cu.ft. compacts don't appear to differ much.
Nor do these 2.9-6.0 cu.ft. fridges.
Nor do these 2.9-8.3 cu.ft. fridges with true (separate) freezer compartments.
Crispers, beverage racks, chillers and separate freezers seem to be the major differentiators as far is interior configuration.
Notice that as far as interior configuration and shape, the compact fridges don't differ much from these 16-22 cu.ft. full-size fridge, aside from scale and number of compartments and shelves.
Thinking about users broadly, we might partition them into two groups:
(i) People whose fridges must hold many of the meals they eat and prepare themselves.
(ii) People whose fridges hold mostly snacks, beverages and leftovers.
Most compact fridges seem to be targeted at group (ii), where the majority of consumers likely fall. There seems to be a lack of fridges tailored to of group (ii) users.
The compacts that are being offered all seem to be scaled down versions of full-size fridges. For the users in group (i), this scaling may work fine. If someone has lots of the same item in their fridge (we might refer to these as uniform users) they don't need to go scrounging around as much, and so organization isn't as complex. Similarly, this is true if someone only has few items in their fridge (we might refer to these as sparse users). But for users in group (ii), who are trying to substitute a compact fridge for a full-size (we might refer to these as complex users), this doesn't seem to work as well because the quantity, size and diversity of the items being stored aren't scaled with size of the fridge.
I'm anxious to find more group (ii) users to talk with and observe.
+ dorm room
+ studio apartment
+ marine
+ mobile home
+ garage
+ rec room
+ outdoor pool / patio
+ office
+ restaurant / food service
+ lab / medical /pharmacy
+ ADA counter /assisted living home
Why are some compact fridges better for certain contexts? Here's some of my findings and impressions:
Summit and a few others manufacturers offer compact fridges designed and advertised to fit under ADA counters (32 inches high). Some of these fridges (particularly the top-of-the-line models) have unique designs which seem well suited for people trying to use compacts as full-size fridges.
Summit Professional SPDS 3 drawer is ADA compliant, designed for under-counter use. Price: $1599.00
Custom/interchangeable panels, stainless steel doors and fine finishes seem most appropriate for certain office, marine, mobile home apartment and home uses where appearance is imporant.
The GE Monogram 2.5 cu.ft. is a top-of-the-line compact that accepts decorative panels. Price: $1199.00
Features such as exterior controls, front ventilation, door latches and locks, cooling fans and thermometers appear well suited for people who are mounting them under counters, for specialty applications (e.g. medical), or for people who like features for the sake of features.
The Norcold 1.7 cu.ft. is designed expressly for mobile and marine applications and features front ventilation, exterior controls, door latch and a cooling fan. Price: $609.99
I found a few compact fridges that are geared towards game rooms, tv rooms, patios, etc.
The Maytag SkyBox Rookie Fridge 2.8 cu.ft., designed with rec rooms in mind, features castors and a top compartment for drinks or food, as well as interchangeable sports panels.
The Soleus Party Fridge Cooler also features castors, as well as flip up table and racks, so it can be used as a mini-bar. Price: $299.00
A few manufacturers offer compacts that come with attachable microwaves. These are designed with dorm rooms in mind. There is a rental service that rents these models to college students at IIT and other schools.
Microfridge 2.9 cu.ft. 3-1 appliance. Price: $469.99
Vertical beverage can storage and other interior configs designed with beverages in mind seem most appropriate for rec rooms, offices, dorms
The Danby DCR158W 5.4 cu.ft. features twin GenI canstor beverage dispensers. The picture suggests its well-suited for storing beverages. Price: $259.00
These products I've mentioned above are somewhat exceptional; most compacts are designed for more general use.
At a glance, these 1.7-1.8 cu.ft. compacts don't appear to differ much.
Nor do these 2.9-6.0 cu.ft. fridges.
Nor do these 2.9-8.3 cu.ft. fridges with true (separate) freezer compartments.
Crispers, beverage racks, chillers and separate freezers seem to be the major differentiators as far is interior configuration.
Notice that as far as interior configuration and shape, the compact fridges don't differ much from these 16-22 cu.ft. full-size fridge, aside from scale and number of compartments and shelves.
Thinking about users broadly, we might partition them into two groups:
(i) People whose fridges must hold many of the meals they eat and prepare themselves.
(ii) People whose fridges hold mostly snacks, beverages and leftovers.
Most compact fridges seem to be targeted at group (ii), where the majority of consumers likely fall. There seems to be a lack of fridges tailored to of group (ii) users.
The compacts that are being offered all seem to be scaled down versions of full-size fridges. For the users in group (i), this scaling may work fine. If someone has lots of the same item in their fridge (we might refer to these as uniform users) they don't need to go scrounging around as much, and so organization isn't as complex. Similarly, this is true if someone only has few items in their fridge (we might refer to these as sparse users). But for users in group (ii), who are trying to substitute a compact fridge for a full-size (we might refer to these as complex users), this doesn't seem to work as well because the quantity, size and diversity of the items being stored aren't scaled with size of the fridge.
I'm anxious to find more group (ii) users to talk with and observe.
posted by jamesjpierce at 10:56 PM
5 Comments:
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wow! great insight!
there are two really great hypotheses you've made in this post:
1. that people who are using compact fridges for all their cooking needs are underserved. this may point to an opportunity to create an appropriate food systems fridge for their needs. this will be an interesting one to research, but potentially difficult to locate a user. this may be a huge opportunity area, and one that might cross industry boundaries (partnerships with tupperware, brita, lunchables, etc)
2. that compact fridges serve a variety of environments. if you find that your (i) user group is too difficult to find, you could focus your (ii) user group research on the variety of environments these products are suited for. for instance, do pop can fridges only get used for this purpose? are manufacturers wrong about this? perhaps you can make a few hypotheses that these users are using them for more than their intended use and find it frustrating that the configuration isn't flexible.
really, really great progress James.
let's discuss more in class today.
L
Thanks for the clean breakdown of my post, Lucas. Maybe it would be a good exercise to filter out the important aspects of my longer posts, at the end of the post.
Great Work! Thank u for wonderful information.
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