However, needs will differ according to country and culture:
After some research, industrial designers who wanted to design an efficient, easy to use, appealing household product i.e. a washing machine, realized that their product couldn't be globalized.
Why?
People in Southern Europe were generally less eager to use a washing machine that operated through a touch-screen system. This uneasiness was embedded in the common idea of past generations, that the connection of electricity to water wasn't such a good idea. They preferred washing machines operating through a simple knob, where they didn't feel that direct contact was made with wet hands to an electrical appliance.
In Nordic countries however, the idea of a touch-screen washing machine was more successful: the integration of modern technology into the household was met with enthusiasm. Here, a product which operated purely through a knob wouldn't have been successful on the market.
Northern-European countries are more used to using technology in everyday life.
In future, washing machines will be able to contact us by phone to informs us when are wash load is done
People in Southern cultures (Latin, Arabic, Asian), also named High Context Cultures (according to sociologist Edward Hall), put a great emphasis on visual information and how something is communicated. The big, heavy knob, makes the washing machine's purpose seem obvious and simple to use. Their brain is very sensitive to light, since the sun influences them so much in everyday life, making them more dependant on visual information.
One could call their perception of information romantically complex.
People in Northern climates, on the other hand (Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia...), or Low Context Cultures, like information to be clear-cut, precise and rational. Less sunlight is present in their regions, therefore their light sense within the brain is less utilized, than say, their sense of smell.
After some research, industrial designers who wanted to design an efficient, easy to use, appealing household product i.e. a washing machine, realized that their product couldn't be globalized.
Why?
People in Southern Europe were generally less eager to use a washing machine that operated through a touch-screen system. This uneasiness was embedded in the common idea of past generations, that the connection of electricity to water wasn't such a good idea. They preferred washing machines operating through a simple knob, where they didn't feel that direct contact was made with wet hands to an electrical appliance.
In Nordic countries however, the idea of a touch-screen washing machine was more successful: the integration of modern technology into the household was met with enthusiasm. Here, a product which operated purely through a knob wouldn't have been successful on the market.
Northern-European countries are more used to using technology in everyday life.
In future, washing machines will be able to contact us by phone to informs us when are wash load is done (curtesy of gettyimages)
This is because there is less sun present in these regions:People in Southern cultures (Latin, Arabic, Asian), also named High Context Cultures (according to sociologist Edward Hall), put a great emphasis on visual information and how something is communicated. The big, heavy knob, makes the washing machine's purpose seem obvious and simple to use. Their brain is very sensitive to light, since the sun influences them so much in everyday life, making them more dependant on visual information.
One could call their perception of information romantically complex.
People in Northern climates, on the other hand (Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia...), or Low Context Cultures, like information to be clear-cut, precise and rational. Less sunlight is present in their regions, therefore their light sense within the brain is less utilized, than say, their sense of smell.
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