九号创新：在深圳某老旧小区，七十岁的陈奶奶家里用着同一只电饭煲整整十一年。直到孙子带来新款要给她换，老人摸着熟悉的煲体说：”这个盖子开合的声音，跟我老伴在世时用的一模一样。”这个看似偶然的共鸣，背后是产品设计团队对声音品质的执着追求——他们为此调试了四十七种阻尼材料，才找到那个让人安心的开合声，这是来自产品设计的温度。
@NINEIDEA九号创新 www.nineidea.com
热场设计的均衡之道
“米饭能不能在锅底形成均匀的黄金色锅巴，是检验热场设计的试金石。”资深工程师林工指着热成像图解释。他们团队花费八个月，通过在煲体内胆底部设计1280个微凸点，让热量像涟漪般均匀扩散。这个看似简单的改进，让普通大米也能煮出带着竹香的口感。
蒸汽控制的精准博弈
最让团队骄傲的突破，是解决了困扰行业多年的冷凝水难题。设计师小王在一次蒸包子时获得灵感，在内盖设计了22度倾角的导流槽。”这个角度既能确保冷凝水顺利回流，又不会影响蒸汽循环。”现在，他们的电饭煲在蒸煮模式下，冷凝水控制精度达到0.1毫升，这个数字让日本同行都前来取经。
清洁维护的人性考量
“真正好的设计，要考虑到产品生命周期里的每一个接触点。”九号创新的设计总监说。他们团队将传统的一体式内盖改为三段式可拆卸结构，每个连接点都采用磁吸设计。这个改动让清洗时间从原来的15分钟缩短到2分钟，上市后用户好评率飙升32%。
细节之处的温情守候
在九号创新的样品间里，陈列着历代电饭煲的拆解件。其中一个细节特别引人注目：电源接口处的防水胶圈，被特意设计成醒目的橙色。”这不是随意之举，”设计师解释道，”当胶圈老化需要更换时，这个颜色能提醒用户及时维护，避免安全隐患。”
这些看似微小的设计选择，恰恰体现了产品设计的真谛：不仅要让产品更好用，更要让使用者的生活更安心。当陈奶奶说”这个电饭煲懂我”时，就是对产品设计师最高的褒奖。
Temperature in Product Design: 320 Details in a Rice Cooker
NINEIDEA: In an old community in Shenzhen, Grandma Chen, 70, has been using the same rice cooker for 11 years. Until her grandson brought her a new model to replace it, the old man touched the familiar pot and said, “The opening and closing sound of the lid is exactly the same as that used by my wife when she was alive.” This seemingly accidental resonance is behind the persistent pursuit of the product design team for sound quality – they debugged 47 kinds of damping materials for this purpose, and then found the reassuring opening and closing sound.
The Balanced Way of Thermal Field Design
Whether rice can form a uniform golden colored crust at the bottom of the pot is the touchstone for testing the design of the thermal field, “explained senior engineer Lin, pointing to the thermal imaging map. Their team spent eight months designing 1280 micro protrusions at the bottom of the pot’s inner liner to evenly spread heat like ripples. This seemingly simple improvement allows ordinary rice to be cooked with a bamboo fragrance.
Precise game of steam control
The most proud breakthrough for the team is the solution to the long-standing problem of condensate water in the industry. Designer Xiao Wang was inspired during a steamed bun and designed a 22 degree angled guide groove on the inner lid. This angle can ensure the smooth reflux of condensed water without affecting the steam cycle. Now, their rice cooker has a condensed water control accuracy of 0.1 milliliters in steaming mode, which has attracted attention from Japanese peers.
Human considerations for cleaning and maintenance
“A really good design should consider every contact point in the product life cycle,” said the design director of NINEIDEA. Their team has changed the traditional one-piece inner cover to a three-stage detachable structure, with magnetic attraction design at each connection point. This change reduced the cleaning time from the original 15 minutes to 2 minutes, and the user satisfaction rate skyrocketed by 32% after its launch.
Warm waiting in the details
In the sample room of NINEIDEA, the disassembled parts of rice cookers of all ages are displayed. One of the details is particularly eye-catching: the waterproof rubber ring at the power interface is specially designed in a striking orange color. This is not an arbitrary action, “the designer explained.” When the rubber ring needs to be replaced due to aging, this color can remind users to maintain it in a timely manner and avoid safety hazards
These seemingly small design choices precisely embody the essence of product design: not only to make the product more user-friendly, but also to make users’ lives more secure. When Grandma Chen said, ‘This rice cooker understands me,’ it was the highest praise for the product designer.
