Project overview: Internal research showed our main competitors in the countertop oven category gaining more market favorability due to enhanced features, better price points, and stronger UX.
The solve: Introduce a new type of internal accessory (the Flex Pan) as a key innovator along with a new expansion of features and requirements (Dual Cooking, proper Flex Pan usage, and turning Secondary cooking modes into Primary modes).
My role: Lead design work on the new countertop oven, translating new market features into a cohesive and intuitive user experience that would overall regain market share.
KitchenAid Countertop Oven Redesign
⏱️ 26% decreased task time in cooking a standard meal
🧠 52% increased understanding of Flex Pan placement
📈 46% increased usage of Keep Warm as a primary mode
✅ 84% task completion of Air Frying with the Flex Pan
Dual Cooking
An early feature exploration from the marketing team was on how to cook two different foods at the same time, the advantage here being a countertop oven that can cook a full, complex meal. When concepting, I had to take into account zone differentiation and hierarchy, as well as offering intuitive pathways to swap between the two zones.
Initial Explorations
Flex Pan and Zone Differentiation
A key focus was educating users on proper Flex Pan usage. The Flex Pan is a deep tray with a slitted insert that enables larger foods to be cooked in the upper cavity — essential for modes like Air Fry and Air Grill to prevent burning.
While the Flex Pan can be used anywhere in the oven, it's required in the upper rack for air frying. This stems from a design and budget constraint: the convection fan sits directly above the upper cavity, meaning food on any standard tray would contact the fan and burn. Repositioning the fan wasn't feasible for mass production costs. The challenge was guiding users on Flex Pan placement and its limitations without feeling restrictive of their cooking preferences.
Visual aid of Flex Pan in top rack working with the convection fan for optimal air frying
Rendering of the Flex Pan and insert
Primary vs Secondary Modes
Primary modes (12 total) operate independently, while secondary modes function as add-ons — Keep Warm, for example, requires an active primary mode like Air Fry. Through competitive research, I noticed most market alternatives allow secondary modes to function independently as well.
I led the effort to build out primary versions of secondary modes alongside their existing functionality. This gives users faster access to key features and more flexibility when coordinating the oven with other appliances for complex meals.
Research Insights
After some beginning iterations, we proposed a research initiative with a panel of around 20 participants. The initiative was twofold:
Card Sorting Exercise - Accessory and cavity placement preference for common cooking tasks
Prototype Test - Understanding of current HMI and accessory setup on simple task flows
Example of a participant’s card sorting answers with common foods and desired placements.
Post the initiative, 3 main points came into being.
The middle rack is seen as the universal default for consistency and safety: The middle of the oven was seen as the "safest bet" to ensure an "even cook" from the top and bottom elements. Most users discussed proper heat circulation meant needing equal space above and below their food.
Instinct and expertise outweigh suggested labels: Participants indicated that instinct and established mental models are prioritized over provided labels on optimal food placement. Even when told the Flex Pan in the top rack was the most optimal for air frying, some users had doubts they would use that position.
Users don’t see dual cooking as a necessary use case: While users would like to maximize the cavity space of their oven, most scenarios were on cooking more of the same type of food vs. two different ones. If dual cooking were actually to be implemented for a more complex meal, it would be with another kitchen appliance (grill, stovetop, etc.)
Design Post Research
The challenge was putting user flexibility first while still surfacing Flex Pan guidance. Revisiting our competitive audit, I noticed convection heating was common across many appliances — so if we already had it built in for air frying, why not extend it to more modes? This opened the door to broader cooking options while allowing us to surface optimal and suboptimal suggestions. My new direction reframed convection as an independent, user-controlled toggle.
Key Takeaways
HMI design as a new frontier
Designing for physical products is more similar to digital than you'd expect — same team structure, sprint cycles, and key collaborators. The biggest differences lie in cost sensitivity and research timing. Adding a single button or dial has real manufacturing implications at scale, so I made a habit of looping in marketing and industrial design partners early to stay within budget.
Research also had to be fully completed before launch. While iterative methods still applied — focus groups, prototype testing, quant validation — shipping a product and gathering post-launch feedback simply wasn't an option. Everything had to be right before hitting the sales floor.
Listen and rely on your research
As stakeholder requests grew, our research made it clear that users defined 'better' as 'simpler' — prioritizing intuitive cooking flows over new features. I used these insights to refocus our design efforts and realign stakeholders around a north star that truly served the user.