Usability Study: Fisher & Paykel Intuitive ECO

Three weeks ago I had a new washer and dryer installed. While excited for new appliances, I was also worried about the complexity of these Fisher & Paykel machines. No longer will my clothes be cleaned on permanent press, delicate, and regular cycles. Now they will experience the cleanliness of "allergy" and "sweaty" cycles, or I can trust the washer to sense what type of cycle my clothes need. I have always been about appliance simplicity. Give me on and off and I'm good to go, however, this washing machine has become my favorite appliance. I enjoy washing clothes now and find myself doing smaller loads of well-sorted clothes instead of cramming in everything I can fit. This washing machine is almost perfect. There are two problems, which for me are minor:

1. I frequently press the wrong button when flipping through menus trying to select a Lifecycle. It's not too big a deal because I am able to correct myself and I don't lose much more than a couple of seconds stepping back to select the correct cycle.

2. Every fourth load or so, I either forget to put the detergent into the agitator stem (I looked up the name of this part in the user guide for this blog entry) or I forget to replace the fabric softener dispenser before adding the softener into the agitator. I know the clothes still get clean when I pour detergent directly on them, but I'm not sure how the mix of softener and detergent affects the wash quality.

My troubles with the washer left me wanting to know more. Would other users also have these problems? Do the problems persist as users work with their machines over time? As someone who only reads user guides as a trouble shooting mechanism, I wonder, would other users read the guide to learn how to use the washer they way it was intended to be used?

I devised a study with a series of phases to learn more about the usability of the Fisher & Paykel Intuitive ECO washing machine.

Phase #1
Trying out a Lifecycle - new users
For this phase, people unfamiliar with the washer will adjust the settings and start a comforter cycle. They won't be asked to add detergent or softener. The major rationale behind splitting up the wash task is that I feel a bit funny asking people to do a load of my laundry when they come over. It seems somewhat strange to me. If I ask them to just do part of the task, it doesn't take them as long and they (hopefully) won't feel like they are doing a load of wash as guests in my home.

The first phase is already underway with four users having already evaluated the comforter cycle. I'd like to evaluate at least three more people before moving on to phase two.

Phase #2
Adding detergent and fabric softener - new users
During the second phase, new users will be presented with a washing machine loaded with clothing and asked to add detergent and fabric softener. Ideally, I'll stick to people who have some experience with fabric softener, but I'm not sure this experience would affect the study results.

Phases #3 & 4
Using a Lifecycle and adding detergent/softener - experienced users
Beginning with the third phase, things start to get complicated. I only know three other people who use Fisher & Paykel machines and I don't believe they are the Intuitive ECO. Since this is just a study for fun, I'm not compensating participants, so recruiting becomes more of a challenge. I'd also like to watch several loads so I can see how persistent certain problems are, if they are problems at all. I suppose, as I'm getting quite used to remote studies, perhaps I could do this over the phone, or ask my participants to set up a video camera and record their laundry process over a few weeks. That could get interesting.

I will post updates as interesting data presents itself. I have no idea how long it will take and I'm not putting a deadline on this research right now. I think I'll let things evolve as the study progresses. I have to thank Whitney Hess for inspiring me to get back into evaluating of the usability of items that aren't part of my job. I can always learn a thing or two in my personal life as well.

For more information about the Fisher & Paykel washing machine I'm evaluating, check out Intuitive ECO and if you're curious, download the user guide (PDF) from the company's Web site.