Effortless Cleaning

The technology around us have been evolving at a rapid pace for the last decades. It has changed our lives and allowed us to do so much more than before. Our lifestyles are full of short activities and interactions. We do whatever we want – whenever and wherever we want it. Yet we spend hours every week doing something that most of us dislike – cleaning. And cleaning hasn’t evolved at all.

This master thesis aims to change that – to change the experience of cleaning and to create pleasure throughout people’s lives. On behalf of the home appliances manufacturer Electrolux, a visionary concept for the future of cleaning was developed.

There have been several attempts to make cleaning easier. A number of different vacuum cleaners have for example been introduced over the years. However, user studies showed that none of the alternatives have been able to replace the traditional vacuum cleaner yet, and all of them bring displeasure to clean keeping. Cordless stick vacuum cleaners are clumsy and too complex – they are aimed to do more than they can handle. Furthermore, they look weak and incapable. Robotic vacuum cleaners are not capable enough and people don’t trust them.

The solution is in making what’s pleasurable about cleaning even more pleasurable. People were found to like the results of cleaning. Seeing, feeling and smelling the freshness is pleasurable, but unfortunately the results of cleaning don’t last because most cleaning tools spread dirt as well.

The visionary concept Halo creates a lasting clean impression. It rethinks the clean keeping human- machine system from the ground up by introducing a mesh of devices – all specialized and seamlessly working together. Halo shows a new path of purposeful cleaning products that are visible in people’s homes. It opens up for endless possibilities in a new era of smart products.