Consul Design System
Establishing a reference product as the baseline for next generation products.

Consul is one of the most iconic brands in Brazil with presence in more than 50% of the Brazilian homes.

The company realized that the brand was not following the evolution of its target consumers. Families changed, as soon as their homes and lives, and Consul products were still too functional and tied to old market orthodoxies. Also there was no sense of family identity and visual alignment among the products.

PROBLEM

We had the chance to lead the sensorial experience of the Experience Brand Language for Consul to translate the look and feel into a product design standard based on updated brand values and guidelines. We designed a conceptual product that was the model reference for every project developed for the next generation of products on Consul’s roadmap.

PROCESS

By deep understanding the restrictions and limitations of each product architecture and working in close relationship with engineering, marketing, and supply chain teams, we established the design references for the next generation of products. Consul was evolved into a contemporary and youthful brand in the market.

Deep Dive Exploration of User Personas

We interviewed 27 people across 3 regions of Brazil to gain an understanding of the cultural differences between regions’ usage of kitchen and laundry appliances. From our interview findings we developed 2 personas: the working couple and housewife.

User Experience Flow Refinement

We map the users’ journey to better understand the user and localize areas along the way that could be improved upon.

After searching for conceptual and visual references to describe the proposed design attributes, we translated our findings to sensorial elements like smell, sound, and sight. The intent was to balance which attributes were stronger in each experience phase for a richer, more refined flow.

Reference Map Creation

We established the X-Ball, a generic form factor that served as a reference of the journey we were designing for the real products in our portfolio. We described with this ball the entire design process and why every decision was made until we got to the final design.

Product Guidelines

We established product guidelines to summarize what defines the new Consul experience so that teams outside of design would have a consistent product story. 

RESULTS & IMPACT

Through our collaboration, we helped Consul introduce contemporary, youthful positioning to their traditional brand in the market. With a deep understanding of the restrictions and limitations of each product architecture and working relationship with engineering, marketing, and supply chain teams, we established design references for the next generation of products.

The X-Ball had a global impact as it was used as the reference design for Across in Mexico and the Indesit line in Europe.