Defining luxury TV viewing for the Chinese market
Industry
Consumer Electronics & IoT
Service Line
Industrial Design
Overview
Hisense Co., Ltd. is a Chinese major appliances and consumer electronics manufacturer, and one of the most well-known TV brands in China. Since 2014, Hisense has been one of the pioneers in designing and developing laser TVs. The brand is positioned in the premium laser TV market with their leading 4K HDR picture technology. The most stunning offer from Hisense is their 100-inch 4K HDR with a list price of $19,999.
✓ 1 final design developed into production and launched in the Chinese market in July 2020
✓ User-centered design method as a guide, ideated key product features based on premium users’ value propositions such as luxury, hi-tech and exclusivity
✓ Created spectacular vibrant experiences by embracing users with a second-screen feature, lifting sound bars and fine touch of premium materials
✓ Further evolving the Hisense laser TV’s design language
✓ Built detailed 3D CAD models to support look-like and work-like mock-ups
The idea
Hisense owns the most advanced laser TV technology and aims to develop and launch its next-generation flagship laser TV in 2020. They were looking for industrial design partners who could co-create and design it to meet their high expectations on innovation and design excellence. The end-game of the collaboration is to launch Hisense’ laser TV 100L9, which is the benchmark of luxury viewing experience and the only choice in the ultra-premium TV markets.
Project
Star and Hisense team closely collaborated on this challenge and aimed to create the best-in-class industrial design for the next-generation Hisense laser TV 100 L9. The project covered three main phases: design research & ideation, design refinement and design detailing. The two teams held co-creation workshops involving designers, engineers and product managers in all phases. We began by analyzing the needs and lifestyles of premium Chinese users, studying relevant products in premium markets and exploring design directions for ultra-high-end products. The two teams explored various design directions together, such as Moving Stage, Pressed Metal, Premium Frame and Translucent. We iterated and refined the concepts by using 2D sketches and 3D modelings. Two final designs were considered in Hisense’ product development pipelines. One was launched in July 2020 and the other with a more advanced design will be developed for the next product launch.
Project scope
- User research
- Design exploration with 2D sketches
- 3D modeling & rendering
- 3D detailing for mock-ups
Technology
- Rhinoceros CAD program
- Keyshot
- Photoshop
