Feedforward Toaster: Design mapping for expressive use

This pictorial presents the design and design process of the Expressive Toaster, a research through design case that explores the mapping between the way the toaster is used and the way the bread is toasted. The Expressive Toaster is characterized by a textured cover that can be stroked to set the temperature as well as the duration of toasting. On the other hand, the texture enables the user to feel what the bread will become in terms of its crispiness. Some key insights taken from the iterative design process of the Expressive Toaster are elaborated in a visually annotated manner. With this work, we aim to provide practical design pointers for developing interaction mappings of expressive input to a delayed output over diverse modalities. We further intend to inspire design engineers to shift from function and menu based interfaces to expressive rich and other embodied mechanisms for interaction.