The lack of product styling may be apparent, but it’s actually for a reason. This toaster was designed without planned obsolescence in mind. While most products are designed to have a birth and a death and then eventually be discarded for a newer model, the Repairable Flatpack Toaster isn’t… and it encourages users to build their own toaster and then maintain/fix it, effectively extending its lifespan infinitely.
Toasters, like most appliances, are designed to make sure that only expert technicians can take them apart (smartphones and laptops follow this trend too). However, the Repairable Flatpack Toaster is designed in a manner that it encourages its user to tinker around and be able to replace components easily. In fact, it comes flat-packed, and the user has to assemble the product from scratch.
When users build products from scratch, they form a bond with the product, not wanting to discard something they put effort into (IKEA relies on this emotional connect to translate into customer satisfaction). The Flatpack Toaster is designed with the same principle in mind. After all, if you can put a product together, you can pull it apart and fix it too, right? And you’ll want to… because you’re attached to something you built from scratch.
Designer: Kasey Hou
