Milk Frother

Milk Frother 

How it Works 

After turing the frother on, it is easy to infer that a motor is used to create a small vibration. This method works very well and creates many small milk bubbles. 

By looking at it, it is easy to figure out the affordances (switch), mapping (arrows for batteries) and feedback (the device turning on). This device is small, light weight, and easy to use. However it is also very brittle and not ver ergonomic. After taking apart and laying out all of the parts, I got a better understanding of how it works. A small motor near the top of the device is a attached to a small whisk, that is kept in place by two small pieces of medal. The motor is battery powered and turns on and off by means of the switch. 

I have labeled each part and created this spread sheet to explain the purposes more effectively:  

After taking the frother apart and examining each piece, I have learned that I know very little about manufacturing and product design. However, I hope this class helps me understand  these concepts.

Higher-End Device 

The more expensive milk frother feels sturdier and has a more comfortable feel. However this is probably attributed to the cost difference. As well, it is far larger than the Ikea version. However, in my opinion, these difference do not justify buying the high end milk frother over the ikea one. Especially since they both work just as well. There is a $17 price difference between the two. I would buy the Ikea one. 

My Milk Frother

After testing the milk frother Sarah and I made in class it is obvious the Ikea frother works much better. In order to use ours' you have to twist the handle while employing an up and down motion. This gets very tiring. As well, the frothe created is very little and disappears quickly. There is not any mapping or feed back on our device, however the handle is any example of a affordance. Personally, I think there should be an arrow drawn around the handle so it would be obvious to twist while mashing, but there was not the proper time to complete this. This device is mostly made of plastic, and so would be cheap to make. However, it requires quite a bit more labor than a normal frother. The improvements I would make focus on the neck of the device: because of the limited supplies, we had to use lego pieces to build it. Through out using the device the pieces would disconnect. This got rather annoying. I would also make the handle more comfortable.