North Olmsted, Ohio…Think about the home of the future. What does it look like? What are its capabilities? And most importantly, how do the items within the home fit seamlessly into our everyday lives, while still communicating our sense of style and personality? At Moen, designers considered these questions and more when creating the revolutionary new Wi-Fi/cloud-based shower experience, U by Moen™ shower. Each technological element in this new system was crafted to ensure a flawless user experience, allowing consumers to expertly create shower that is right for them, exactly how they like it.
While the technical design of a connected home product like U by Moen shower is of utmost importance, Moen took thoughtful design a step further, ensuring the physical appearance of the shower is just as impeccable.
“The physical design of the U by Moen shower controller is a separation that leans visually and conceptually away from ‘water faucet’ hardware, toward a tech-based control panel,” says Steven Ward, director of global design, Moen. “This design semantic accurately communicates what the device’s actual function is, which goes far beyond merely mixing water temperature and regulating pressure.”
The controller’s design is reminiscent of high-end audio electronics, with more elevated appearance best demonstrated by its pure, minimalistic rectangular form. Designers purposely selected the sleek, metal-and-glass finish, to evoke a luxurious feel, a key design consideration.
“Terra-Beige,” our finish color of choice, is a European exterior automotive finish that is exactly neutral without being too boring. It fits well with cool chrome adjacent shower hardware, as well as warm oil-rubbed bronze,” adds Ward. “The controller’s versatile finish allows consumers to incorporate the product into their homes, regardless of the design aesthetic.”
Designers focused on human factor considerations to drive the controller’s key shape for size and visibility in the shower. They created illumination symbols with low-light environments in mind. The pressure and feel of the switches came from benchmarking premium automotive electronic controls with a high-quality feedback attribute.
“We wanted to develop a luxurious shower experience in both look and feel, while making it completely customizable to the user’s needs,” says Ward. “All of these thoughtful considerations are what sets Moen apart and make the U by Moen shower the shower of the future – available today.”