Severin FILKA

Redesign of filter coffee machine interface,
SEVERIN Elektrogeräte GmbH, 2023

All rights and product ownership belong to SEVERIN Elektrogeräte GmbH.

Challenge
& goal

While users praised the coffee quality, the interface caused frustration. Our mission, therefore, was to redesign the user interface and maximise the user experience within the hardware limitations.

"The instruction manual is a joke. [...] some of the pictures are anything but self-explanatory... Fortunately, there is YouTube."

"It really hurts how to devalue a good product through such poor operating instructions"

Amazon Customer reviews Filka 1.0

Context

This project was done at GENERATIONDESIGN GmbH for the client SEVERIN Elektrogeräte GmbH. I worked as a UX designer alongside the project lead Kevin Klöcker in a two-person team.

User segmentation

FILKA's diverse target audience required detailed user segmentation in order to identify specific needs and requirements. We created distinct user journeys for each segment, discovering hidden opportunities and highlighting areas where user expectations did not align with the current UX.

We consolidated overlapping opportunities across all four user groups, clustered them by touchpoints with FILKA, and prioritized using the MoSCoW method.

Ideation

Creating user flows enabled us to analyse and visualise individual functions such as keep-warm, brew strength adjustment and cleaning modes. Based on the opportunities identified, we optimised the user flow and developed initial wireframes for button layouts and screen content.

user testing

Two interface concepts were developed and tested using interactive Adobe XD prototypes in a task-based, unmoderated online A/B test with over 100 participants. The testing focused on comparing two button layouts:

A: Minimalist approach with nested functions.

B: Comprehensive display of top-level features.

Key test results (N=104):

97% overall satisfaction rate
Interfaces perceived as simple and intuitive, Icons were clear and understandable
Users prefer core functions visible at top level (concept 1)
Brew strength should be easily accessible, not buried in settings
Room for improvement in menu navigation logic and wording

Outcome

Following several iterations informed by usability testing, we delivered a comprehensive hi-fi wireframe for developer handover. The redesigned interface introduced contextual feedback, a clearer information architecture, and surfaced frequently used features. A streamlined onboarding flow and context-aware displays improved usability. Post-launch feedback confirms intuitive handling, validating the data-driven design approach:

"The operation with a selection menu in several languages is excellently solved."

"The operation is quite simple and intuitive, the display guides you well through the appropriate programs."

Amazon Customer reviews Filka 2.0