The Janus
3-Way Coffee Maker
for Mr. Coffee. (Newell Brands)
Altitude, Inc. has a long-standing history of designing and developing a range of coffee makers for Mr. Coffee. Building on this ongoing partnership, Altitude was once again approached to create a 3-way drip coffee maker capable of serving three different vessel types: a 128 oz carafe, a travel mug, and a coffee mug.
The primary objective of this project was to design a SKU-extendable 3-way coffee maker that utilizes Mr. Coffee’s existing internal components while maintaining an outstanding user experience.
Challenge: Identify the Ideal User Experience and Translate It into Form
Mr. Coffee asked the Altitude team to design a new 3-way coffee maker using their already developed internal components while maintaining an outstanding user experience. Because the internal component layout could not be altered, concept exploration was highly constrained.
Despite this limitation, the design team explored various architectural concepts and conducted internal user testing focused on usability. The goal was to uncover a universally applicable user experience and translate those insights into the design of the new 3-way coffee maker.
Design concept development progressed based on this objective and insights gained from internal user testing.
Transform the Face for Different Purposes
“The Janus” is designed with a rotatable brewing head, allowing users to easily rotate it to brew coffee into different types of vessels.
This simple yet intuitive design feature enables “The Janus” to maintain the clean, minimal aesthetic that consumers are familiar with—avoiding a complicated or overly mechanical appearance, even while offering 3-way brewing functionality.
The sheet metal cosmetic parts on “The Janus” allow for simple SKU differentiation through various color, material, and finish options—or they can be omitted entirely for a more streamlined look.
A simple and approachable user interface located on the bottom base provides natural visibility and control at standard countertop height—no bending or leaning required.
With “The Janus”, your whole family can enjoy coffee together from a large-volume carafe at brunch, brew a quick cup into a travel mug for your morning commute, or make a single mug of coffee to savor on a slow Sunday morning.
* “The Janus” was one of the leading concepts, but it was not selected for production, as the client chose a different concept.
Design Team:
Joongoo Lee, Aaron Abroff (Industrial Design Lead) and Philip Leung (Project Manager) at Altitude, Inc.
Design Credit:
Mr. Coffee. (Newell Brands)
Altitude, Inc.