Although microwaves have been around for decades, there are still many areas for improvement, as shown by the negative feedback of the microwave experience.
Some manufactuers have incorporated certain features and design decisions in their microwaves to help address some of the common complaints. Featuers like closed-loop sensor cooking eliminates the need to guess cook time and power, and dial-timer microwaves eliminate the confusion around touch buttons. However, neither of these microwaves are ideal for college students, as they are expensive (sensor cooking) or antiquated and targeted towards senior citizens (dial-timer).
By narrowing the scope of improvements to be made, we can redesign the microwave to addresse some of the major complaints, while still remaining affordable and suitable for college students.
To improve the cleaning process, our microwave incorporates plastic inserts that go inside the microwave compartment, onto the inner walls. These inserts slide into place, and are dishwasher safe, making them easy to remove and clean. Since there are just sheets of thin flexible plastic, they can be easily and cheapily manufactured, keeping costs down. They also don't take up much space, to handle size constraints.
To reduce confusion around the functionality of buttons, our microwave incorporates a toggle that dictates whether the numpad is set to timed cook or express cook. The selected setting is indicated by a small LED, which can be incorporated cheaply.
With these minor changes, the redesigned basic touchpad microwave can better serve the needs of its users, while still retaining the benefits of microwaves that users have grown to love.