Platinum Home Appliances Design · 2022
Lavazza Voicy Coffee Machine
- A' Design Award 2022 Platinum Winner in Home Appliances Design
- Awarded April 15, 2022
- CLIENT: Lavazza
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 384,860
- Verification code 35F1210CF4 · Verify this award
About Lavazza Voicy Coffee Machine
Voicy is the first espresso machine with built-in voice assistant. A smart product combining quality coffee with functions provided by Alexa, all in a well designed and innovative device. The user can interact through the UI, voice commands, or use the app to check status, consumption, order coffee and, above all, make espresso. Innovation, functionality, and aesthetics in harmony to meet the needs of users who experience their coffee ritual in an increasingly personalized way.
The Lavazza Voicy Coffee Machine by Florian Seidl represents a significant achievement in the contemporary convergence of domestic appliance design and intelligent home technology, embodying the early twenty-first century's aspiration toward seamlessly integrated living environments. This work emerges from a design tradition that traces its lineage through the great product designers who championed the notion that everyday objects deserve the same formal consideration as fine art, transforming utilitarian machines into objects of aesthetic contemplation. The sculptural presence of this machine demonstrates remarkable compositional sophistication, its vertical silhouette anchored by the glowing cerulean ring that functions simultaneously as interface indicator and visual focal point, drawing the eye upward in a gesture that suggests both technological awakening and approachable invitation. The designer's material choices reveal thoughtful consideration of tactile and visual experience, the woven textile mesh covering the speaker module introducing warmth and acoustic transparency to an otherwise sleek technological surface, while the rhythmic horizontal striations along the body create visual rhythm that breaks the potential severity of the monolithic form. The integration of voice-responsive technology within the coffee preparation ritual speaks to broader cultural shifts in domestic practice, where the kitchen transforms from purely functional space into a hub of connected intelligence. The arched handle spanning the upper portion introduces an almost anthropomorphic quality, suggesting readiness and accessibility while providing practical portability. One might observe how the designer has balanced the imperatives of technological communication with the desire for domestic harmony, resulting in an object that announces its intelligence through subtle luminosity rather than aggressive display. The viewer is invited to consider how objects of daily ritual shape and reflect our evolving relationship with technology in intimate domestic spaces.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Voicy is the first espresso machine with built-in voice assistant. A smart product combining quality coffee with functions provided by Alexa - all in a beautiful and innovative device. The user can interact through the UI, voice commands, or use the app to check status, consumption, order coffee and, above all, make espresso. Innovation, functionality, and aesthetics in perfect harmony to meet the needs of users who experience their coffee ritual in an increasingly personalized way.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Dimensions: 157mm / 380mm / 300mm
Weight: 4,5kg
Removable parts are dishwasher safe
Power 1450W, Voltage 220-240, Frequency 50-60 Hz
It comes nicely boxed along with a Quick Start Guide and a more detailed instruction booklet. - Tags
- Lavazza, coffee, espresso, voice assistant, smart, speaker
- Production Technology
- main shell: plastic (ABS), finishing textured/glossy | water tank: plastic (SAN) | logo: pad printed | drip grid, lever: metal | feet, UI: silicone rubber
speaker: textile mesh cover - Design Challenge
- Developing a rich and sensible user experience and integrating the voice assistant properly.
- Project Duration
- The project was designed in Turin, Italy. The complete product development from initial concept to product launch took about 20 months.
- Operation Flow
- Voicy is a capsule coffee machine. Insert the capsule on top, place your cup on the grid and make espresso. The UI arranges the selections in two groups: coffee preparation at the bottom and voice assistant controls at the top. Size and temperature of coffee preparations can be personalized and required service is indicated in the centre. The cup rest can be adjusted easily, placing smaller cups closer to the spout. This reduces splashes and benefits coffee temperature and crema. The transparent water tank in the back is easily accessible and removable parts are dishwasher safe.
- Research
- Development process through conceptual and formal research, 3D modelling, physical mock-ups, prototyping.
- Inspiration
- A unique and easily accessible coffee experience in a compact footprint. The design builds on Lavazza's existing form language and is recognizably Italian in attention to detail, surfacing and CMF. It is characterised by a seamless exterior shell with embossed Lavazza logos on the sides and a prominently placed UI incorporating the voice assistant.
- Image Credits
- Lavazza
- Patents
- Design patent/registered design
Colors of Lavazza Voicy Coffee Machine
Get Lavazza Voicy Coffee Machine
Industrial Product Design Services
We transform innovative concepts into market-ready products through strategic design thinking and user-centered development. With extensive experience designing for global brands like Lavazza and Fiat, we specialize in creating products that balance functionality, aesthetics, and brand identity.
G0E9 ShopDesign Interview about Lavazza Voicy Coffee Machine
Voicy is the first espresso machine with built-in voice assistant.
A smart product combining quality coffee with functions provided by Alexa - all in a beautiful and innovative device.
The product had a limited, but very successful production run.
The complete product development from initial concept to product launch took about 20 months.
Lavazza wanted to explore a new type of user interaction with this particular product.
The appliance has been developed by Lavazza in Italy.
We were looking to integrate the voice assistant and the speaker appropriately and make sure it plays a significant role in the design of the product.
The product was designed and developed internally. There were several different design proposals and the most promising one was further developed for production.
This is a very specific product and we're aiming especially at a young and modern user group - early adopters who are interested in new user experiences and fantastic coffee.
The built-in voice assistant allows for a unique user interaction.
The name was developed by colleagues from the marketing department.
The design process involved everything from analog and digital sketching to 3D modeling, mock-ups and prototypes.
As mentioned before, Voicy is the first coffee machine with built-in voice assistant.
The design was developed by the small in-house team in collaboration with colleagues from the technical department.
Technology really is the main differentiator in this case. We wanted to explore how a digital voice assistant might improve the user experience in our own product category.
The design was developed based on market analysis, the target group and relevant trends.
It was quite challenging to integrate the voice assistant into our own development process.
Design competitions play an important part in communication. They help in product and brand positioning. This is why we submit our products to these competitions.
We learned how to integrate a user experience that might be considered a bit of a stretch compared to our standard coffee machines.
That's all.
Grand Interview about Lavazza Voicy Coffee Machine
Voicy is a great project in which we learned a lot. The complete integration of a built in voice assistant is our first step in exploring a more advanced user interaction and a unique user experience. Bringing the world of coffee and smart home devices together in one single device was a huge challenge for the whole team. Especially since we hadn't done anything like that before!
For us aesthetic elegance and functional requirements aren't really two seperate things. They always need to go hand in hand to achieve great product design. There is almost always a clear and distinctive elegance in a well thought out and well working product.
Lavazza's whole design language is inspired by automotive design. This ranges from volumes and proportions to high quality surfacing. But also colours, material and finishes and also the whole aspect of user experience. In this case we created a rather simple user interface with a clear visual hierarchy on a silicone pad and mechanical buttons.
We're always aiming to use appropriate materials for the specific task at hand. In many cases this means plastic for the housing - for example ABS for the external shell and SAN for the water tank. For other components, like the handle and the grid we often use real metal. The metal lends a certain robustness and perceived quality to the product that is super important.
I wouldn't necessarily call the challenges obstacles. While there really was a lot to figure out and learn, it was all part of the project and part of the job. From a technical point of view we had some support to make sure the voice assistant was integrated properly and worked well and in symbiosis with the main machine.
We always aim to embed a visual hierarchy on a sense of order in our user interfaces. It is important that users can quickly understand different functions and orient themselves. This is especially important, if the user interface is a little more complex.
Our appliances almost always offer the possibility to adjust the cup rest to accommodate cups of different sizes. Obviously every cup requires a certain amount of space, but we try to bring small cups closer to the spout, so that the coffee doesn't have to fall through too much air. The cuprest on this machine is quite special as the user can simply pull it out and replace it in the higher position if necessary.
I can see smart technology go on to enrich the user experience of small domestic appliances and also make some of the products slightly more accessible for specific user groups. However, the basic function of a product still needs to be the main focus. If a product doesn't perform well in this respect, adding a layer of smart technology is just a waste of time.
We have a lot of know how and also several distinctive passages and tests in our development process that allow us to intercept potential issues. This aspect is enabling us to fine tune the final design of the product and Voicy wasn't an exception. With the feedback we made sure that all the different interaction methods worked as intended.
Voicy is actually a perfect example of a product that maintains a strong family feeling and brand identity but also explores a completely new aspect at the same time. In this special case the focus was on user interaction and how a connected product with an integrated voice assistant might impact and improve our current products. Simply put, Voicy makes the pleasure of good coffee easily accessible for everyone.