Four Red Dot awards for McKinsey Design

Awards Design Innovation

May 29, 2020Companies that excel at design grow revenues and shareholder returns at nearly twice the rate of their industry peers. And when good design finds its way into the products companies create, the design community often takes note. We are delighted to announce that four of our clients’ products have won 2020 Red Dot Product Design awards.

The Red Dot Award for Product Design was launched in 1955 to honor the best products created every year. This year’s Red Dot jurors reviewed a record number of submissions: 6,500 products across 49 categories from fashion to automotive to furniture. Each submission was assessed for criteria including functionality, quality, and durability.

We spoke with a few McKinsey Design colleagues to understand how we partnered with our clients on these winning products.

Keurig K-Café

Years after it popularized the at-home, single-serve coffee category, Keurig started to see a new wave of coffee consumers emerge: one with a growing interest in quality and specialty drinks. “They had many brewers on the market, but none that quite emulated the coffee house experience,” says McKinsey partner Jeff Salazar. “For that, they needed to launch an entirely new platform.”

Enter the Keurig K-Café, which came to market nearly ten months sooner than planned. As the company’s first ever all-in-one milk-based brewer, the K-Café allows users to effortlessly craft customized coffee house beverages in one simple at-home experience.

In working with Keurig, the team first began by studying consumers to understand where there was opportunity to bring the coffee house experience into their homes. Driven by a vision to enable everyday coffee enthusiasts to become their own baristas, the team sought to retain the key attributes of convenience and simplicity for which Keurig products are known, but improved for an elevated experience.

Cederroth Wound Care Dispenser

A compact bandage station to complement the Cederroth First Aid Kit, the Wound Care Dispenseris a clutter-free product for restaurant kitchens, office spaces, or industrial workplaces. “Whereas most first-aid kits we’re used to seeing include medical products for deep cuts with heavy bleeding, the Wound Care Dispenser is supplied with wipes, cloth, and a foam bandage for more minor wounds and scrapes,” explains David Crafoord, a McKinsey senior design director.

Partnering with Cederroth, the team set out to create a dispenser that combines elegant form with optimal function. With hygiene the primary priority, the case is designed to enable easy and quick access to the medical products. “We chose a clear transparent case so a user can see right away what’s missing and ensure quick supply refills,” says Lina Trulsson, a McKinsey senior product designer. In the event of an injury, the central bandage cutter is also designed to be operated with a single hand.

Mounted to the wall, the kit is designed to look small and lightweight, “almost like it’s floating,” says David. He adds that the system is made to easily take just what you need but not more, thanks to a lock that secures stored supplies.

Orion Sync

Powered by an integrated artificial intelligence voice platform with unlimited range, Orion Sync is the first LTE-enabled smart walkie-talkie with voice control capabilities. Adapted from an earlier Orion version and compatible with the entire line of tech product solutions, it enables global and dispersed teams to communicate in real-time, a function that is increasingly important as organizations pivot to remote work.

The team sought to create a light (Orion Sync weighs less than half a pound), wearable communication device for the deskless workforce—front line workers whose roles are mostly mobile in nature, such as doctors. “Durability was top-of-mind for us,” says Germain Verbrackel, a McKinsey associate design director. In fact, a strong outer casing, along with a removable clip, was chosen to meet the on-the-go needs of workers who are out in the field.

Despite its compact design, Orion Sync is fitted with several important features, from a screen that allows multiple users to read messages simultaneously, a primary push-to-talk button, accessible navigation and volume controls, a mute switch, and a panic button. “Orion Sync isn’t intended to be a minimalistic or delicate product,” says Germain. “We knew it had to be rugged to withstand the demanding conditions for which it will be used.”

Distalmotion Dexter

While robotic surgery is a health-care reality that promises certain benefits, widespread adoption of the technology has remained elusive. The traditional approach brings with it a lot of complexity and high cost.

McKinsey Design and Swiss start-up Distalmotion worked together to create a surgical robot Dexter: a simplified and cost-effective system that allows surgeons to quickly toggle between robotic and manual modes as needed. Read more about it here.