Client: HUAWEI, a global technology leader renowned for its innovative consumer electronics and smart ecosystem.
Project Brief: HUAWEI decided to enter the competitive printer market with a clear mission: to redefine the home printing experience for the modern user. Tasked with the industrial design of this debut product, LKK Design collaborated to create a laser printer that would be intuitive, intelligent, and aesthetically groundbreaking, seamlessly integrating into the HUAWEI HarmonyOS ecosystem.

HUAWEI's vision for its first printer was ambitious and user-focused. The primary objectives for the HUAWEI Printer design were:

• User-Centric Revolution: Drastically simplify the user experience, moving away from complex drivers and difficult setup processes.

• Ecosystem Integration: Leverage HUAWEI HarmonyOS to enable effortless device linking and one-touch printing functionality.

• Iconic Aesthetic: Create a visually striking product that breaks the conventional, office-centric mold of laser printers, featuring a minimalist and technologically advanced form.

• Market Disruption: Establish a new industry benchmark, making the HUAWEI Printer a desirable and intelligent device for the connected home.

Our design process was a deep dive into innovation, blending user empathy with technical precision to bring the HUAWEI Printer design to life.

Design Research
Our initial phase was dedicated to understanding user pain points. We identified key frustrations: the intimidating process of replacing toner, the hassle of initial network configuration, and bulky designs that disrupt home aesthetics. These insights became the foundation for our design strategy.

Industrial Design: 

The core of the HUAWEI Printer design is its iconic "floating" aesthetic. We conceived a form where the scanner unit appears suspended above the main body. This achieves an unprecedented level of visual lightness and sophistication. The minimalist language, refined through intensive CMF exploration, results in a product that looks less like a peripheral and more like a piece of modern technology art, perfectly aligning with HUAWEI's premium brand identity.

Mechanical Structure Design: 

A pivotal innovation in the HUAWEI Printer design addresses the biggest user hassle: toner replacement. We engineered a unique, front-access, modular toner cartridge system. This allows users to replace the cartridge in a single, simple motion—without any mess or confusion. This structural breakthrough is a testament to our philosophy that true design elegance lies in making complex technology effortlessly usable.

Prototyping and Testing

Throughout the nearly year-long development cycle, we worked in tight collaboration with HUAWEI's product team and technical partners. We built and tested numerous prototypes, rigorously validating the "floating" structure, the mechanical reliability of the cartridge system, and the overall user interaction. This iterative process ensured that the visionary HUAWEI Printer design was not only beautiful but also robust, manufacturable, and delightful to use.

The successful launch of the HUAWEI Printer, driven by its groundbreaking design, delivered exceptional results:

• Award-Winning User Experience: The integration of one-touch print via HarmonyOS and the hassle-free toner replacement set a new standard for convenience, making printing truly simple for the first time.

• Critical and Commercial Acclaim: The product achieved an outstanding customer satisfaction rate of over 97%. The design, in particular, received high praise, establishing it as a benchmark in the category.

• Strategic Market Entry: The distinctive HUAWEI Printer design played a crucial role in successfully launching HUAWEI into a new market, generating significant buzz and validating its ecosystem strategy.

• Deepened Partnership: The success and satisfaction from this project led directly to an ongoing Phase II collaboration with HUAWEI, cementing a trusted partnership.

This project exemplifies LKK Design's comprehensive capability to merge deep user insight with technical innovation, creating product designs that drive market success and build lasting brand value.