Within the iRobot Roomba site, our design inspiration came from the core purpose of the iRobot: to make the lives of people easier, by using an automated vacuum. The color palette of the website hinges on soothing greens and blues, which make the user relaxed and at ease. This is the ultimate purpose of the Roomba, with its ability to be turned on without the user even having to touch it, the user can rest assured their home is cleaned while they go about their busy day, and return home to a clean and relaxing environment.
The layout of the website also relates to our product in that it is very easy to use. Much like our technology, our website needs little navigation. All the user has to do is type in the url, and once directed to the homepage, they will see each tab represented clearly on the top bar of the website. Click on each tab and you will see the information clearly laid out and explained.
When you click to the home page of the website, you’ll see a photo of the Roomba and a man and his dog doing yoga. We felt this picture best exemplifies what the user can do not having to worry about manually vacuuming their home. The users pose also brings in other components that help the user to identify what the product does, such as incorporating an animal within it, so as to show how the Roomba can suck up pet dander, the pose of the user shows how the man can go about his exercise without having to move for the Roomba, because with its 360 degree design, it can move seamlessly around the user. You will also notice the furniture as well, placed off the ground, to show you that the Roomba can navigate within tight spaces as well.
Finally, you’ll notice our logo. After much thought, we felt that the “eye-robot” design correlates to to various aspects the Roomba is good at. Firstly, we felt that given that it looks like an eye from first glance, we felt this was interesting as well important. A large part of the Roomba’s job is “mapping” the home in which it cleans. Therefore, it sees everything, from barriers it might not be able to go to, to sensors which tell it when to stop at a wall, or stairs. It’s “eyes” see everything. The second reason for choosing this design was because of how similar it looks to the Roomba itself. Circularly designed with a dot on the top, it looks identical to the Roomba itself with the start button on the top. Another component to choosing this design was green and black “swishes” around the circular part of the logo. This gives off the idea that it is moving, specifically in a 360 degree path. This is the exact way Roomba cleans, swiveling from side to side to ensure all dirt and debris is cleaned. Lastly was the color chosen for this specific graphic. Much like our website and the colors used for our poster, we decided to choose the same green and blue palate that gives off the sense of clean, as well as relaxation.