A set of design guidelines for LG refrigerators in the Mexican market

LG consumer profile research

LG Electronics & Centro de Investigaciones de Diseño Industrial
Intern design researcher
Mexico City, Mexico | 2013

Objective: To identify design opportunities for LG refrigerators for the Mexican middle class that respond to consumers’ desires and expectations, informed by local cultural behaviours.

Contribution: field research, data analysis, infographics, design concepts, and renders.

The Mexican middle-class market displays distinct behaviours when purchasing home appliances, shaped by cultural values and everyday practices that differ markedly from those in North American and broader Latin American markets. LG, a South Korean multinational renowned for its electronics, appliances, and display technologies, sought to better understand these nuances.

This project focused on refrigerators for Mexico’s middle-class consumers, a segment representing nearly 50% of the population at the time, within a total population of 118 million. Its scale and cultural specificity make it a critical market, where design decisions must respond not only to functional needs, but also to local expectations, aspirations, and ways of living.

Ethnographic research

Understanding the customer experience was central to this research, with a strong focus on uncovering the motivations behind purchasing decisions. Through an empathetic, human-centred approach—developed in collaboration with anthropologists and ethnologists—the design team captured insights across the entire customer journey, before, during, and after purchase.

The research included:

In-depth interviews with end users: 8
In-depth interviews with sales staff: 5
Visual diaries with end users: 3
Retail observations and interviews: 10

Together, these methods revealed the cultural, emotional, and practical factors shaping product choice.

Insights & design opportunities

The outcomes were two customer profiles for middle class mexican market, nineteen innovation design guidelines and five design concept categories for refrigerators.