의료 온열기의 설계 외형 디자인 평가에 관한 연구 -국내외 온열기 제품에 대한 외형 디자인 평가조사-

The objective of this study is to categorize and discover problems of current trial products of ‘Hwangto medical heaters for home use’ available in the market based on exterior design and find out what kinds of new design developments may be needed. The Hwangto medical heaters reflect the coming of the aging society and increased interest in health services and products led by the expansion of the Well-being trend. As research methods, we used theoretical contemplation, the status and categorization of designs of both domestic and foreign products, sensibility evaluation, and questionnaires on design of heat products. Through the research and study, we were able to come up with following conclusions about exterior design of medical heaters. The result of the sensibility evaluation shows that many of the participants responded in a positive way by using words such as ‘simple’ and ‘round’ to describe the shape and components of the exterior design of the domestic Hwangto heaters. Also, the word ‘fancy’ was used to comment on products with sleek and glossy materials overall. According to the questionnaires, most of the product components were evaluated as ‘stable.’ This is probably due to the fact that most of the heaters come in the shape of a box and clear white color which can create the stable impression.