Panasonic Electric Thermo Pot was designed and prototyped in 1999 when most kitchen electronics looked overly technical, equipped with buttons, sensors, and indicators. The pot was designed to re-emphasize its identity as a simple container. Its control interface was concentrated on the lid and freed the rest of the appliance of busy features. Input devices other than membrane switches were employed to re-introduce rich and meaningful user-machine interaction. Two designs were prototyped and served as an inspiration for a product that was commercialized in 2001.