Cooking states were hard to read
Preheating, active cooking, timing, and reminders competed for attention instead of forming one clear status hierarchy.
Monogram
Hearth Oven HMI
Two ways to cook. A clearer HMI built for Monogram.
Overview
Redesigning a confusing interface without flattening the oven's two distinct cooking experiences.
Context
Chef Mode and Precision Cooking serve different cooking intentions—and together form a key product advantage. The legacy interface made both difficult to understand. I redesigned the experience and established a Monogram-specific HMI language, using existing appliance systems as reference because Monogram did not yet have one of its own.
Problem
Two valuable ways to cook, obscured by a confusing interface.
The oven intentionally supports guided Precision Cooking and direct manual control. In the legacy UI, unclear hierarchy and inconsistent patterns made the value of both modes harder to understand.
The problem was not that two cooking paths existed. It was that the interface did not clearly distinguish their purposes, explain the oven's changing state, or make the next decision predictable.
The value of each mode was hard to grasp
Chef Mode—then called Customize Mode—and Precision Cooking served different intentions, but the interface did not make that distinction clear at entry or during setup.
Guidance stopped at the controls
Owners wanted practical help—what to cook, which settings to use, and tips tailored to ingredients, dough, and thickness.
“Suggestions for all of the items to cook—specifics for type of dough, thickness, tips and tricks.”
Research
Understanding both cooking paths—and the systems around them.
Approach
I observed the Hearth Oven in use, reviewed its manual, mapped both cooking paths, and studied existing appliance systems. This shifted the project from a screen refresh to a system-level challenge: clarify two distinct experiences while defining an HMI language for Monogram.
What the map revealed
Each mode needed a distinct promise
Chef Mode needed to feel direct and flexible. Precision Cooking needed to feel guided and reassuring. The redesign had to strengthen that difference, not erase it.
Shared fundamentals needed consistency
Navigation, temperature entry, time, preheat, edit, and cancel still needed predictable rules so users could understand the oven as it changed state.
Monogram needed its own HMI language
Other appliance brands already had established systems. I used their proven behavior and terminology as reference, then defined a distinct expression for Monogram's premium positioning and hardware context.
Learning from the wider ecosystem
Existing flows established familiar sequences and terminology. I separated those reusable conventions from brand expression, then adapted the foundations for a larger display, an in-kitchen context, and a distinctly Monogram experience.
Design
Preserving two cooking experiences inside one Monogram HMI system.
Keep each path distinct
Chef Mode supports direct control. Precision Cooking provides guided recipes and recommendations.
Share the fundamentals
Navigation, inputs, cooking states, and feedback follow predictable rules across the oven.
Make it Monogram
A new HMI language brings the brand's premium character to the appliance without discarding proven system behavior.
Appliance page
I explored two ways to balance visual clarity with long-term scalability. The chosen direction keeps the most flexible cooking path within reach while giving the growing recipe library room to expand.
Chef Mode stays fixed on the left. Precision Cooking recipes scroll on the right, so the library can grow without pushing the primary manual-control path out of view.
Always within reach
Chef Mode remains anchored as the dependable entry point for people who want direct control.
Built to expand
A denser, scrollable recipe grid keeps more choices visible as Precision Cooking content grows.
Clearer cards, but a longer search.
Direction B gave each recipe more space, stronger imagery, and clearer descriptions. As the library expanded, however, the larger horizontal cards made it noticeably harder to find a specific recipe.
Direction A offered the better balance: practical at scale, visually engaging, and clear at a glance.
Temperature setting
The Hearth Oven heats from two independent zones—the dome above and the stone below—so people need to set each temperature and power state without losing sight of the other.
Participants preferred seeing and adjusting both heat zones on one page. It reduced switching and kept the full oven state visible while they made changes.
One screen, fewer touches.
Version 1 exposes both temperatures and on/off controls at the same time. That matters during cooking, when hands may be oily or covered in ingredients and every extra screen tap adds friction.
Larger numbers, more navigation.
Version 2 made the active temperature larger and easier to read, but required people to switch between Dome and Stone tabs to understand or change the complete oven setup.
Iteration
The Monogram HMI language grew through paper sketches, system studies, and repeated checks on the physical oven. Each pass clarified how two cooking modes, two heat zones, and shared system states should work together without becoming the same experience.
Building a language for two heat zones.
I explored how the Dome and Stone could remain distinct across icons, navigation states, and the appliance home screen without turning the interface into two disconnected systems.
Exploring how temperature should be entered.
Alongside the screen layouts, I explored direct number entry, scrolling pickers, and different temperature increments. The input method needed to work for both small corrections and large changes.
12 participants tested early temperature controls.
This diagnostic round compared input concepts and identified what to carry forward; it was not a final measure of product performance.
- 8 / 12
- Found the controls quickly
- 9 / 12
- Set the target temperature accurately
- 7 / 12
- Completed without mis-taps or confusion
+ / −
Easy to understand, but larger temperature changes took too many repeated presses.
Number pad
Supported faster adjustment across a wider temperature range and was carried forward.
Keep both heat zones visible. Use fewer touches.
Chef Mode
For cooks who already know what they want, Chef Mode turns customization into one continuous path: set the oven, add time or a reminder, and start cooking without learning a separate interaction model.
Begin with direct control.
Temperature and time stay visible from the first screen, while the food imagery keeps the experience connected to the cooking task.
- Chef Mode
- Temperature
- Time
- Reminder optional
- Start
Set the whole oven at once.
Dome and Stone remain together, so users can compare both heat zones without switching tabs.
Add time in the same layout.
The left panel preserves context while the active control changes on the right.
Move from setup to status.
Once cooking begins, the hierarchy shifts to temperature, progress, and the actions people may need in the moment.
Precision Cooking
Precision Cooking starts with a dish, then brings the recommended settings, timing, reminders, and cooking advice into the same familiar layout.
Reflection
Designing for two modes changed what I optimized for.
Fewer touches mattered most.
In testing, people preferred seeing and setting Dome and Stone together without switching screens.
Distinct modes, shared rules.
Chef Mode and Precision Cooking kept separate paths, with consistent navigation, inputs, and cooking states.
Distinctly Monogram.
Proven appliance behavior and terminology informed a premium HMI without copying another brand.