Deconstructing Product Design

Moka Express

Alfonso Bialetti, 1933

1. The inventor Woody Norris once commented that he invents by analogy, constantly on the lookout for things that work well in one context so that their “tricks” can be applied by analogy in other contexts. This approach is a common one and responsible for a good many product innovations, including the Moka Express. While watching his wife do laundry, Alfonso Bialetti observed the workings of their primitive washing machine: a fire, a bucket, and a lid with a tube coming out of it. The bucket was filled with soapy water, sealed with the lid, and then brought to a boil over the fire, at which point the vaporized soapy water was pushed up through the tube and expelled on to the laundry. Bialetti imagined a ...