How Qingdao's Industrial Design Revolution is Reshaping Manufacturing Innovation

Par Li Rui, People's Daily

In the summer of 2023, a user posted a message on the online platform of Haier, the Chinese home appliance giant headquartered in Qingdao, east China's Shandong province. The user expressed frustration over washing underwear and socks together in the same load, and casually attached a hand-drawn sketch with a question: 'Could you develop a washing machine that washes these items separately?'

Haier's designers quickly created prototype designs and shared them publicly. Over the next three months, more than 10,000 suggestions flooded in. Users took part throughout the development process, offering input on everything from compartment layouts to functional details.

After the so-called 'lazybones washing machine' was launched, it received 88,000 reservations within just seven days.

The 'lazybones' concept has since been extended to refrigerators, air conditioners, and other product categories, growing from a single product into an entire product line, and eventually into a broader family of products.

To date, related products have sold more than 450,000 units in China. With designs adapted for different markets, they have also been exported to Italy, France, and other European countries.

This success story illustrates the evolving role of industrial design in modern manufacturing. In Qingdao, industrial design is emerging as a 'second core technology' that drives the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing sector.

'In the past, industrial design was often seen as dressing up a product or giving it a particular look. Designers typically became involved only at the final stage of R&D, making established technologies and functions more appealing,' said Pan Ping, director of the industrial policy division at the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology.

'Today, industrial design starts with even the smallest pain points experienced by users, then works backward to define product functions, drive technological innovation, and reshape product design throughout the entire process,' Pan told People's Daily.

'In a nutshell, we have moved completely from we make what we have to we create what users need,' said Wu Jian, general manager of Haier's innovation design center, capturing the profound shift in the role of industrial design in recent years.

Why has this change taken place? From a market perspective, industrial design itself is a powerful means of differentiation.

'In the past, production capacity was king, and products were highly homogeneous,' Pan explained. 'As consumer demand has evolved, people now place greater value on comfort, appearance, and emotional resonance. This is pushing companies beyond traditional production thinking and prompting them to use industrial design to unlock new product value and open up new market opportunities.'

At a deeper level, the shift reflects a natural requirement for China's manufacturing sector as it transitions from 'Made in China' toward greater original innovation.

'For a long time, China's manufacturing industry was concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of global value chains. Industrial design helps address bottlenecks in the industry while transforming products from carriers of single functions into comprehensive experiences that integrate technology, aesthetics, culture, and sustainability,' Pan said.

That is why industrial design is shedding its former role as a mere decorative afterthought and becoming a 'second core technology' for improving manufacturing quality, efficiency, and the ability to move up the value chain, Pan added.

A change in mindset is only the first step. What truly matters is turning it into tangible results.

At a laboratory of Qingdao Hai Liya Group Co., Ltd., a company specializing in industrial ropes, cables, ribbons, and emergency self-rescue safety equipment, an ordinary-looking rescue fanny pack was undergoing rigorous testing.

Its rope resisted melting and charring at temperatures up to 204 degrees Celsius, while the descender boasted a breaking strength of 22 kilonewtons, well above national standards. In the event of a fire, the gear could be readied for deployment within seconds, 10 to 15 seconds faster than conventional fanny packs.

'Traditional rescue fanny packs had limited functions, so firefighters needed to carry several sets of equipment for escape and rescue, making them heavy and cumbersome,' an engineer from the company said. Starting from the actual needs of firefighters, the design team integrated descending, traversing, and lifting functions into a single fanny pack. The rope is 25 percent longer, while the overall weight has been reduced by 23 percent and the volume by 17 percent.

The 'integrated innovation' embodied in a single waist pack is a microcosm of how an entire city is mobilizing its resources to advance industrial design.

Qingdao is an important hub for industrial design in north China. It encompasses all 31 major manufacturing categories, four national advanced manufacturing clusters, two national manufacturing innovation centers, and six national demonstration bases for new industrialization.

Its signature industrial chains, such as smart home appliances and rail transit equipment, each boast an output value exceeding 100 billion yuan ($14.83 billion), offering abundant application scenarios for industrial design.

Qingdao also adheres to the philosophy of leading enterprises building platforms, and platforms driving industrial growth, establishing a comprehensive public service system featuring complementary and coordinated development.

Spun off from Qingdao-based tire company Doublestar Group, Qingdao Lunyun Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd. focuses on the design and development of bio-based, green, and low-carbon tires, supporting over 20 upstream and downstream enterprises.

Haier's innovation design center has established a national-level public service demonstration platform for small and medium-sized enterprises, with more than 90 percent of its design proposals making it into production.

Home appliance manufacturer Hisense spun off its design division into Lixin, which provides design services to the group and external clients.

'Leading enterprises are stepping out of the internal loop of serving solely their own product lines. By opening up their proven design expertise and empowering small and medium-sized manufacturers either free of charge or at low cost, they are effectively driving Qingdao's manufacturing industry to accelerate its shift toward original design and homegrown independent brands,' Pan said.

In 2025, the revenue of industrial design enterprises above the designated size in Qingdao grew 22.1 percent year on year, while their total profits surged 102.2 percent. The operating profit margin of industrial enterprises above the designated size stood at 5.4 percent.