A Black&Decker workshop challenged the designer to reinvent a traditional power tool. In an era where the market is saturated with sexy drills and easy to use power saws, designers have often overlooked the sump pump.Unfortunately, many of us at some time in our life will have to deal with a flooded basement and will find ourselves running to the hardware store to pick up a submersible water pump. Extensive research, competitive analysis and fieldwork revealed that more than aesthetics had been overlooked in current pump models. Human factors, usability principles and the development of customer personas, guided the new design. The result was a sump pump that had substantial improvement in usability and safety while maintaining the iconic design language of the Black&Decker brand.