I understand that colour covers may be something that had not been applied specifically to central heating control panels before, but it has been around the fixtures market for a while. It’s not a massive leap to make, in fact it probably came from “marketing” rather than “design”
The point I was trying to make is that the role of a designer in this type of product really shouldn’t be to suggest new colours and textures, or even physical shape for the physical fitting - it should be to look at the system and find the opportunities for innovation. Where is the most value added?