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Packard Bell's growing adoption rates into the mid-1990s were helped along by a new industrial design language and user-friendly software. In 1993, the company introduced [[Packard Bell Navigator|Navigator]], a [[Windows shell replacement|shell replacement]] for [[Windows 3.1x|Windows 3.1]] intended for novice computer users that provides simple screens of large icons to launch their commonly used application software.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Cooper | first=Barry | date=May 2, 1993 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/278233430/ | title=Packard Bell Lures Novices to Computers with Easy System Software, Price | journal=Orlando Sentinel | page=D6 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> In 1994, they released Navigator 2, replacing the icons with a hyper-[[skeuomorph]]ic house metaphor, in which every screen of icons is within a prerendered [[3D computer graphics|3D-CGI]] room in a house.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=November 16, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1523889815/ | title=American Personal Computer Maker Has Launched Navigator 2 | journal=South China Morning Post | page=7 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Packard Bell acquired the software firm responsible for Navigator, Ark Interface of [[Seattle|Seattle, Washington]], in May 1994.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Baker | first=Sharon M. | date=May 27, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/226869187/ | title=Major Computer Maker Buys Ark Interface Software Firm | journal=Puget Sound Business Journal | publisher=American City Business Journals | volume=15 | issue=2 | page=4 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>{{efn|In around 1996, [[Microsoft]] forced boot-up shells off OEM computers by updating its Microsoft Windows distribution agreement. Packard Bell subsequently discontinued Navigator in summer 1997.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Bransten | first=Lisa | author2=Don Clark | date=May 19, 1998 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/398815630/ | title=PC Makers, Despite the Microsoft Suit, Aren't Clamoring to Control the Screen | journal=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=B7 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>}} That same year, Packard Bell acquired Active Imagination, Inc., of [[Westlake Village, California]], a developer of [[edutainment]] video games for children. With this acquisition, Packard Bell made the shift toward providing standalone software packages in retail outlets for the first time.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=November 14, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/398441347/ | title=Packard Bell, in Shift, Plans to Distribute Software in Stores | journal=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=B8 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>
Also in 1994, Packard Bell hired industrial design firm [[Frog Design]], known for their work with Apple and [[NeXT]], to redesign Packard Bell's personal computer line.<ref name=movin /> They designed the [[Computer case|cases]] of company's next generation of desktops with accented trim panels featuring wavy contours; these panels can be detached and replaced with ones of a different color.<ref name=movin>{{cite journal | last=Ditela | first=Steve | date=May 1995 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/217997126/ | title=Movin' On Up | journal=Upside | volume=7 | issue=5 | page=42 ''et seq.'' | via=ProQuest}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Einstein | first=David | date=October 6, 1995 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/303433722/ | title=Where Success Is by Design | journal=San Francisco Chronicle | page=B1 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> With these redesigned cases, Packard Bell was the first company to use a color-coding system for the external connectors on the rear of the computer, corresponding with the color of the shroud of the plugs on the devices that Packard Bell provided with their computers (e.g., purple for keyboards, teal for mice).<ref>{{cite journal | last=Howard | first=Bill | date=October 16, 2001 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZrQ4k01DJcC&pg=PA142 | title=The New Shape of PCs | work=PC Magazine | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=20 | issue=17 | pages=140–154 | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|142}} This innovation was intended to make installation of peripherals easier and predated the [[PC System Design Guide]] standard for color-coding connectors, introduced in 1999.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Poor | first=Alfred | date=June 1996 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A18288989/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=Tech Tip of the Month | journal=Computer Shopper | publisher=SX2 Media Labs | volume=16 | issue=6 | page=599 | via=Gale}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Prowse | first=Dave | date=2019 | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/CompTIA_A+_Core_1_220_1001_and_Core_2_22/ib2rDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22PC+System+Design+Guide%22+color+coding&pg=PT253&printsec=frontcover | title=CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1001) and Core 2 (220-1002) Exam Cram | publisher=Pearson Education | page=253 | isbn=9780135301258 | via=Google Books}}</ref>
Packard Bell's Chatsworth headquarters were seriously damaged in the [[1994 Northridge earthquake|January 1994 Northridge earthquake]]—the epicenter of which was located just a few blocks from their six-building
===1995–2006: Reversal of fortunes and acquisition by NEC===
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