2.1 Design Problem Defintion
Here is the link to "My Gap" that you can go through before reading ahead.
Here are my hierarchy of problem statements from most general going to most specific
· Create happy moments with my family over good food
· make myself and my family more happy (we really enjoy great home cooked food)
· make better food (I usually make better when im enjoying the process)
· *enjoy the cooking process
· Help myself be in control during the entire cooking process
· Help myself feel at peace mentally while cooking
· be more physically comfortable while cooking
· not feel sweaty and hot when im cooking
· reduce the heat around the stove area while cooking (when standing next to the stove)
· Retain the heat within the stove area
· Create barriers to isolate user and heat from cooking
I have chosen to define the problem as “in what way might I enjoy the cooking process”.
The original problem was one aspect of making the cooking process better. If I use this as the problem amongst the hierarchy then I believe I could unearth some more insights and help design solutions that could make the entire process better. This may involve looking at the design of the entire kitchen area focusing specifically on the stove/cooking area. Also if I choose a level higher (make better food) it could move into the space of skills needed for cooking for the user which I do not want to explore.
2.2 User Needs
In discussion with users and post my own reflection there were 3 steps identified under the cooking process – preparation, cooking, cleaning. The user interviews & responses were broadly around these 3 areas. Broadly all users wanted to reduce the effort needed in preparation and cleaning up and enjoy the cooking step more.
Also given the choice of problem definition, there is no identified artifact yet and hence I have referred to it as “cooking process” in some of the need statements. After capturing the needs below I realized that it will need different artifacts to solve all the needs below. Hence for development in future weeks I will specify a certain need group to work upon
A] In the cooking process there is reduced/no heat around stove area
o Heat can be kept away from coming to the abdomen area
o Heat can be kept away from coming to face area
o Most of the heat from the burner is directed to the vessel and does not dissipate out
o Stove area temperature remains same with different flame size (high/medium/low)
o Heat can be kept away from coming on the hands while stirring
o Reduce the temperature around the stove area
o Need cool air directed at user during cooking process
B] Timing of various steps in the cooking process are well managed
o Different steps in Cooking process area easily reminded of
o Easily monitor the timing for certain sub steps (boil for 10 mins)
o ! Programming steps to reduce load on memory (if stove can automatically keep full flame for 10 mins, thensimmer for 5 mins and then shut off by itself)
o Can see different steps of the cooking process on a timeline
o Can see the sequence of ingredients to be put in easily
C] More items can be retained within the stove area during cooking process
o There is an easy holder to keep the stirring spoons
o There is a place to keep lids of vessels when you have to open and stir the contents
o There is a place to hold recipe’s
o There is a digital display that can show recipes from another device (Ipad/phone/etc)
o Some very commonly used spices can have a place on the stove
D] Reduce noise created by the exhaust hob
E] ! Recipe can be easily accessible (near stove area) when cooking new dishes
F] ! Speakers/Bluetooth controls for music on the stove
G] ! The hob light needs to be white since yellow light does not correctly indicate colour of certain foods during cooking (e.g. quite often you need to fry onions till golden brown but this cannot be correctly seen under yellow light)
H] Burners need to be accessible and multi purpose
o ! Multi size flames from same burner (there is always a very big burner and a very small burner that is provided on a 4 burner stove. However it is very rarely that one uses the very large or the very small. Hence it’ll be great if there are more standard size burners but they have attachments that can make the flame larger or smaller)
The standard size burners need to be placed in front for easy access (the big and small size burners which are rarely used are placed on the front side right now for almost all users)
I] Preparation for cooking process is less tedious
o Different size vegetables can be peeled faster
o Chopping can be done more easily
o Hands get less dirty during the preparation phase
o Vegetables can be peeled more easily
o Different sizes of chopping are more readily done
o Easy way to identify cooking time for vegetables (how long to steam potatos to cook them. Also different vegetables have different cook time – how can this be simplified)
J] Cleaning up post preparation & cooking is simple & non-messy
o Simple method to clean up leftovers on vessel
o Better way to deodour the used vessels
o Clean up inaccessible portions of vessels (under the blade in a mixer)
2.3 Visual Expression II - 2D Sketches
