Simple Life starts from the Kitchen

SIMPLE LIFE STARTS FROM THE KITCHEN

Simple Life starts from here

Table of Contents Project Overview Summary Target market Target user Problem statement Hypothesis Design goal Human factors task analysis Product requirement Stakeholders

1 8 10 12 13 14 17 25 27

Design Process Initial Concept Concept development 1 Mock up and test 1 Concept development 2 Mock up and test 2 Concept development 3 Mock up and test 3 Discussion Concept refinement Mock up and test Blue foam mock up Workable model

31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 48 49 57 59

Feedback / Problems Refinement / Improvement User Scenario

61 67 71

Final Design Final Design Layout Concept Flexibility Faucet Relocated Rinse & Colander area Cutting bord & Containers Compost & Drain Detials Exploded View Material & Process Bill of Material ID Control Documentation

73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 93 95 98 99

Bibliography

109

Project Overview / Inspiration

SUMMARY Recently people have started to demand the simplicity in their daily lives and are realizing the value of it. Simplicity now starts selling and people are even willing to pay more for it. The most important thing is how to make the products handier to use, easier to operate, and fewer minutes to read. At last, more people will be attracted to this “life style with simplicity”. My resolution is to make a room or a space as a product.

When we consider the room as a product, the original “products” in the room could be transformed into “features” in this point of view. We can redefine the “product” and eliminate some useless “features” to simplify our daily life.

1

Project Overview / Inspiration

SUMMARY Throughout all the rooms or spaces in a house, I choose “KITCHEN” to develop the “room-as-product” idea. This specific room has still remained as the center of the home in the 21st century. There are many different activities and tasks happened in the kitchen, such as dinning, cooking, social events, cleaning, and food storing…etc. It also includes almost 40% of products and tools in the common house. With my “room-as-product” concept, the kitchen absolutely is a versatile one.

Things would become much more complicated along with many actions and tools involved.

2

Project Overview / Inspiration

KITCHEN Towards the end of 19th century, the kitchen was considered suitable only for servants, hidden away in the basement. During the 20th century,, it was moved upstairs, in order to become the spiritual heart of the home. Now in the 21st century, the kitchen has remained as the center of the home, a place for reunion to connect families and friends.

4

Project Overview / Inspiration

URBAN In the urban living space, people have some complaints about their kitchen. " I hate clean up. " " High storage is hard to reach. " " I have limited kitchen space. " " I don’t use all the food I buy. " " I always forget what I have in my fridge. "

5

Project Overview / Inspiration

SUBURBAN In the suburban living space, people have some complaints about their kitchen. " I don’t remember what I have in my house. " " I spend too much time loading and unloading dishes." " I can’t keep track of recipes. " " I have no time to cook, clean, and pack lunches. " " My working area is a mess, and they never seem to stay organized "

6

Project Overview

TARGET MARKET Urban living space

Compare with suburban living space, urban living space has limited kitchen space. Therefore, it is valuable to design for urban residential area.

8

Project Overview

TARGET USER Foody, those who use kitchen frequently

and are willing to have an experience in using a more comfortable and simpler kitchen

10

Project Overview

PROBLEM STATEMENT There are three different stages when we cook in the kitchen, preparing food ingredients, cooking, and cleaning. However, we spend most of time on preparing food ingredients. There are many different tasks and tools are involved during the preparing process. Often it makes people feel difficult and stressful. Specifically, there are many actions being repeated again and again. How to create a better users’ experience from struggling during the food preparation? The solution will be finding the connection between each action, reducing the steps, and making everything organized.

12

Project Overview

HYPOTHESIS If we can reduce the repeated actions and draw the connection between each action to simplify the workflow, we will work more efficiently and have more pleased experience when we are preparing food ingredients.

13

Project Overview

DESIGN GOAL The goal of this project is to create a better experience for the user during the preparation of food ingredients in the kitchen, as we can cook food more efficiently, well-organized, and feel the joy instead of suffering from disorders and terrible messes.

14

Project Overview

PROBLEMS 1. Not enough space How to create more space?

2. Disorder containers How to make the connection between containers and tools?

3. Clean issues How to maintain the cleanness of environment while preparing food?

4. It takes too long to prepare How to reduce preparing steps?

5. Tools How to organize tools?

OPPORTUNITIES 1. Develop concepts around sink.

2. Draw the connection between actions and tools 3. Omit the repeated steps 4. Simplify the workflow 5. Maintain the cleanness 6. Flexibility

16

Project Overview

Human factors task analysis in the kitchen

Carrying out a task analysis has many benefits including gaining a rich understanding of how a set of tasks interact, where bottlenecks or human error potential are likely, how long a process will take etc. A properly prepared task analysis can provide a vital whole system overview which will assist many aspects of the design process.

JOYFUL

17

NEUTRAL

UNCOMFORTABLE

Project Overview / Human factors

Project Overview / Human factors

Step One / Shopping in the grocery story

Step Two / Store and unpack food

18

Project Overview / Human factors

Project Overview / Inspiration

Step Three / Preparing food for cook

Step Four / Cook

43.7% of people think the food preparing is the difficult part for them.

19

Project Overview / Inspiration

Project Overview / Inspiration

Step Five / Eat

Step Six / Clean 59.1% of people feel uncomfortable with maintaining the cleanness.

20

Project Overview / Inspiration

Project Overview / Inspiration

Step Seven / Trash and compost

Step Eight / Store leftovers

21

Project Overview

Even though there are many different activities and tasks took place in the kitchen, the main function of the kitchen is cooking. There are eight stages when we cook. To analyze the human factors task, it can help us get better a understanding what the problems are or what problems we might have. According to the survey and research, people are happy with cooking and eating but feel uncomfortable with food preparing and cleaning. Therefore, the goal of this project is to create a comfortable and simple experience during the preparation for food ingredients in the kitchen and at the same time the cleanness still can be easily maintained. Therefore, we can cook food more efficiently, well-organized, and feel the joy instead of suffering from disorders and terrible messes.

Key finding : 1. We use most of kitchen tools when we are preparing food.

2. We spend over 1/2 cooking time on preparing food.

22

Project Overview / workflow

FOOD PREPARE / WORKFLOW

23

Project Overview / workflow

There are some interesting facts when we look into the preparing processes step by step. We are repeating certain actions again and again such as washing food, transporting food into containers and cleaning cutting board‌etc.

These repeated actions lengthen the time of the whole precess. Therefore, we can have faster and simpler experience if design can help to reduce these repeated process .

Key finding :

We are repeating certain actions.

24

Product Requirements Document

PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS This document defines the requirements for the product system and serves as a basis for concept development and design. The product requirements are defined by the following conditional words: MUST: Necessary or essential Should: Recommended but not required.

May: Expresses possibility Will: Use to indicate a statement of fact

25

Physical Requirements 1. The product must fit into a 24 inches x 45 inches space.

2. Minimum product width will be affected by the type of counter top.

3. Minimum product length will be affected by the type of counter top.

User Requirements 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Using product may not need to read any instruction.

User will use their intuition to operate product.

Product may be used in all generations.

Users will have the sense of achievement when they use product.

Product should work well under different cultures.(No culture gap) Trust( Users can put dependence on this product) Users will have a whole new user experience but still feel comfortable to use this product.

8. More efficient to use—takes less time to accomplish a particular task 9. Easier to learn—operation can be learned by observing the object.

10 User will have better user experience.

11. The product should be easy to maintain.

Product Requirements Document

Functional Requirements

Aesthetic Requirements

1. This product must be very simple and easy to use.

2. The product should be designed in a way that makes it easy for user to remember the steps they should follow.

3. The product should be free of errors, it will be easier for us ers to understand what they are doing wrong when using the product.

4. The product should performing main function well .

5. The product should be low physical effort.

6. The product have intuitive interface 7. The product will integrate functions.

8. The product may follow the principles of universal design 9. The product will provide the better working flow.

10. This product is a time saver.

11. The material of the product must be durable.

12. The product must be seamless.

1. This product should fit in with environment.

2. Appropriate size and dimensions for use.

3. This product should work well with other furniture in the certain space.

4. Shape will follows functions.

5. From of this product should provide better undestanding of how to use.

Other Requirements 1. This product may provide affordance in the space.

26

Product Requirements Document

Stakeholder

Industrial Designer Furniture Designer Interior Designer Universal Design Designer Engineer Academics End Users

27

Furniture Designer

Interior Designer

Jess Sorel

Niche Interiors TEL: 415.336.3181 email: jen [at] nicheinteriors.com

Industrial Designer Shin So Instructor, Academy of Art University

Pin Hsu (MFA Student, Interior Design at Academy of Art University) Joe Huang (Instructor, Interior design at Tainan University of Technology) Selene Ye (Interior designer, at Guoplus design Studio) Maxine Lin (Interior designer at YH Architecture)

Jared Aller mobile 415.465.2627 jared@enlisteddesign.com

Engineer

Peter Stathis 1001 Mariposa St | Unit 102 San Francisco, CA 94107 USA T 415 362 6166 ewww.PeterStathis.com

Universal Design Designer

Function Engineering 109 Stevenson Street Sixth Floor San Francisco, CA 94105 TEL 415.974.3590

Academics Li-Hui, Lee Behavior and Environment Design

Greg Houston, UD designer Aral Balkan, UD designer wwNikola Mircic , UD designer

28

Design Process

DESIGN PROCESS

30

Design Process / Initial Concept development

Initial Concept development In the beginning of concept developing, I look into different space and try to figure out how to create simpler user experience for each space.

After the second research and reviewed the feedback, I narrow down my directions to the kitchen space.

How to create a simpler and comfortable user experience in the kitchen space?

31

Module kitchen

Unification Intergrade functions

Create more space

32

Design Process / Conept Development 1

Concept development 1 Can we increase the space around the sink ?

First, I develop my ideas around the sink area. During the preparing process, we have to wash food, clean tools or containers frequently.

Therefore, developing concepts around sink area has rich opportunities to reduce steps.

33

34

Design Process / Concept Development 1

MOCK UP / USER TEST In order to increase the working space covered the sink, I try to design a gadget which can be hooked on the sink. Therefore, we can completely use the space on the sink.

For testing this concept, I build a full size double bowl sink and two different mock ups(Figure A and B).

FEEDBACKS 1. Interesting way to increase space.

2. Cleaning might be a big problem.

3. It can not be fit in every size of sink.

4. How to stand the strength when we are chopping?

5. Durability of materials.

6. Where are tools storage?

35

A

1. Pull and hook it on the sink

2. Create additional space on the sink and we can work on it.

B

Design Process / Concept Development 2

Concept development 2 How to organize the containers and make them easier to access?

It always makes people frustrated to see unorganized containers scattered around the working area. The problem could be solved by two approaches. First, it could be improved with easy-to-access placement of the containers. Secondly, if we can provide space where we can store and organize the containers at the same time, it will accelerate the working speed by reducing the distance to reach all the items we need.

37

38

Design Process / Concept Development 2

MOCK UP / USER TEST In order to enlarge the working surface and also to create the space to contain the prepared food at the same time, the cutting board on the top of the sink is built with several pieces with hinges connecting each.

The users can have entire space on the top of the sink to prepare food and put the processed ingredients to the side for storing in the area divided by folded pieces. (Figure A and B)

FEEDBACKS 1. For this idea, it might spend less time on food prep but spend more time on cleaning.

2. It is way too complex.

3. It is not easy to transport food from folded pieces.

4. It can’t fit into the dish washer.

5. User can’t use it intuitively.

39

A

B

Design Process / Concept Development 3

Concept development 3 How can I arrange a smooth workflow for preparing food with the sink integrated with the most frequently Through breaking down all the steps in the procedure of preparing foods and analyzing the connection between each step, it can make me be clear about finding out the unnecessary movements. Then, I can draw a plan to rearrange the workflow and relocate the tools in the sink area objectively.

41

42

Design Process / Concept Development 3

MOCK UP / USER TEST One of my major goals of this project is to smooth out the workflow of preparing the food. With this approach, I tried to optimize the working space of the sink and divide it as several small units.(Opposite page shows the new working flow of food preparation)

FEEDBACKS 1. It is interesting to see the sink and the counter top de signed as landscape-like feeling.

2. It is a good way to put the containers under the cutting board and only needs simple scraping to transport the food into the container.

3. The location of the faucet might be a problem.

4. Too many corners might be hard to clean.

5. This design might need to cover the compost area.

6. The cutting board could be integrated and fit into sink.

43

Design Process

Discussion Cleaning process

I have relocated the faucet to make it cover as much area as possible but there were still some hidden spots which are hard to be cleaned. The consideration of smoother shape would be the solution. On the other hand, the choice of the material is crucial as well.

Compost

A small space to store the compost is handy for the working area. I am still seeking a proper location to fit the container/storage for the compost. How to transport it from the working spots to the trash bins is also my concern.

More flexibility

This design should provide basic functions therefore users can customize the counter top and working space from their demands. The puzzle-like design could be fit into this concept.

45

Design Process

More simple

My current solution seems not simple enough. It will require more development on eliminating unnecessary process to smooth out the entire workflow.

Water flow

Due to the large coverage of my faucet design, how to guide all the used water into the drain will be a very important issue.

Concept refinement

It is difficult to cover all the concerns above in one integrated system. In this case, I will have to obtain more users’ evaluations and feedbacks to find out the most acceptable direction of my project.

46

Design Process

SUMMARY I get a better understanding of the appropriate proportion by doing mock ups and user test. It also helps me to get the basic idea of how to arrange every component. The last thing is I can simulate the context and find out a simpler workflow.

One of my major goals of this project is to smooth out the workflow of preparing the food. With this approach, I tried to optimize the working space of the sink and divide it as several small units, which contain the major sink, the sliding cutting board which can be moved along the L shape space, the side sink to put the containers to store the prepared ingredients, and the compost/disposal area. The landscape-like design utilizes the whole area of the sink in three-dimension space.

47

Design Process

DESIGN REFINEMENT Refinement Mock up For refining the initial mock up, I chose blue foam because of its solidity and density. With this specific material process, I am able to have a better understanding of the shape change between surfaces. The size is also made with better accuracy than the previous version.

48

49

PROBLEM Sharp edge or track may be hard to clean.

50

PROBLEM

55” X 27”

The size of this mock up is 55” x 27”. And I got the feedback from testers, they mention that the size might be too big .

51

Size Refinement If I put this design into the kitchen environment, it might occupy too much space.

(Figure A). Ideally, this design can be fit into 45”x 24” space .

A

55” X 24”

B

45” X 24” 52

PROBLEM

Water Test

Users have the consideration about that water sprayed out from faucet if they use it to clean the cutting board.

Water will spray out if there are no section between board and counter top( pic A). But if I rise one side of the cutting board or there is a section between cutting board and counter top the water will flow directly into the sink (pic C and D).

A

B

C

D

Compost Bin Even though we have disposer under the sink and trash can near the work area but most of people still have a small compost bin on the counter top.

55

45� X 24�

Blue form mock up

57

For refining the initial mock up, I chose blue foam because of its solidity and density. With this specific material process, I am able to have a better understanding of the shape change between surfaces.

The size is also made with better accuracy than the previous version.

Access to the compost space

Access to the container

Working model test This workable model can simulate the real situation when user operates this skink system. By operating this working model, user can provide more specific feedback and what the problems they might have.

59

60

Design Process / Working model test

Problem 1 The transportation from the cutting board to other area could be smoother.

61

Design Process / Working model test

Problem 2 The application of space on the bottom left corner.

62

Design Process / Working model test

Problem 3 The storage on the top right corner seemed not enough for large meal.

63

Design Process / Working model test

Problem 4 Materials can’t transport accurately into the container from the cutting board.

64

Design Process / Working model test

Problem 5 When people wash the cutting board, the dirty water might pollute the food under the cutting board.

It is not easy to drain the water in the containers storage area when we clean it.

65

Design Process / Working model test

Problem 6 There are no space to place cutting board after we using it.

??

66

Design Process / Refinement

Improvement Reduce uselss space to make the cutting board movemen more efficiency.

67

Design Process / Refinement

Improvement Surface of the containers storage area inclines to the left, therefore, it is easy to drain water to the draining hole.

68

Design Process / Refinement

Improvement Containers can be hooked on the cutting board, therefore, we can sweep food material into container directly without splashing in the sink.

69

Design Process / Refinement

Improvement For sufficiently and efficient using the space below the cutting board, I re-design the containers so it can fit seamlessly in the area.

70

User Scenario

Current situation

71

User Scenario

Future situation

72

FINAL DESIGN In the process of refining my design, the entirety and details have gently been plotted to achieve the completion. In the visual aspect, the landscape-style shows the elegance and simplicity. As for the functionality, this project contains several creative attributes which improve the experience of cooking. By breaking down the procedures of preparing foods, this sink allows users to work mainly on the top of it and to use the space effectively. It simplify the procedures people need to do for preparing food in conventional way. Users can easily cut, transport, and clean the ingredients with ease because it can be done in the same space of the sink. The faucet covers all the working area and makes the product very easy to clean.

73

Final Design

Rinse & Colander

Connection The layout of this product is based on different functions because we can easily access different function areas by using cutting board.

Sink & Disposal

75

Temporarily draining area

Container Storage

Final Design

A

B

C Flexibility The colander / container set and cutting board can be placed in A, B or C position.

This provides the flexibility for users to arrange everything in the working area.

77

Final Design

Relocated In order to cover different function areas, I place the faucet in the center of the sink which is unconventional location where it always sit at the back.

79

80

Final Design

Rinse & Colander area We can put the ingredients in the colander set for the food preparation. There are two items in this set. One is deep and the other is shallow. Intuitively we use the deep one for containing the ingredient in large volume. The pores in the bottom of the container allow we dry the food after the rinse, such as spaghetti and salad.

81

Final Design

Sink Area In order to contain the different size of cook wears and dishes such as frying pan , pot or boiler, the dimension of the sink ares is 20” in the width, 20” in the depth, 9” in the height.

82

Final Design

Cutting Board I solve the problem with closing the opening. The specially designed container can be also stacked along the rim of the cutting board. With the new solution, the food will never spread off the cutting board and the stacking containers can save much space at the same time.

83

Final Design

Compost/ Draining User can adjust the placement of the compost container according to their demand. If users need to use the disposal, they can slide the container to the back and transport the kitchen waste to the disposal.

85

87

88

89

90

Final Design

Exploded View An exploded shows the relationship assembly of various parts.

It shows the components of an object slightly separated by distance, or suspended in surrounding space in the case of a three-dimensional exploded diagram. An object is represented as if there had been a small controlled explosion emanating from the middle of the object, causing the object’s parts to be separated an equal distance away from their original locations.

93

Drain Stoper Faucet

Containers

Anti-Slip rubber Colander

Anti-Slip rubber

Anti-Slip rubber

Drain

Cuttng Board Sink

94

Material and Process

MATERIAL & PROCESS

95

Material and Process

Sink / Corian Corian is manufactured in two thicknesses: 6 mm and 12 mm. Cross-section cuts show consistent color and particulate patterning evenly distributed throughout the material. Nicks and scratches can be buffed out with a Scotch-Brite pad or orbital sander. In the fabrication process, joints can be made invisible by joining the relevant pieces with Corian’s own color-matched two-part acrylic epoxy.

The pieces are clamped tightly together in order to express any excess adhesive. After the adhesive dries, the area is sanded and polished to create a seamless joint.

Available in over 100 colours Corian can be cut, trimmed, routed, polished, carved, engraved, sanded, repaired, moulded, thermoformed, sublimated, glued,‌ the design possibilities are practically limitless.

96

Material and Process

Containers & Colander / Polycarbonate Polycarbonate derived from BPA is a very durable material.The characteristics of p o l yc a r b o n a t e a re q u i t e l i ke t h o s e o f polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA, acrylic), but polycarbonate is stronger, usable in a wider temperature range but more expensive. This polymer is highly transparent to visible light and has better light transmission characteristics than many kinds of glass.

Unlike most thermoplastics, polycarbonate can undergo large plastic deformations without cracking or breaking. As a result, it can be processed and formed at room temperature using sheet metal techniques, such as forming bends on a brake. Even for sharp angle bends with a tight radius, no heating is generally necessary.

97

Bill of Material/ BOM

Manufacturing Process

Quantity

Material

Color/ Surface Treatment

Sink

1

Corian

Cool gray/ Polish

Thermoforming

Counter Top

2

Corian

Cool gray/ Polish

Thermoforming

Cutting board

1

Polyethylene (PE)

Cool gray/ Polish

Injection Molding

Colander

1

Polycarbonate(PC)

Cool gray/ Matted

Injection Molding

Container

3

Polycarbonate(PC)

Cool gray/ Matted

Injection Molding

Drain

2

Steel

Stainless steel

Die-casting

Drain Stoper

2

Steel

Stainless steel

Die-casting

Faucet

1

Steel

Stainless steel

Die-casting

Container / Anti-Slip rubber

6

Rubber

Gray

Injection Molding

Colander / Anti-Slip rubber

2

Rubber

Gray

Injection Molding

Cutting board / Anti-Slip rubber

1

Rubber

Orange

Injection Molding

Part

98

Final Design

ID Control Documentation

101

102

101

102

103

104

105

106

Bibliography

Books

Documents

• • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • •

107

The Laws of SIMPLICITY The Design for everyday things Emotional Dseign Small Things Considered: A Whole New Mind Material and Design Making it Inquiry by Design Human Factor Design Handbook

Interface Design: A Focus on Cognitive Science Documentation Solutions for Complex Tools: Task-Based Design at the Cross Roads The Product Complexity Conundrum Product Metaphors Must Consumer Electronics Be So Complicated?

Affordance Theory Product Metaphors Product semantics Sign and Code in Product Design

Web sites • Study unravels consumer waste. http://archives.cnn.com/ • Why are Consumer Electronics So Complicated? http://www.selfseo.com/story-11540.php • Feature Presentation http://www.newyorker.com/ • Complexity Analysis http://deseng.ryerson.ca/xiki/Learning/Main:Complexity_analysis • CNN: Study Unravels Consumer Waste. http://archives.cnn.com/ • Why are Consumer Electronics So Complicated? http://www.selfseo.com/story-11540.php • Tacit and Explicit Knowledge http://technopreneurship.wordpress.com/

• Wired.com http://www.wired.com/ • Wikipedia http://www.wikipedia.org/ • Getty Image http://www.gettyimagrs.com/ • plusminuszero http://www.plusminuszero.jp/ • MUJI http://www.muji.com/ • Simpliflying http://simpliflying.com/ • 7 principles of universal design http://www.cph127.com/ • Design of the future http://www.tuvie.com/

108