EATS- Design Development

design development

project EATS DESIGNED BY A RA CHO, MIN SEON PARK WRITTEN BY STACEY PARK, TIFFANY HEISLER CO-CREATED BY DESTANY NURSE

Five Faces of Design Development Process

Stacy Park | D+M Class of 2012

Destany Nurse | D+M Class of 2012

Min Seon Park | D+M Class of 2011 A Ra Cho | D+M Class of 2011 Tiffany Heisler | D+M Class of 2012

Def_Design Development The need for 21st century mindsets and protocols has sparked interest in design development.process for innovation. That is a humancentered, prototype driven process for the exploration of new ideas that can be applied to operations, products, services, and strategies. Design processes unfold from many perspectives, developing the insight required to recognize critical junctures that offer opportunities for increasing both creativity and efficiency. Special attention will be given to the use of iteration and prototyping as a means of generating the knowledge that is required to successfully manage risk without stifling innovation.

- PUDM 3303 | Spring 2011

Design Development

UNDERSTAND

OBSERVE

TEST

PROTOTYPE

POINT OF VIEW IDEATE

EXECUTE EXECUTE

The 6 building blocks Understanding is the first phase of the design thinking process. During this phase, we immerse ourselves UNDERSTAND in learning. Talking experts and conducting research helps to develop a background knowledge.

OBSERVE

POINT OF VIEW

We become keen people watchers in the observation phase of the design thinking process. Not only we watch how people interact and behave, we also observe the physical spaces and places of the surroundings. The understanding and observation phases of design thinking help us develop a sense of empathy.

In this phase, we become aware of peoples’ needs and developing insights. We come up with a statement: user + need + insight, that includes how to make changes that will have an impact on peoples’ experiences.

IDEATE

Ideating is a critical component of design development process. No idea is to far-fetched and no one’s ideas are rejected. Ideating is all about creativity, fun, wishful thinkers and dreamers.

PROTOTYPE

Prototyping is a rough and rapid portion of the design process. A prototype can be a sketch, model, or a cardboard box. It is a way to convey an idea quickly.

TEST

Testing is part of an iterative process that provides us with feedback. The purpose of testing is to learn what works and what doesn’t, and then iterate.

This means going back to your prototype and modifying it based

3

EATS visits Parsons Introduced scenario

1

Visited the Community Center Psychogeographical map Kids visited the site Food truck idea

Visited the Community Center Met the kids Saw the site Learned the neighborbood Made a map

2

7 Prototype site and container 8

Research container ideas Research container logistics Additional recipe card research

Visited the Community Center and the senior center Model feedback Feedback from EATS

Teachers meeting w EATS Calendar concept redirected Gumball concept redirected

Food truck plan scrapped New cart idea

Changed direction of plan Marketing plan Logo redesign Authenticity Seal Mkting to restaurants

9

Prototype edits Redisigned logo Recipe card prototype Developed overall theme

Research food truck info Calendar mock-ups Gumball washing station

Approached the rat problem Research of methods Approached the logisitcs of space Interviewed farmer Research

from analyzing and brainstorming to prototyping and research to testing to reiteration back to brainstorminga process of design development.

4

5 Visited the Community Center Cart brainstorm Takehome surveys

6 SKYPE meeting Cart sketches Site sketches Bubblegum ideas Recipe card idea

Food cart Container ideas Bubblegum concept Gallery space on site Recipe cards Include diverse info

Under

rstand

Who is EATS? EATS is an urban agriculture project creating community-operated 4-season farms and food distribution systems in working class communities.

EATS mission is to make community based food production & distribution a viable food, health & economic strategy for urban areas.

UNDERSTAND

Who is involved?

The primary actors are the EATS organization as our immediate partners/clients, the community as our users, and Frederick Douglas Housing as our partners. The community is largely comprised of the youth and seniors, who we had the opportunity to spend time with and learn from. We had periodic visits at the FDH community center. There, we had discussions and activities with a group of middle-school students, ranging from 12 to 15. From these visits, we gained insights that would help us develop our project goals. We also met and spoke with the EATS team, Linda and Jon, and received feedback and suggestions that further helped our project goal.

UNDERSTAND

Obse

erve

First Visit

UNDERSTAND

- Children’s Aid Society-

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Frederick Douglas Housing

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10 PS 145 4th St

The Bridge Park West House DC Clean Ex

West Side HS FDH Community Center

St Michael Episcopal Church Tennis Court

Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan

Broadway Exterminating

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St Mike’s Express Extermination

PS 163

W W

96

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97

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Whole Foods

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Associated Supermarket

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Senior Center

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The FDH community center helps children in poverty to succeed and thrive. They do this by providing comprehensive supports to children and their families in targeted high-needs New York City neighborhoods. It supports children to graduate high school, move on to college or careers, and become successful citizens. With the afterschool program provided by the community center, the children enter a portal where their academic, social, cultural, health and recreational needs can be met.

Am ste rda m

FDH Community Center

We visited the community center as a whole group with Jon and Jessica. During the visit, we introduced ourselves and what we do as Design and Management students. The kids learned about the EATS project and although they expressed doubt and dislike for vegetables, they were also excited to be involved in the project. After meeting the kids, we saw the abandoned tennis court for ourselves which helped us with visualizing the possibilities for EATS.

OBSERVE

We interviewed a farmer- develop a cash crop (grow and sell a lot of what we know we can), grow things that can easily grow in shade such as mint, which can also bring in extra income. is the abandoned tennis court on FDH property, which has not been properly used since the 1980’s and is currently used as a dog run.

Stopped using the tennis court since the 1980’s

Problems and Needs EATS presented us with a list of problems and needs that organization was facing

Rat Problem

Market Space

Economy of space

Authenticity as neighborhood identity

Lack of awareness Packaging

Marketing Plan

Washing Station

Incorporation of art projects in the plots

Dislike vegetables

Second Visit Psycho-geographical mapping activity: we wanted to get to know the kids’ interests, general daily routines and patterns, and any information that may help us define our goal. Insights- Fun and fast food stand out most to the kids. They enjoy places to ‘hang.’ We also had a Dream Meal and What I Ate Today activity planned, but time was limited, so we pushed those activities back for another visit.

The kids also visited the abandoned tennis courts. It was hard for them to imagine the courts as a transformed space, but it excited them more about the farm. -> Excited about selling vegetables Food Truck: From speaking with Jon and surveying the community again, the food truck idea was conceived. What if there was a truck, something that is mobile and accessible to customers, that covered the neighborhood, being closer to everyone and gaining exposure to potential users?

OBSERVE

The kids really loved Dunkin Donuts. Kids pass by the tennis court everyday.

Ide

eate

First Project Goals To develop two marketing plans: One, to make vegetables more appealing to the kids and the community Two, to establish EATS as a legitimate organization that will lead to relationships with restaurant clients.

IDEATE

Point of

f View

Research_Food Truck

POINT OF VIEW

Start-Up/Operating Costs: Costs include: truck permit acquisition supplies security insurance truck storage. (Truck parking may not seem like an expense but the Dept. of Health requires all trucks to be stored and maintained at a food truck commissary, where you pay rent for things like access to clean water, and refrigeration.) *The less your truck does, the cheaper it is. Treats Truck (bakes off premises) had a start up cost of $80,000. *High volume and excellent margins can be a reality for trucks. For a profit margin estimated to be over 50 percent, as compared to a good restaurant where the margins aren’t greater than 10 percent usually.

Permits: A Mobile Food Vendor License (for you) -Paperwork and some classes A Mobile Food Vending Unit Permit (For the truck) -Permits distributed via lotteries. You can get an exception from the Parks Department or a hospital to operate on their premises. A complex and loopholed process. Can buy a permit illegally for $5,000-$20,000 or partner with an existing license holder for cash and a portion of profit (go to food truck commissary) Something like a dozen permits become available every year, and it takes year just to get on the waiting list. YEARS. In other words, not a single new gourmet truck that has launched in New York in the past 3 years got their permits directly from the city of New York. They bought them from somebody who already owned the permit (i.e. on the black market). Now, whether or not there are loopholes in the law that make that practice technically “legal” who is to say. But know that if you want to start to food truck in New York City, “following New York’s licensing and permit requirements to the letter” is practically impossible. Do not need to be permit holder to work the truck The Truck: Food trucks budget on average $75,000-$100,000

Food truck idea ended up not being practical for EATS at this time It was on the right track, but it required more brainstorming and research

New Agenda - Food cart: sketching and research - Calendar: An EATS product for the community that will keep families and individuals in touch with the vegetables, the farm, and the seasons.

- Washing Station: brainstorm and sketch of gumball machine concept

IDEATE

Sketches_Food Cart

Calendar Mock-up

Gumball Machine Concept

The Gumball machine was a great idea but not practical. It was essential to keep with the fun and exciting aspect of the gumball machine and apply to another idea.

Jessica and Emily’s meeting with EATS

POINT OF VIEW

Calendar idea questioned How relevant and useful is a calendar? Is there some other form of promotional material to keep in touch with the market customers? - interested in establishing each farm first as the place of market business, before going mobile. How can we make a cart that will inspire people to visit the farm?

Gumball machine concept really great but does not necessarily have to be embodied in a functioning machine.

How can we incorporate the fun, interactive, playful spirit of a gumball machine into our project?

Third Visit

POINT OF VIEW

Had a discussion about vegetable and brainstorm for food cart ideas.

Insights- doing only drawing activities can be limiting, does not include the boys in the conversation. Kids are also excited about the marketplace idea, but are getting bored just talking about it.

Finalized Project Brief To promote food systems that support improved nutrition and public health, and increase access for all to safe and wholesome food. By collaborating with the middle school students at the FDH Community Center, our mission is to embed a healthy lifestyle and bring an action-oriented membership body. The farm site will be launched with resources a community already has, in this particular project, th rrounds the neighborhood in Upper West Side. The community distributes the food to itself at a price that makes it possible for everyone to eat healthy.

Another facet of our marketing strategy is a simple recipe card communicating, and promoting the use of the specified vegetable grown on the site by EATS. Not only would this be an educational tool, but it will also keep the customer in touch with the growing season, and the EATS operation.

We also would like to incorporate an interactive element that attracts the kids of the community to be involved through selling and buying the vegetables, by displaying the Design Development process, and collaboration with the UWS Middle Schoolers along the perimeter of the garden. This will entail drawings, photographs, and other artwork.

IDEATE

Initially when designing a solution for the EATS garden marketplace, our group was given specifications from EATS listing internal and external areas that needed to be addressed. One of those areas was the request for a washing station for the vegetables before selling in the market. It was difficult for us to think of a way to make the process of washing the produce engaging, and fun for the children who would be involved in the process.

After some brainstorming, we thought of designing an apparatus that resembled a gumball machine, where the vegetables could be stored in the top “bubble� piece soaking in water, and through the turning of a knob at the bottom, the vegetables would move down a tube, and shoot out of the bottom. After some careful thought, and reasoning, we quickly realized this method was not technically possible, or efficient.

However, the gumball concept was something that had stuck from that point out, because the larger picture was about turning something considered monotonous, such as washing vegetables, into a fun activity. Through this though process of trial and error of the gumball prototype, sprouted the idea of creating a marketplace space for the community to not only shop for vegetables, but to recreationally spend their time.

The space designed includes seating, a gallery space for artwork, games, and handouts of recipe cards for produce in season with a colorful, playful design aesthetic that would appeal to all members of all ages in the community. The centralized design focus of the marketplace is the vegetable cart which has retractable seating, a washing station, and clever display setups to accommodate the vegetables to shoppers. The integration of this cart was inspired by the Illy coffee pop up shops that are made from shipping containers. This option we found through much research is the most practical, and cost effective solution in creating a farmers market space.

Inspirations_Container box

From news articles about container houses

_Codesign with the kids

High school memories: mural paintings for the school wall & candy shop

Sketch_Marketplace/Container Box

Keeping the fun aspect of the gumball machine, we created a exhibition area where photos of people involved would be hanging on the fences.

Visualization These are the list of crops EATS will grow.

The visual graph on the right will infrom the viewer with a clear projection of what crops will be available and what to expect.

EATS 2011 CROP AVAILABILITY JAN Arugula Roma Edamame Beets Broccoli Carrots Chard Collard Greens Cucumbers Edible Flowers Fennel Head Lettuce Herbs Kale Lettuce Mix Mesclun Mix Okra Peppers Radish Medley Spinach Turnips Tomatoes Zucchini

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

Mid

DEC Late

Late Late

Late Late

Mid

Mid Mid

Mid

Mid Late Late

Mid Early Early Early Late

Mid Early

Late Late Mid Late Mid Mid

Early Late Late

Mid Late Mid

Early Late Mid Mid Late Early Mid

Early Early Late Mid Mid

Late Late Late Early

Research_Container box Container Purchase Price List Due to the nature of our business it is very difficult to quote pricing on a specific unit, therefore you will find a range of the prices that we are most likely to have if you call on any given day. Our actual inventory varies and we occasionally do have units that sell below and above the posted range.

Container Size

10 ft. Long x 8ft wide x 81/2 ft. height 10ft.

20 ft. Long x 8ft wide x 81/2 ft. height 20ft.

40 ft. Long x 8ft wide x 81/2 ft. height 40ft.

40 ft. Long x 8ft wide x 91/2 ft. height 40ft.

12 ft.-26 ft. Truck Bodies

Price

$2,700 custom unit $1,500-$2,300 $1,200-$2,700 $3,100 $600-$1,100

Trucking Costs Trucking costs fluctuate based on the unit size and area.

Proto

otype

Monthly Recipe Cards

Calendar ideas

+

+

JUN

VEGETABLE OF MONTH

Okra

Dry OkraEarly June - July

Ingredients Ingredientes Okra Okra Onion Cebolla Tomato Tomate Green Chili Verde Chile Salt Sal Red Pepper Pimiento rojo Oil for Fry Aceite para freír

1. Cut okra in very small piece 2. Put oil in deep pan fry okra inoil until it look crispy not look black 3. After it get crispy, put okra in separate pan 4. Put opinion, tomato, green chili, salt, red pepper on it 5. Add 1 teaspoon oil in it and just mix on low heat just for 2 minutes 1. Corte de okra en parte muy pequeña 2. Poner aceite en inoil okra profunda sartén hasta que se vea crujiente No mires negro 3. Después de que queden crujientes, poner okra en sartén 4. Ponga opinión, tomate, chile verde, sal, pimienta roja en él 5. Añadir una cucharadita de aceite y mezclar en ella sólo a fuego lento durante 2 minutos solo

Marketplace Container box for selling buying vegetables and tables and chairs for people to interact

Pictures displayed to show the process of how the students involved in the project

Try it !

veggie of the month

Talk to me !

Place for people to try some vegetables

Chalkboard for people to leave comments

Color wheel for distributing recipe cards

Fourth Visit Sampled vegetables

They like being creative- ripping up frenchfries, mixing their own sauces,

It’s not that most of the kids do not like vegetables- most of them don’t mind vegetables- they just prefer fast food, burger, and bbq joints.

POINT OF VIEW

Fifth Visit Asked them to make their own tennis court models

The kids liked our aooroch because they could hang out at the tennis court with neighbors.

POINT OF VIEW

Tes

est

Fifth Visit Got feedback on our prototype

“Colorfulness” The kids really liked our model.

Logo Redesign

EVERYBODY

EVERYBODY

an active citizen project

an active citizen project

Kept the original layout of the logo Changed colors and fonts

Feedback from EATS from Parsons Visit EATS visited our Design Development class for an informal critique towards the closing of the design process. Overall, the general outcome was very positive, as both Jon and Linda, and the farmer were enthusiastic about a playful, colorful marketplace for the community to socialize the seniors, children, and adults.

EATS had a few minor issues with some aspects of the design, and expressed concern that most people would be uninformed about the existence of the marketplace, unless there was an aesthetic design element existing on the outside perimeter of the space to draw users in, which was something our group completely overlooked prior to the critique.

EATS was worried about the manner in which we planned on displaying the student’s artwork in the gallery, and stated they felt that if the work was displayed incorrectly and it could adversely affect the success of the marketplace for appearing unprofessional, and amateurish.

POINT OF VIEW

A thought from the farmer regarding the packaging for the vegetables themselves, and the inside of the vegetable cart that concluded how crucial they both were in attracting buyers.

Finally, the most important outcome from the EATS critique was receiving the dimensions of the garden space from the farmer, only to realize that our layout of the marketplace was no longer relevant because of space constraints due to not enough open space for a community marketplace within the original tennis court. For this, after re-working various options, one of our solutions is for EATS to eliminate some of the space for the beds to open more room for the marketplace.

Think about how we will be able to attract the community outside of the tennis court. Attract people outside the fence and get the whole community to know that it’s for everyone

Incorporate the fun and playful aspect into our designs but at the same time make it look serious as well as very profressional

Think deeper on how the inside of the container will be designed to attract people to buy the vegetables.

Senior Center Visit

POINT OF VIEW

As part of a research, we felt that interviewing and meeting the seniors from the SDH Community Center was necessary in order to understand their market segment, and include design features that would appeal to them as well as the rest of the community.

The outcome from our visit was overall very helpful for us in tapping into areas we were not aware of previously about the seniors and their enthusiasm for art, and feeling a part of their community.

Many of them expressed interest in contributing to the farming of the garden, getting their work displayed in the gallery space, and their desire for things like games, an area for dogs, shaded areas, music, and a BBQ grill to be integrated into the space. ‘ When asked what the most important thing about buying produce was, the majority of them said price and freshness.

Seniors liked our ideas and excited to buy freshly grown vegatables.

They would like their craft to be displayed instead of their photos.

Add seating areas for the seniors to feel comfortable under the shading area so that they will be able to times with the neighbors by doring outdoor activities together.

Color Wheel

JUN

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ABLE VEGET

Okra

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June

- July

Okr

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Jun

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MONTH

- July

VEGETA BLE OF

Early June

Okra

- July

ly - Ju

Okra

Early

June

- July

TABL VEGE

JUN E OF

MON

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Okra

Early

June

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Early

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MONTH

JUN

VEGETABLE OF

Early June - July

JUN

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Okra

ETA VEG

OF MONTH

Early June

JUN

ABLE VEGET

By turning this color wheel, they would be able to get a monthly receipe card with nutritional information as well as simple receipes with the vegetables they purchase at the container shop. .

Okra

JUN

O

Paintings for container box

To add seriousness and professionalism on the outer appearance of the container box, our members brainstormed ideas of putting vegetable paintings around the container box.

Container Box Inside

For ready to eat

CHALKBOARD & INFORMATION CASHIER

READY TO EAT

TRY IT PLACE

READY TO COOK

VEGETALBES

Tables and chairs with shades

Marketplace layout

Current plan

New Plan

Marketplace Final Prototype

special thanks to Jessica Corr, Emily Moss Linda Goode Bryant, Jon Wilson, August Jones Miss Stephanie, Ms. Raspberry, FDH Community Center, Senior Center