ME313 . Autumn 2004 . Kelley, Kembel, Newman, Rodriguez . DP3

A crisis in the kitchen

“And it's always a crisis in a kitchen. People from very different backgrounds form close tribal units, and they desire to do well and to be seen doing well. You can't be seen as a clock puncher in a good restaurant. You have to care…

…I always recommend to anyone interested in the restaurant industry to spend six months as a dishwasher. It will tell you all you need to know.” – Anthony Bourdain, chef and author

Brief:

Whether you’re in a restaurant munching on a Big Mac, scarfing down a burrito, or enjoying the aesthetic sublimity of mirugai, you’re participating in the single largest industry in the U.S. There are almost 900,000 restaurants in this country, employing over 12 million people and bringing in $440 billion in revenues each year. And they need equipment to get their jobs done – 60% of food preparation establishments plan to make capital expenditures this year.[1]

CHEFF (Creating Human Engineering For Foodies) is a small but exciting company that has already built a successful business around the cooking experience at home. But with more and more people eating out, the management team feels that it needs to go beyond the home market to find new arenas for the CHEFF brand of innovation. It has targeted the commercial food preparation industry as the critical market segment for future design efforts.

Design Project:

CHEFF has retained a group of hotshot designers (you!) to redefine the commercial food preparation experience.

It is up to you to:

  • Study professional food preparers to understand the market and needs of this user-group. Your goal is to become a commercial food preparation expert.
  • Select an appropriate commercial kitchen to study to be your partner in this project.
  • Identify insightful new ways to enhance the food preparation experience for the cooking staff. Your goal is to articulate a clear point of view.
  • Visualize, prototype and test a number of alternative product ideas based on your observations that accomplish your stated objectives. Your goal is to move beyond obvious ideas.
  • Build a finished and refined final product based on the results of your observations, prototyping and testing along the way.
  • Present your unique insights, point of view, big ideas, final prototype(s) and evidence of how it improves the food preparation experience to CHEFF and your design colleagues in order to secure future business with your client and move your solution into final development and market deployment.

To be successful, you will need to consider when your solution is needed in the food preparation experience, who uses it, how it helps the cooking staff get their job done well on their terms, and what form your solution should take.

Rely on the design process, be creative, take risks and, most importantly, have fun!

Project deliverables and timeline are outlined in the attached calendar.

Instructors' Notes:

This project is designed to emphasize an iterative design process. 50% of your grade will be based on how well you develop your concept through rapid prototyping and testing. The remaining 50% of your grade will be based on all other design elements.

Remember: this is a pass/fail class. We expect you to take significant risks and stretch yourself. In our experience, it is better to fail early and often in order to succeed sooner on your project.

Build and test... Build and test... Build and test.

It is possible, with a small project like this one, to ignore the design process and jump directly to a solution. However, you will find this is not where the learning is. We ask you to apply the process and see what happens.

Bon appetit!

A crisis in the kitchen: Calendar

Monday / Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday / Weekend

Oct 27

DP#3 Begins

------
ACCEPT THE PROBLEM & START UNDERSTAND PHASE
------
 Receive DP3 assignment in class.
 ACCEPT the problem and start the UNDERSTAND phase.
 Start thinking about commercial kitchens and food preparation.
 Strategize ways to get up to speed quickly on the subject. /

Oct 28

------
UNDERSTAND
------
 Become an EXPERT on commercial food preparation.
 Talk to culinary experts, find articles, reports, and research, explore culinary school curriculums, research the commercial food industry, read up on commercial kitchens, cooking teams, etc.
 Review this calendar – work backwards from Nov 10 and create a plan for yourself. /

Oct 29

------
UNDERSTAND & OBSERVE
------
 Select a specific site, a type of site, or a cooking staff that you think will be a blast to design for.
 Establish a relationship with the cooking staff at your selected site so you can work with them over the next 2 weeks.
 Spend time in your selected kitchen or food establishment, understand the kitchen dynamics, and observe the cooking staff while they work.
 Identify opportunities for improving the food preparation experience for the cooking staff. /

Oct 30-31

------
OBSERVE & POINT OF VIEW
------
 Continue observations at your selected food establishments.
 Continue to refine a list of key opportunities and insights on how to improve the food preparation experience for the cooking staff.
 Start brainstorming initial ideas that address your identified needs and stated point of view.

Nov 1

------
POINT OF VIEW & VISUALIZE
------
DUE in class: PROJECT DEFINITION & RESEARCH/OBSERVATION RESULTS
 Narrow your scope and select one of the problem areas or opportunities you identified in your research and observation.
 Draft a point of view based on your narrowed scope.
 DUE: Turn in results of your observations and research, your identified need and your stated point of view /

Nov 2

------
VISUALIZE & RAPID PROTOTYPE
------
 Brainstorm, sketch your initial ideas that address your identified needs and stated point of view.
 Start building really rough prototypes of your initial ideas that address your identified needs and stated point of view.
 IF possible, start getting your prototypes out in front of real users. Listen to their feedback. /

Nov 3

------
RAPID PROTOTYPE & TEST WITH USERS
------
DUE in class: INITIAL PROTOTYPES
 Project Check-in during class.
Bring your collection of prototypes to class. Be prepared to discuss your refined point of view, your observation results and the direction you intend to go for your final product. /

Nov 4

------
ITERATE… VALIDATE & REFINE POV, PROTOTYPES, CONDUCT NEW USER TESTS, REPEAT
------
 Build, test with users, iterate your design, repeat. /

Nov 5

------
ITERATE… VALIDATE & REFINE POV, PROTOTYPES, CONDUCT NEW USER TESTS, REPEAT
------
 Build, test with users, iterate your design, repeat.
 Review the plan you formulated on Oct 28. How are you doing? What areas need more attention in your process? Adjust your plan accordingly. /

Nov 6-7

------
SELECT FINAL DIRECTION, IMPLEMENT FINAL PROTOTYPE(S), TEST
------
 Pick the most promising direction for your final model(s).
 Build and test your favorite solution for one or two more iterations.
 Plan and build your final model.

Nov 8

------FINISH FINAL PROTOTYPES, TEST FINAL PROTOTYPES WITH USERS, PREPARE FOR PRESENTATION
------
 Finish your final (beautifully crafted) prototype(s) for demonstration
 Start preparing your final presentation.
 Assemble all appropriate evidence of your process and pack in an appropriate container. /

Nov 9

------PREPARE FOR PRESENTATION
------
 Practice presenting your unique insights, point of view, big ideas, final prototype(s) to a friend or group of peers. Based on their feedback, iterate until you’re comfortable with your presentation. /

Nov 10

DUE in class: FINAL PROJECT PRESENTATION
Present your unique insights, point of view, big ideas, final prototype(s) and evidence of how it improves the food preparation experience.
 Bring all evidence of your process (research notes, pictures, sketches, early prototypes, etc.) in a container clearly marked with your name.
 Please be on time and have fun presenting! /

Nov 11

Get some sleep...
Do something to celebrate!

[1]National Restaurant Association Statistics, 2004