Inclusive Kitchen

For the design project, I was tasked with identifying a design problem in society that inhibits inclusion. What I decided to look into were design problems that come from the kitchen, because most people have access to one and use it daily. With this in mind, I created a pair of machines that automate the cooking and baking experience, with one being a mixer, scale, and recipe tablet combination, and the other being an oven with a cooling chamber. This allows anyone to use the machines to make being in the kitchen an easier experience and more enjoyable.
This design is needed to respond to the design problem of kitchens not being accessible in nature. Baking or cooking tends to rely heavily on sight and physical ability, that not everyone has, and can pose danger to those people. For example, having to lift heavy ingredients or bowls onto the counter, reading a recipe, or hearing timers go off. Issues like these inhibit inclusion because it blocks users from the ability to use their kitchen safely to prepare food, a staple of human life. As well as, a factor of independence and social interaction that is commonly associated with cooking or baking.
For the design process, I started with the mixer as it was what came to mind first as I was figuring out the design problem. I knew I wanted to have an electronic mixer because it is useful for all types of people because it does the hard work for the user at a press of a button or the flip of a switch. The design was based on the Kitchen aid Mix Master because that is the most common shape for an electric mixer. Next, I decided I wanted to incorporate a scale into the design. This is because, in other cultures, mainly European, users use grams and a scale for their ingredients instead of cups. With the scale, it could also allow users with physical impairments to not have to worry about straining to get the right measurement the first time, bring measurements of heavy ingredients up to where they need it, and keep measurements at eye level. For visually impaired users the scale could talk to the user and inform them verbally of what they need to do. Finally, for the mixer combo, I thought a tablet could keep everything together and easy to find, as well as provide visual or auditory cues throughout the recipe. Designing the oven section of the design came after the mixer. Mainly the process was based on my own fear of getting burned by the oven and decided it is probably safer to cook in one section of an oven and have the hot pan automatically moved to another for cooling. This way every user is safer because there is less chance of burning themselves. The challenge that I experienced during the design of this project was mainly making sure I had incorporated everything in a way that multiple users could use. I struggled to be able to see how to modify certain elements to fit different types of users because I do not experience them myself. How I responded to this challenge was to break all the elements down and doing some research on what different types of people need.
Overall, this experience went smoothly, it started off easy with the thinking of a design problem and solution and continued through the visualization. What worked well for this project is the overall idea generation. As soon as I knew my design problem, I just took to drawing sketches and settled on a design that I liked. This process did not have any challenges. On the other hand, something that did not work as well was drawing my ideas out by hand, which I prefer, because I still eventually digitalized them. If I had digitalized the design at the beginning, I could have saved effort and time both as I was drawing and in the future. From this, I learned that even if I draw the design first by hand, I should immediately transfer it to a digital copy in case I need it in the future or need to make modifications without redrawing the entire idea. From this, the design process contributed to my evolution as an inclusive designer because it taught me important lessons about the process such as digitalizing, as well as open my mind to new specifications I should include in future designs to make them inclusive.