COOKING WITH INTELLIGENCE
It is a compact kitchen with an intelligent cooking system that helps people cook well and efficiently.
Duration
Role
Contribution
Software
Jul 2017 - Sep 2017
UX Designer at GE Appliances
Led research and ideation, responsible for wireframes, UI, and prototype;
Presented on Albert Lee exhibition
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OVERVIEW
Cooking is fun, but it can also be intimidating for beginners and time consuming for everyone. One way to make meal preparation easier and faster is to automatically guide you step-by-step through instructions that ensure all of your food will be ready at the same time.
This intelligent cooking system monitors your pace and adjusts the instructions accordingly. In the end, we want you to spend less time preparing food and more time enjoying it!
PROBLEM
It seems like people are getting much busier than ever nowadays. Less time enjoying life and accompanying family has been a problem for almost everyone, especially the youth.
Living such a busy lifestyle, many people still express their passion in cooking. Cooking, which is fun and provides people a chance to enjoy time with their family, is time consuming though. For those novices, cooking sometimes can even be a disaster...
RESEARCH
Technology Support
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Voice control+AI
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Gesture control
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AR/VR
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Smart appliances
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New display technique
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Depth perception
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Proximity sensor
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…
Social Trends
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Food delivery
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Explore new things
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Social media
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Share lifestyle/experience
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Compact kitchen
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...
Market
About 49% U.S. Customers are willing to pay for new products & technologies, and appreciate beautiful design.
(2018 GE Appliances customer report)
User Interviews
FINDINGS
In general, most of those who were interviewed are interested in cooking, and would like to explore new recipes. Some want to cook by themselves everyday to save money. However, their common concerns can be concluded as:
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have little time to cook while preparation and cooking are time consuming
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have little experience, hard to cook well
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don’t have a decent kitchen to cook
So, it’s feasible to create
a compact intelligent kitchen that helps cook well and efficiently.
PERSONA
Characteristics
-Young
-Lack of skills and experience
-Curious/willing to learn & ask
-Social, like sharing
Pain points
-Lack of cooking experience
-Hard to understand/follow the recipe
-Be afraid of fume/oil/heat; easy to be frustrated
-Easy to lost interest in cooking
IDEATION
We used Lego to walkthrough the scenarios and did the affinity diagram to brainstorm. And we came up some ideas on compact kitchen and intelligent cooking system.
IDEA DEVELOPMENT
Idea 1: A compact kitchen
It’s an all-in-one concept. Induction cooktop, oven, cutting board, trash can, and sink are all included. It saves a lot of space as well as help users save time.
Idea 2: Gesture control induction cooktop
It shows instructions on the back wall and can be controlled by gesture.
Idea 3: Smart cutting board
It’s also a scale and display, which allows users to weigh ingredients easily and read instructions directly on it.
FINAL CONCEPT
Cooking with Intelligence
OVERALL USER PROCESS
1. Search recipes & Order ingredients online
2. Step-by-step guide & Smart cooking
3. Share recipes to community
USER INTERFACES
Here shows the user interfaces projecting on the wall.
Standby screen
Unlock and log in when users get close to the cooktop
Tech: proximity sensor, face recognition
Community recipes
View recipes from friends, neighbors, etc.
Interact with the cooking system by gesture control.
Tech: Gesture control
View a recipe
View details and order ingredients the user doesn’t have.
Tech: Wi-Fi connect (to fridge)
Order ingredients
A meal kit with those ingredients will be delivered to the user’s place.
Step-by-step guide
The system shows instructions for each step, and sets optimal cooking time and temperature automatically.
Share recipe video
There is a camera under the hood and recording the process when cooking. A cooking video is automatically created by system that can be shared to the community.
PROTOTYPING
