Persona
Sonia J. Florez
Address: 3155 Columbia Mine Road
Wheeling, WV 26003
Birthday: December 10, 1994, 22 years old, Sagittarius
Occupation: Airport Terminal Coordinator with Integra Design
Favorite Color: Green
Motivations
-Sonia’s job and coworkers motivate her to be creative in the workplace. They are always looking for new ways to improve the workplace and the processes within the terminal that she controls.
-Sonia loves to play tennis with friends after work. Sunny days really make her happy because she can spend time outdoors.
-Sonia loves cooking
-Sonia one day wants to get married and have a family
Goals
-Cook a dinner without any frustration and without asking someone else for help
-Improve her skills in the kitchen with the help of her new tools
-Frustrations
-Opening a bottle of wine
-Taking out the trash
-Grinding salt and pepper
-Managing large pots and pans
-Washing dishes
-Cutting and dicing
-Tearing paper towels
-Making sandwiches
Mindmap
4 areas we can work with in the future
- Sauteing vegetables
- Making a sandwich
- Opening a bottle
- Taking out the trash
Identify Problem Areas & Solution Goals
Problem Area: Sautéing vegetables with one arm
User Needs: User needs to finely chop vegetables, transfer them to the pan, saute the vegetables, and plate them after they are fully cooked, with one hand
Solution Goal: Stability in cutting, easy transfer to the pan, non stick pan, stability in weight of the pan
Problem Area: Making a sandwich
User Needs: User needs to untie bread bag, spread peanut butter and jelly while keeping the plate stable with one hand.
Solution Goal: Secure surface to hold bread, Easy system to close bread bag, easy way to get PB and jelly from their containers
Problem Area: Opening a bottle
User Needs: User needs to open all types of bottles and jars in the kitchen, from grape jam to corked wine without frustration
Solution Goal: Easy opening, easy mounting in all kitchens
Problem Area: Taking out trash
User Needs: User needs to tie trash bag, remove it from the bin, and open dumpster to throw it in.
Solution Goal: Fast and efficient removal from bin as well as tying bag. No mess, waste shouldn’t fall out of bag
Problem Statements
-Design a system to efficiently chop, saute, and serve vegetables with one arm
-Design a product that enables the ability to open jars and bottles, from twist off to corked, using only one arm
-Design a stable surface for food prepping minimizing accidents in the kitchen.
-Create a trash bag or bin that makes the process of taking out the trash a trouble-free one-handed chore
Reflection
Our team learned a significant amount about how difficult it is to do certain tasks with one arm in the kitchen. Specifically, we explored certain tasks such as: chopping, sautéing and serving vegetables, applying and spreading spreads, grinding salt and pepper, washing dishes, tearing paper towels, opening jars, taking corks out of bottles, taking out the trash, and more. However, something that we probably should have taken into consideration was which arm we used to do these tasks. Someone that just lost an arm may have lost the arm that controlled his or her dominant hand. We feel that if one was limited to their non-dominant hand, some of these tasks like getting a cork out of a bottle or zip-tying the bread bag would have been much more difficult. Another issue that should be taken into consideration is the existing state of the kitchen in which we performed the tasks. Prior to this project, the kitchen was set up in a manner that was tailored to someone who had both arms. Someone that that may have been missing a limb could very well set up the kitchen in a completely different manner. They might not screw in the lids of their jars as tight. They may have a different device for opening and closing bread bags. They may have different devices for grinding salt and pepper, or a method for taking out the trash. The point is that we do not know all of the tactics or methods some of these users may already have in place to help them perform theses tasks because of the existing condition of our environment. However, we thought that this process was informative and overall provided a good approach for gaining empathy for the target users.