October 7th, 2021
We started this project by conducting background research on terms mentioned by the client, Gregory. Since he had a stroke, Gregory has dealt with decreased proprioception. This makes it harder for Gregory to cook, something that he has loved doing his whole life. This project involves designing a device that will aid Gregory in measuring quantities of liquids and foods so that he can properly cook. We are conducting research in order to better understand exactly what challenges Gregory faces in the kitchen. This should help us accurately assess what problems need to be solved and what solutions could be most helpful. We researched the ailment that is afflicting our client, decreased proprioception, and how it affects a person’s body and functions; how decreased proprioception affects Gregory’s daily life and his ability in the kitchen; and existing solutions that are currently used to help people who deal with decreased proprioception or similar conditions.
We will be doing the research by having virtual meetings with Gregory. Using zoom, we would like to be able to ask Gregory questions about his current living experience since he had a stroke and his experience completing various tasks in the kitchen. We would also like to see him demonstrate using the products in his kitchen to be able to observe his current abilities. This will help us better understand his experience while cooking and identify the key challenges that he faces. Ultimately, we will use this information in the ideation stage of the design process.
We were able to have two virtual meetings with Gregory where we learned more about his daily experience and watched him demonstrate doing various activities in his home kitchen. Since experiencing a stroke, Gregory has lost all feeling in his left arm and hand. He also currently deals with decreased proprioception, making various daily activities much more difficult for him to do. Since his stroke, it has been harder for Gregory to pour the right amount of coffee from a pot into a glass each morning, to carry heavy objects, to clean dishes, and to open bottles.
Cooking is a lot harder for Gregory nowadays because he can only use one hand and he cannot accurately judge quantities while measuring and pouring. Gregory’s favorite food to cook is soup. For his whole life, Gregory has loved to cook soup without a recipe by just eyeballing various measurements of ingredients. Because Gregory cannot accurately measure quantities now, it is tough for him to make soup in the same way that he used to. Gregory’s wife, Susannah, claims that sometimes he tries to estimate the correct amount of salt to pour into soup and he ends up pouring too much salt without realizing it and the whole soup is ruined. Susannah expressed that it makes things a lot harder for Gregory because he does not follow a recipe while cooking.
Gregory’s current process of making soup is as follows: First, he washes the vegetables. Then, he places them in a pot to sauté them. He then adds water or stock to the pot to make the soup. He usually adds various amounts of seasoning into the soup based on how much he thinks would properly flavor the soup. Susannah sometimes needs to help Gregory add the water to the soup because he has difficulty measuring the correct amount of water to add to the soup.
Currently, there are various products in Gregory’s home kitchen that help him with daily activities. Gregory uses two cutting boards that have rubber bands and clamps that adjust to hold the food in place while he slices the food. He also has special rocker knives that allow him to cut a piece of food using just one hand. Gregory opens cans by using a battery-powered can opener. When Gregory places the device on top of a can and clicks a button, the device automatically cuts the lid off of the can while ensuring that the piece is not sharp. While these products help make Gregory’s cooking process easier, he clearly still faces some challenges in the kitchen that make it difficult for him to succeed at making tasty dishes.
From our research, we can conclude that Gregory has difficulty measuring quantities while pouring and cannot complete certain tasks in the kitchen because he can only use his right arm and right hand. When Gregory poured a cup of coffee with his right hand, the coffee reached the top of the mug and Susannah told him to stop before the mug overflowed. The two zoom meetings with Gregory helped us develop the mission statement for our team: “To design a physical product that can assist our client in measuring quantities accurately while cooking”. If we can help assist Gregory in measuring quantities in the kitchen, then he will be able to return to a more normal way of cooking dishes using accurate measurements of ingredients. Gregory and Susannah believe that our solution will be able to help Gregory accurately measure one cup of coffee in a mug and measure liquids in a big pot. The next stage will be the ideation phase of the design process when we look into ideas for developing a product that can help Gregory accomplish both of the previously stated tasks.