RESEARCH

Contents page
Introduction
Methodology
Market Assessment
Competitor Analysis
Observations

Interviews
Persona
Image Board
User Specification

Appendix

Introduction
As a new university student I was finding it increasing difficult to
include healthy foods in all of my meals. I began to look into if this
affected other students, from what I found out I decided to base
my project on if there was an easier way to encourage healthy
easting among students.

Unhealthy foods are

regularly consumed by
student as it is very quick
and easy to cook and
prepare them

There is a lack of
knowledge around
cooking or preparing
fruit and vegetables

Alcohol is regularly
consumed which
contributes to
unhealthiness

Main target users are students aged

between 18-25 who have to cook
their own meals on a regular basis

The catering equipment market in the UK was had growth over the
last couple of years after the recession. It has appeal to the mass
market but also certain brands and items target the niche markets.
There is a gap in the market when it comes to student specific
items.

I am going to research current cooking utensils that are on the

market and the attitudes student have towards cooking so I can
find out if creating a suitable product would affect the student
diet, making it healthier and more balanced.

Competitor Analysis
1

Content Analysis:

Items are
more
appealing to
students
when they
are cheap
and easily
replaceable

IKEA
One of the biggest produces of kitchenware, sells a range
of different items
1. Simple peeler for vegetables. Retails at 3.00. Body:
Zinc, Matt chrome-plated, blade: Stainless steel
Handle: Polypropylene plastic, Synthetic rubber
2. An apple slicer helps promote healthy easting but cutting
down on time when preparing fruit. Retail for 1.00. Created
from ABS plastic, Stainless steel
Tescos products are distributed globally in hundreds
stores, as well as online. These products are targeted
towards a mass market, not specific to students

Bright colours
appeal more to
young people as the
look of the product is
important, also it is
easier to identify
their own items
when living with
others.

JOSEPH JOSEPH
Creates space saving cooking utensils ideal for students
and by two people that have experienced the student
lifestyle. However pricing is in not within a average students
budget.
3. Collapsible grater that folds flat for better space-saving
storage. Retails for 15.00. Created from plastic and highquality stainless steel
4. Foldable chopping board which allows food to be
transferred around the kitchen easily. Retail at 13.50.
Created from plastic
Distributed on a specific website and Amazon, also in large
retail stores such as Selfridges and Debenhams. Products
are targeted towards people with limited space in kitchens
and want more modern utensils.

Materials

5
Stainless steel
Coloured plastic

TESCOS
Large supermarket brand which sells a large range of
affordable kitchenware
5. A knife that comes with a protective case to prevent
injury, also comes in bright colours to appeal to younger
generation and is all-purpose. Retail at 3.49. Created
from plastic and stainless steel
6. Hand-held grater to help space saving by making it more
easy to store. Retails for 4.00. Created from stainless steel
Distributed in all major Tesco's stores spread worldwide
and on Tesco's website. Targeted towards mass market,
regular households

Methodology
Observations
I used overt, natural, semi-structured observations.
By conducting these observations I was able to get an
insight into how people acted naturally in the kitchen. I
observed the actions of 14 people in 3 different student
homes.
I chose the overt method as the kitchen were small and I
needed entry into their homes.
By using the natural method I was able to see how people
interacted with objects in the kitchen on their own and
which items they have preference too.
The Semi-structured method allowed me to have a range
of topics and questions along side my general
observations.

Interviews
I used fully-structured interviews with a mix of openended and close-ended observations.
The interview stage helped me to get a clear
understanding of users real wants, needs and the
problems they face. I interviewed 6 people, a mixture of
girls and boys, to get a range of responses to gather more
rounded data.
By doing a fully-structured interview I was able to ask the
exact same questions to each interviewee to see the
variation in answers.
I decided to have a mixture of open and close ended
questions to allow for different answers to be given and to
get a deeper insight into the interviewee's opinion. Also
with the close ended questions I was able to see data
clearly and where the major problems were.

Market Assessment
Based on student disposable income it
is clear that the products that need to
be create has to be of minimum price to
have appeal. With 116 universities
spread across the UK, not including
higher education colleges, there is a
large market for student specific
supplies.

The UK catering equipment market

returned to growth in 2010 and
2011, and by 2011 the industry was
worth 668m.
It is predicted that by 2016 overall
sector value is predicted to be at
747m, meaning market growth

Forecast Total UK catering equipment market by sector by value at

current prices (m at msp), 2012-2016

250
Cooking Equipment

200
150

Food-Handling
Equipment

100

Food-Preparation
Equipment

50

Refridgeration
Equipment

Other Catering
Equipment

2012

2013

2014

% change year on year of

overall market

2015

2016

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

+3.5

+2.3

+2.1

+2.1

+2.6

The food-preparation category was worth 184m in 2011,

growth is predicted to increase by 8.5%, so worth 128m by
2016.

The growth in 2011 and

the prediction for growth in
the future is largely due to
a combination the catering
services industry following
improved
economic
conditions,
increasing
demand for energy efficient
products and a rise in
production costs. A major
impact is the instability of
product
prices.
Some
prices, notably that of
stainless steel, have risen
considerably over recent
years. Most significant
factor shaping the fortunes
and future of the catering
equipment industry is that
of environmental concerns.
Consumers tend towards
products that are more
energy efficient and this is
is strongly shaping new
product development.

Observations
Results from observations in an affinity diagram:
Activity
Meals prepared
or store bought:
5/14 prepared
6/14 bought
3/14 mixture
Ingredients:
3/14 fresh
5/14 frozen
1/14 jarred
4/14 packet
Students more
inclined to by
store meals
Meals basic
with limited veg
Store bought
meals contain
little veg
Fresh
ingredients not
used as often
as
frozen/packet.

Environment
Enough space:
6/14 yes
8/14 no
Worktops
become dirty
quickly
Washing up
gets left after
meals
Limited space
with multiple
people in
kitchen
Students bring
same items to
uni as other in
house so
multiple items.
Limited work
space as food
is on counters.

Interactions

Objects

Users

Fruit of veg in
all your meals:
4/14 yes
10/14 no
Easy to prepare
fruit or veg:
1/14 yes
3/14 no
9/14 N/A
Cheap food so
lower quality
Lack of
knowledge of
cooking
Fruit/veg
expensive
compared to
other food
Avoid using
utensils like the
peeler as it is
time consuming

Amount of
utensils per
meal:
2/14 zero
1/14 one
6/14 two
3/14 three
2/14 four/four+
Microwave
used more than
oven
Utensils take up
a lot of space in
small kitchen
No multiple
uses from
cheap utensils
Utensils are
hard to clean

Meal made in
groups or
single:
2/14 groups
12/14 single
No cookbooks
used just prior
knowledge
Students have
limited time and
finance to make
meals
Students
struggle when
using a large
number of
utensils
Different tastes
stop students
cooking
together
Students left
complex
utensils longer
than other items

Insights
1. Vegetable ordinated utensils are often very difficult
to use and often to wash up as there is a lot of small
areas in wish food gets stuck.

2. For students including fruit or vegetables in their

meals is not a priority, instead they choose faster, easy
to prepare ingredients.

3. There is limited pace for students in small

kitchen with mess or food on the worktops and a
number of people trying to cook simultaneously

Interviews
Majority results from the interview process with 6 interviewees:

Word Cloud of key findings in the Interviews in preparation to create a Persona:

Persona
Jack, 18, Student
Jack is an enthusiastic, outgoing student who has fully integrated and settled in student life. He enjoys
partying in the evening and plays in university sports teams, however cooking and maintaining a healthy
lifestyle is becoming a difficulty for him. He lives in a student house, opposed to catered halls, so he has
to cook for himself 7 days a week. He enjoys cooking and has no dietary requirements but he does have
limited knowledge as he does not use cookery books to help him with his meals. A major issue that Jack
has is space as he shares with 5 other people then is a lot of clutter and mess in the kitchen area which
limits worktop space. Despite living with other he primarily cooks alone due to different tastes and the
problem of splitting the money on ingredients. With the issue of university work and time, he is prone to
having take away or junk food once a week.

Habits

Wants

Doesnt buy fresh fruit and

vegetables as it doesn't last
as long at frozen or tinned

More space saving items in

the kitchen

Main utensils is a knife and

chopping board

Multifunctional items

Washing up is not a priority

so kitchen becomes
cluttered
Uses 3 utensils in the
preparation of each meal

Vegetable orientated
cooking equipment to be
easy and quicker to use
Utensils to be easier to
wash up
To include more fruit or
vegetables in his meals

Current amount of fruit or vegetables each week:

Preparation time per meal:

Cooking Knowledge:

I just want an more

efficient way to
prepare healthy food
to have a balanced
lifestyle as it is so
easy to eat junk
food

Image Board

User Specification

R1-The product must have a

collapsible feature that is
effective in 1 movement

R1- This idea was based on Joseph Joseph

collapsible greater, also from the observations
and interviews where students expressed their
lack of space in the kitchen. Full details on P6
and P7

R2-Product must include

primary and secondary
colours on the plastic sections
to make it more visually
pleasing

R2- The most popular products sold to students

contain bright colours as they can be identified
as their own, this came from the competitor
analysis. Full details on P6

R3-The product must be

durable over the 3 or 4 years
with regular day usage

R4-The product must have 2 or

more uses, incorporating
utensils such as a
peeler/knife/chopping board

R5- The product must be made

and sold for 5-10

R6- Product must be up to

ergonomic standards

R7- Product must be machine

washable but also be hand
cleaned properly in under 10
seconds

R3- From the market assessment it can be seen

that students have a small disposable income,
the item needs to be durable as students wont
want to have to re-buy items. Full details on P5
R4- With limited space students want items with
more than one function to save them buying lots
of utensils, this was data gathered from the
interviews. Full details on Appendix: Interviews
R5-From the interviews the interviewee primarily
bought their utensils from large supermarket
chains that sells kitchen items very cheaply.
Students have a very small disposable income.
This is important to consider on a competitive
market. Full details on Appendix: Interviews
R6- In the competitor analysis the majority of the
items have a moulded rubber grip for comfort,
this feature is important to make the item
desirable for students. Full details on P5
R7- From the observations it could be seen that
students often left washing up on the side and
complex items were left longer as they are
harder to clean. Full details on P7

Appendix

Interviews

Affinity Diagram and mind mapping

Observation results

Insights

References:
http://www.keynote.co.uk/market-intelligence/view/product/10673/cateringequipment?utm_source=kn.reports.browse (Key note report)
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2013/apr/24/students-higher-education-almost50-per-cent (university stats)
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/ (IKEA website)
http://www.tesco.com/ (Tesco website)
http://www.josephjoseph.com/ (Joseph Joseph website)

IDEATION

Product Opportunity
From this project i wanted to gain a
deeper inside into how healthy the
average student diet was, I began with
researching current products on the
market, then moved on the
questionnaires and observations. I found
out that fast, cheap, unhealthy foods
were far more frequent in the average
diet than fresh fruit and vegetables. My
aim was to make a product that would
encourage the average student to eat
healthier.

Back ground summary

Main Competitors:

JOSEPH JOSEPH

IKEA

LARGE SUPERMARKET
CHAINS E.G TESCOS
SAINSBURYS

Key points:

Unhealthy foods are regularly

consumed by student as it is
very quick and easy

Alcohol is regularly consumed

which contributes to
unhealthiness

Lack if knowledge around

cooking or preparing fruit and
vegetables

Based on student disposable

income it is clear that the
products that need to be create
has to be of minimum price to
have appeal

The catering equipment market in

the UK was had growth over the
last couple of years after the
recession. It has appeal to the
mass market but also certain
brands and items target the niche
markets. There is a gap in the
market when it comes to student
specific items.

It is predicted that by 2016

overall sector value is
predicted to be at 747m,
meaning market growth

The Problem brief/user

requirement spec.
Through research I have
noticed the lack of healthy
food in regular meals for the
average university student.
Most people will choose
cheap unhealthy food which
are quick and easy to
prepare. Due to this the diet
becomes very unbalanced.
The main problem that has
been encounter when it
comes to fruit or vegetable
is the preparation. In many
cases it takes to long and
the utensils that are needed
are hard to use or clean.
The majority of students
have limited space in
kitchens so utensils have to
take up minimal space.

The product must contain a

collapsible feature that is
effective in 1 movement

Product must include primary

and secondary colours on
plastics sections to make
more visually pleasing

The product must be durable

over 3 or 4 years with regular
day usage

The product must have 2 or

more uses, incorporating
utensils such as a
peeler/chopping board/knife

The product must sold for 510

Product must be up to
ergonomic standards

Product must be machine

washable but also hand
cleaned properly in under 10
seconds

Idea Generation

Peeler

Chopping board

Knife

Madoline
Handle held
Machine
Round/square
Similar to a
pencil sharper
Collapsible
Hand shape
for comfort
With another
utensils
hygiene

Compartments
Long lasting
Shapes to
counter
Incorporating
knife and other
utensils
Foldable
More grips
Bigger spaces
for food
Hygiene

Includes
another
utensils
Swiss army
knife
Multiple cutting
at one time
Herb cutter
Dicer
Handles
Hygiene

Sketches
During the Ideation stage I
experimented with different forms and
ideas, my initial sketches were based on
frequently used kitchen utensils and how
they could be improved. I moved on to
developing 3 main ideas to improve
them which highlighted key features.
Finally once I choose 3 main ideas I
used further testing and feedback to
decided on my final design. This is a
spherical shape which can be separated
into 2 sections by twisting, one half
contains a peeler and the other an
extendable knife. I chose this idea cause
it was multifunctional tool and took up
the least amount of space, so it fit my
user spec the best.

Development of idea

Feedback and testing

Feedback from Interviewees:
Wants
multifunctional item
Megan

Ben

Easy to clean

Wants a cheap
/colourful item

Angel

Main utensils used

knife

Main utensils used is

a knife and peeler

Wants multifunctional
item

Wants
multifunctional item

Not enough space in

kitchen so small items
would be better

Matt

Wants a
multifunctional item

Wants multifunctional
item

Easy to clean

Main utensils used is a

chopping board and
knife

Small kitchen

Main utensils used

is a peeler

Main utensils used is a

knife

Dave

Many of the same

items as housemates

Ellie

Wants a cheap item

Main utensil used is
a peeler

Modelling
After choosing my 3 final designs I used
modelling to help me select my final
one. I created 3 models out of clay, foam
and paper. I found it very useful to do
modelling as it showed me how each
product handle, what size it should be,
whether the shape was comfortable and
if it would be possible to make it. This
part of Product Ideation was very helpful
as it allowed me to understand how
products are initially chosen.

Development and
manufacture of models

Final Model
After creating my models I chose my
final product, I chose to model it from
clay as it a spherical shape with detail
inside. I struggled with the size of this
model as it was often too big to fit in a
hand comfortably, and it was hard to
mould the shapes on the inside. Once
created I now can move forward with
this product into product development