Stack

For this project our task was to design and make a novel kitchen product. In order to start this process I came up with a list of pain points I experience in the kitchen; things like washing wine glasses, misplacing tupperware, messy refrigerators and unorganized pot/pan storage. Next, I conducted market research in these different areas to better understand which initial concept would lead to a more novel solution. My extensive market research revealed that the solutions that exist for pot/pan storage are limited. Immediately I had the idea to create something that would allow a pot to be extended to different sizes. This would help with storage by reducing the number of pots needed but would also make cooking with a pot more efficient if the wrong size was chosen in the beginning of the cooking process. Next, I consolidated the pot extension market research and created a 2x2 outlining the current landscape. With the idea of pot extension in mind I created sketches and started brainstorming what the actual design might look like. While trying to determine the feasibility of my ideas through discussions about manufacturing and materials with my peers and professors, I also wanted to determine the desirability of my idea so I sent out an interest survey to people in my target audience. Considering feedback from my professors and my survey I decided on a final design and started prototyping the product. To create the extender I used a piece of sheet metal and bent it into a ring and then used fasteners to attach the ends of the ring after punching holes in the metal. I then used weatherproofing door stripping to act as the silicone strip on the extender that would fasten it securely to the top of the pot or pan being extended. The physical prototype I created did an okay job of visualizing my concept, but in order to show the main product features of stackability, nestability and storage reduction I decided to create renders of my product in Solidworks. In the final pitch presentation we were expected to come up with a creative name for our product, highlight what gap in the market the product fills, estimate the price point of our product and discuss the materials and manufacturing processes required to make our product. Overall, this project really pushed me out of my comfort zone and taught me a lot about product desirability, feasibility and viability.

Contributions

I would like to say a special thank you to my classmates and my professors Walter Herbst and Steve Carr.