RSUSSH 2020

IN20-048 The Joys of Cooking: a System that Encourages Preparing Food

Presenter: Jinhe Wang
Rangsit University, Thailand

Abstract

          International student living abroad miss the tastes of home food while they are trying to familiarise themselves with the new flavours and feelings of the country they are studying in. They want to cook in their dorms and apartments, but they are limited by space and budgets to acquire a proper cooking work station. This led the author to explore the challenges and problems of international students studying abroad. On the other hand, the objective of the study is also to help and encourage young people to keep cooking and find the joy of cooking in a limited space, while also improving the efficiency and convenience of cooking with a tight budget and having to choose the necessary modular kitchen systems. Data to support this approach was collected via face-to-face group discussions as well as surveys conducted on social media. From the result, it can be concluded that 80% of international students want to choose and customize the necessary kitchen parts independently and prefer it to fit in small spaces, thereby helping and encouraging people to cook. This article explores a modular kitchen system that can grow in the future. Which meets the purpose of user self-selection, choose the parts they need now, design and assemble a unique cooking island according to the room layout, as fun as playing the Lego system. It is easy to convert also maximize the use of limited space. When users need to move to a larger area and want to perfect their kitchen, they will not need to discard the original modules, but only need to assemble new modules according to their needs, thereby saving money. The modular system allows users to combine and place functional areas according to their habits to achieve efficient cooking. At the same time, the author will not limit the functionality of the module so that users can self-play. The lightweight feature allows the module to have greater possibilities, it is not limited to the kitchen system, and it can even grow into a portable working system by changing the size and materials.

Keywords: joy of cooking; modular kitchen; kitchen storage; portability; compact cooking system

Citation format:

Wang, J., Ingsiriwat, P., & Ryalie, S.. (2020). The Joys of Cooking: a System that Encourages Preparing Food. Proceeding in RSU International Research Conference, May 1, 2020. Pathum Thani, Thailand.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

Walaiporn Nakapan (Participant)

Hi Jinhe, thank you for your interesting presentation. I have a few questions:

1) After your study, young people tend to spend a lot of time baking. What is the reason for that? Also, have you prepared any workspace for baking in your modular system?

2) Have you evaluated the proposed modular system among the group of users? If you haven't done so, it is highly recommended for your future research.

That's all from my part!

Walaiporn

Nakorn Paleethunyawong (Visitor)

I think I've seen a cooking station that takes up less space (than this one), but I admit that it's not so good (like yours). The question is, between beauty and function, which is more important? And your work emphasizes beauty or function?

Jinhe Wang (Presenter)

1) After your study, young people tend to spend a lot of time baking. What is the reason for that? Also, have you prepared any workspace for baking in your modular system?

Answer:First of all, I'm sorry to have kept you misunderstanding on my research data, the table is not to compare what kind of cooking way more popular with young people, its for constrat preparation,cooking and cleaning time cost of different cooking skills, thereby find out the problem and solve it.Baking itself has  more steps, so spend time is more than other cooking techniques, this does not mean that young people are more inclined to baking. Second, as I said in the introduction, I do not intend to limit the possibilities of modules, so that no matter which cooking technique users prefer, they can mix and match according to their own habits and needs.

2) Have you evaluated the proposed modular system among the group of users? If you haven't done so, it is highly recommended for your future research.

Answer:

Since the design has not been put into production, there is only feedback data from professors and students. Thank you for your Suggestions. I will make more investigations and supplements in the future.

Jinhe Wang (Presenter)

I think I've seen a cooking station that takes up less space (than this one), but I admit that it's not so good (like yours). The question is, between beauty and function, which is more important? And your work emphasizes beauty or function?

Answer:Design has not entered the final stage, I am still trying to perfect it, about your question, I think the function and beauty of design are both important, however, different users have different standards of beauty, so in this study, I tend to be more functional, on the premise of solve the problem and then try my best to make products more beautiful, so as to achieve the balance of function and aesthetics.