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Food Products associated around oven and fridge appliances

What you are about to read is research and analysis (both primary and secondary) into food related products around the
oven and fridge environment. The images below are focused around a case study, analysing their kitchen utensils and
products related to the oven and fridge apparatus:

Date: Sunday 11/04/2010

Name: Shirley Cumner
Age: 65
Occupation: Married
House: Three bedroom semi-detached
Occupants: 3 adults
Employment status: retired, part time care home assistant.
Narrow, cluttered kitchen.
Mass storage space at ground and head height
Large surface space, including oven top
complimenting this.
Kitchen stools and side not consumed from.
Social ground is not in the kitchen, but in the dinning
room, conservatory or living room

Fridge freezer unit, Hotpoint FF187E.

Tucked away in corner, stored within alcove, probably purposely made for
fridge. Are fridges designed within specific dimensions, if this compulsory with
height especially (6ft 5inches).
Multiple images (magnetic) on fridge freezer surface. Is this because the
fridge is a constant used appliance and therefore the photos are in constant
view? It suggests the kitchen is used as a social environment.
Language within the form suggests open via the indent half way up the
fridge (between the fridge and freezer).
Fridge indicators at the top of the fridge. Are these easy for the average
height person to view? Are these relevant for the user?
Fridge space is larger that the freezer space. Does this mean there are likely
to be more fresh goods than frozen. This specific user has a separate freezer
unit, suggesting the current fridge freezer does not offer enough space.

Research Documentation
Designers: Christopher Woodhams, Joe Knowland, Julie Zoe
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Does the user understand the

principle of the green light? Does it
mean the fridge is on? An embossed
power logo is placed over this light, is
this recognised as a power indicator.
Poor communication with the
“super cool”, “super Freeze”, they
appear to be buttons, but cannot me
pressed.
When the fridge is opened, it
reveals the buttons and commands.
First implication is the height? Is this
easily readable and reachable by the
average person? Communication
improves, “super cool with trolley”
suggests fresh shopping to quickly
cool. “Supper freeze” is slightly
confusing, is this for the bottom
freezer, or fridge?

Poor communication continues with dials. I presume left is fridge and right is
freezer? Does the user really need to adjust the temperature? Cant there be a
“defrost” function instead of off?
The poorest aspect is the “I care “ function. I presume this is based around
sustainability and energy consumption. This could potentially be the most
efficient setting. It personalises the fridge more and places a guilt trip on the
user, but is it really affective enough and understood?
Is there a specific layout a fridge owner should abide to when packaging their
fridge? Could packing it in a specific way increase efficiency? Is stuff packed via
priority, or through health and cross contamination principles?
Several shelves (4) with adjustable heights. These seem to be at equal spread.
Does the user understand that the shelves can be adjusted?
The bottles for example, would the user want to stand these upright? Is it more
space efficient to lie them down though?
Do the shelves need to be “complete”, by which I mean, do they need to stretch
across the whole width of the fridge?
Trays seem to be a standardised accessory for fridges. These particular
ones, and probably a general use of them, is for the storage of loose
items, especially items such as fruit and vegetables.
The draws can be completely removed, which leads onto mentioning
that this model (and possibly others) tend to be modular, by which is
meant, they are produced from several parts which attach to one
another.
The draws (including those used in the freezer) move on grooved
runners in the main fridge/freezer body. To prevent the tray falling out,
they have a lip which catches the tray.

Research Documentation
Designers: Christopher Woodhams, Joe Knowland, Julie Zoe
 3

The fridge has a warning system to indicate when the fridge door is not correctly shut. This occurs after a few minutes
of being open.
A note to make is that the beep given off by this seems to upset the household pet (dog). The pitch could be damaging
the animal and scares, plus aggravates, it accordingly.
When the fridge is open, a light emits. This serves several functions; night light, awareness of the fridge being open
and aesthetic qualities. Can anything else be achieved from this?

Interesting device, it is a separate thermometer for the fridge. It doesn’t work, but
has some useful scales on the device.

It measures in Celsius and Fahrenheit, but is also categorized into temperature

zones. These zones include; Subzero freezing, Freezing (blue bordering), food zone
(green highlighted), and spoilage (red bordered).

For fridge storage, this wants to be within the green zone. Simple dial and labelling
makes this a very useful device. It has it’s own folded metal base, which could act as a
hanging aid as well.

An interesting choice of engravings. What do these mean? First glance

suggests food storage instructions. What could be a simple (and tried to be a
simple) means of showing this information, has been expressed in a confused
manner. What do the figures represent? Days, weeks, fortnights, months,
years?
The illustrations are fairly self explanatory, however, conflict with one
another. Do they represent a selective group, i.e. ‘vegetables’, ‘fruit’, etc, or
do they literally mean the product they are showing, i.e. ‘carrot’?
Emboss at the base saying ‘PS’ . Is this the material ‘polystyrene’, or a
manufacturing term, or a relevant term for the fridge, etc?

Drawers are windowed to allow line of sight into the drawers. This aids navigation, and
can be represented through completely transparent drawers. Some fridge freezers, have
neither windows or complete transparency.
Frost/condensation build up restricts view into the drawers. Is there an opaque material
which allows a clear view inside, with the restricted side effects of the fridge/freezer
environment.

Research Documentation
Designers: Christopher Woodhams, Joe Knowland, Julie Zoe
 4

Outdated gas stove oven (Phillips series 90)

Flush work glass work top, so it acts as an extension to the rest of the work surfaces. The glass lid pivots up and moves
out of the way for the operation of the gas stoves.
The glass top apparently “exploded” one day and shattered. This phenomenon occurred with some old glass ashtrays
as well. Could it be this specific glass compound being at fault? Replacing the glass was going to be an expensive task.
Due to the ovens age, to replace the glass, the user was looking at a £140 charge. Consequently they had glass cut for
£32 to use (although it was not tinted like the original).
Semi reflective window looking into the oven, is this for aesthetic reasons, or does it help with the function of the
oven?
The stainless steel finish is aesthetically pleasing and a standard look, which is even used in modern ovens and kitchen
wear. It is easily cleaned and a durable material to use.
Symbols used to locate which dial operates which area of the oven. It is a simple, yet effect method, and consequently
used across different ranges of ovens. Language of the dials dictates how they should be held, although the direction
of turn is misleading. The only visual clue is on the dial, with an orange arc suggesting the need to turn the dial anti-
clockwise.
The spark button is easily recognisable through it being the only ‘push’ button.
The oven dial is rather stiff. This could be through fatigue in the device, or a safety measure to stop it accidentally
being switched on.
The most confusing dials are the timer dials. The graphics used to symbolise their function is not strong enough and it
is unknown that the left time knob controls “cooking time” while the other controls a “starting” time.

For easy cleaning, the hob supports can be removed and

the surface around the hobs wiped clean. The hob disks
can also be removed and cleaned if needed.
These presuming get hot, therefore to increase the
efficiency of heating the pots and pans. However, this is a
hazard to the user. Would they want to wait till it cools
down, or quickly clean the hob area before stains dry and
solidify to the surface?

Research Documentation
Designers: Christopher Woodhams, Joe Knowland, Julie Zoe
 5

The trays are produced from wire grills, which elevates

the food at multiple, adjustable levels within the oven.
Purpose of different levels is to increase the space
within the oven and cook multiple foods at once. Are
there any ‘hot spot’, by which food cooks more
efficiently in certain areas, or does the whole oven offer
an equal, affective cook of the food?
The reasoning behind the grill formed trays suggests
the ability to let something pass through. This could be
to enhance the transfer of thermal currents around the
oven space or to allow fat/grease to drip through off
food. However, this I can imagine would be a messy
process. Besides, there are grill trays available which
offer the grill tray with an ‘under tray’ to catch the
residue.
It appears there is separate appliances, such as the
metal tray shown, which offer support and containment
of the food. So why current grill designs used throughout
the oven?

The grill filament is detachable, and plugs into the rear of the
oven.
Apparently an additional cover is required, which extrudes
from the oven to shield the dials. These will otherwise melt/
become affected from the heat this filament emits. It has
been removed and disused accordingly, and stored within
the base storage.
The ‘shield’, which protects the dials has been stored
somewhere, however the user is not quite sure where. So
does this mean the modular components of the oven is not
such a good idea, and can inhibit its function through loss of
parts?
A problem with this model, is vibration from the fan.
Consequently, it causes trays stored in the base drawer to
rattle. The user has ‘solved’ this issue using a babies bib to
soften and pad between the metal components responsible
for the rattling.

Research Documentation
Designers: Christopher Woodhams, Joe Knowland, Julie Zoe
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Utensils used around the oven are stored away from the
oven (tucked in the corner at the far end of the kitchen).
Polymer based utensils are used within the hot
environment. This proves useful for protecting the user, since
plastic is a poor conductor of heat, however, its durability is
short-lived and can lead to burning or melting of the utensil.
Other materials include wood and metal. The wood is an
insulator of heat, whereas the metal is a conductor. The
metal utensils tend to have a polymer handle to protect the
hand.
Why are the utensils away from the oven? On asking the
user, the answer laid down to storage, “only place I can
bloody keep them really”. Could storage be implemented
around or on the oven then?

Research Documentation
Designers: Christopher Woodhams, Joe Knowland, Julie Zoe