KITCHEN IoT
RIGHT INFORMATION
at the RIGHT TIMING
through the RIGHT CHANNEL
DEVICE
KITCHEN APPLIANCES & IoT
MY ROLE
PROJECT LEAD
BUILD RESEARCH METHOD
CONDUCT HOME VISIT OBSERVATION
USER KEY VALUE & USER SCENARIOS
PROTOTYPE HIGH-FIDELITY MOCK-UP
TEAM
HOME APPLIANCE TEAM
PRODUCT PLANNING TEAM
DEVELOPERS: PROTOTYPING (H/W, S/W)
OVERVIEW
We suggested to design holistic IoT scenario across kitchen appliances to the home appliance department because we found the opportunity that we can develop practical IoT scenario since Samsung produce all kinds of home appliances.
"WHAT IS IoT"?
HOW WE APPROACH
We wanted to get a clear picture of how current IoT products and user scenarios. We found out that even though so many IoT concepts has presented in the world and embedded in our life, but often time, those scenarios mostly focus on what devices and sensors can do when they are connected.
Thus, we tried to see WHAT REALLY PEOPLE DO WITH THE DEVICES, NOT WHAT DEVICES AND SENSORS CAN DO.
DEVICES EXIST IN CONTEXT & WITH PEOPLE
SO WE NEED TO SEE ALL IN DYNAMICS
PROJECT PROCESS
We started from defining problems and conducting user research and finding user insight and putting the insight to deliverable UX concepts and making high fidelity prototype to present to Samsung executives at design conference at the end of the year.
Feb
Mar - Apr
May
Jun - July
Aug
Sep
Nov
Kick-off
Research
User Insight
UX Concepts
& Scenarios
Feedback
Prototypes
(S/W, H/W)
Final Report
RESEARCH
VIDEO ETHNOGRAPHY
BEHAVIORS IN SPACE
OBSERVE WHAT & HOW
+
DEEP LISTENING
THOUGHTS & EMOTION
LISTEN WHY
We created the video clip that we can show our whole research process to our stakeholders in all different disciplines to make them understand better how we proceeded the whole research process.
DISCOVERY
MENTAL MODEL DIAGRAM
Mental model diagram is a picture of how people think.
You can make mental model diagram which shows what's people's mind when it comes to cooking based on what people said from the deep listening session.
USER BEHAVIOR PATTERN ANALYSIS
We combined mental model diagrams with video analysis to understand what influences people’s actions while cooking—how their thoughts and needs translate into behavior.
We found 5 behavioral patterns and we named each pattern with a factor that make specific behaviors.
1. Uncertainty
2. Stress
3. Flow-breaker
4. Repeated
5. Sensation
For example, you can see how people behave because they have an uncertainty while cooking. Here are some video clips related to this factor.
NARROW DOWN & FOCUS
Among the five factors we identified, “Uncertainty” and “Stress” stemmed from people not having the right information at the right moment and lacking a sense of control while cooking.
This insight led us to explore how digital devices and connected kitchen appliances could provide better access to information and create a more confident, seamless cooking experience.
DESIGN & PROTOTYPES
We made Kitchen IoT scenarios as a multi-device platform service; with connected kitchen appliances and mobiles and using recipes as a data.
People discover recipes from all over the internet on their mobile devices—but the actual cooking always happens in one place: the kitchen.
With this platform, we aimed to reduce uncertainty and stress by connecting information from the digital world to the kitchen, helping users coordinate their cooking process more smoothly and confidently.
MULTI-DEVICE COOKING PLATFORM
DEMO FRAME
To illustrate the multi-device platform service, we designed our presentation as a virtual kitchen experience. We prototyped display interfaces for the oven, induction cooktop, and dishwasher, and used a tablet to show the information users receive after the service processes their data. Additionally, we projected a visualization of how the data is processed in the background to help audiences understand the system’s connectivity.
KEY SCENARIOS
Better access to the information
Whenever user need it, they get the information right away through the table and temperature/ time data send to the appliance sent directly from the recipe.
Time management of cooking
Time-based cooking plan based on steps & directions from the recipe and remind users when to start the next step and what to do.
FINAL UX SCENARIO
FINAL MOCKUPS
FEATURED IN
Home appliance team took our time management concept into Family hub(Smart fridge) with AllRecipe application. You can cook as the step goes and control it as you go.
LEARNINGS
As the project lead, I learned not only from the design process itself but also from managing the overall workflow, team dynamics, and client communication.
One key challenge was persuading senior stakeholders to allocate sufficient time and budget for user research, especially when I couldn’t guarantee specific outcomes. I firmly believed that meaningful insights come from users, and ultimately, the right user research revealed valuable opportunities that shaped our direction.
Another challenge was communicating our UX concepts in a way that executives from different departments—many without a design background—could easily understand. This constraint actually helped our team refine our ideas and express them more clearly. Sometimes, limitations lead to stronger design outcomes.