Design Project
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Design Project
The process involved in Using a Product
The chosen kitchen tool is a knife. When looking for one, there is a need for an individual to have excellent information about the product, which is known as the customer’s perception. From the reviews, social media posts, adverts, and feedback provided, an individual may develop a positive product perception. It starts when a customer sees the product in adverts, where the process will continue until they have an opinion about the product. Everything made by the production company has a critical role in changing the knife’s buyers’ perception. The way it looks in the supermarkets, or retail stores, the color of the handle, the shape of the blade, the logo, or the adverts written on the knifes cover will play a critical role in shaping the views of the customer. Besides, the knife’s discounts will shape the opinions of some customers to buy a product. The aspect of color has been known to attract women. Using the product, its sharpness to cut through vegetables, fruits, boneless meat, etc., will create an excellent customer experience, as evidenced by their ability to use it quickly in their activities. When the customers have a terrible experience like reduced sharpness or broken blades, there will be a negative perception of the product. When they are looking for the next product, they will not consider buying the previous brand because of its memory. In this regard, there is a need for the manufacturing company to ensure the provision of quality knives that will be meeting the needs of customers. The process of using the knife will provide the learning and development of knowledge that will govern their future decisions when acquiring a new one. Cognition will involve thinking, remembering, knowing, and judging the previous experience while using the product. These will be changing the perception of an individual as they recognize the best experiences they may had and how the product served their needs.
Good Aspects of the Design
For the product to be considered a good design, various aspects must be considered. In this regard, when preparing a meal, multiple aspects of a knife may be essential in shortening the process. Their clean workspace, great ingredients, and appropriate tools are not only the things that should be considered. The work becomes challenging when one is using a poor-quality knife. The first quality that will make one be considered a quality knife is the sharpness. The cooks want a sharp knife, which will ensure that the work does not become a hassle when cooking. Besides, there is a need for the blade to stay sharp, as this will ensure that the cooking process is not problematic. Using a high-quality, sharp knife, the individual will easily slight through vegetables, fruits, and meat without any issue. The second quality aspect that should be considered is an ergonomic handle. It will be essential in ensuring that the user can better control the knife when using its, as this will also ensure that it is easier to use. Third, a good knife should have a high-quality blade, as this will ensure that there is no browning of foods, which may pose a significant health issue (Isaku & Iba, 2015). Besides, the blade should not change the taste and smell of food, as this may occur because of rust. It is critically important to use ceramic when making knife blades, as this will ensure there is no significant impact on cut food. Even though it may not look sharp, it’s incredibly sharp and will continue to remain so for an extended period. Lastly, the company must ensure that the knife is light in weight, as this is a critical factor considered by the buyers. The weight ensures that it is easier to use when making repetitive motions. Using a heavy one will cause the aching of hands. The lightweight knives are sleek to use.
Problematic Aspects of the Design
Even though they are helpful when used for food preparation, some issues must be put into perspective. The knives are a group of tools that were made from flints and rocks. There has been the evolution of the devices since their inception in the stone age era. Currently, they are made of bronze, steel, titanium, copper, and ceramics. There are various knife versions in simple terms, but it is the best tool that the chefs and cooks use. In this regard, they involve different kinds of efficiency in the users’ hands, making the biggest problem in the chefs’ hands as being dull. It is a significant hindrance when the knives are not sharp enough to meet the user’s needs. It has been stated that a sharp knife is safer for cooks/chefs compared to a dull one because they involve the use of excessive force to cut food, as this may make them injure themselves. A sharp one requires little strength from users, as the cutting process will be more comfortable and practical, as they can be controlled with little energy. In this regard, they improve the safety of the users. Because of the dull knives, it will require a user to conduct regularly sharpening (Jeong, 2015).
Secondly, when metals have been used in making knives, there is a tendency for them to rust. Rust is a significant health problem when they get into our foods, as using a knife that has rust will cause enzymatic browning of foods, which will ensure changes in taste and smell. As such, the rust will reduce the sharpness of the knives, making them dull. It is the reason why there has been the use of ceramics in making knives, as they are not affected by the rusting problem (Bindu, Shirin & Reddy, 2016). Third, having a sharp knife will cause a significant challenge for the user, as they may lead to cut and injuries. It has been a health issue, as it can lead to transmission of conditions. the problem is further worsened when there are various users, as there can be the transmission of infections.
Ways of Improving the Design
The design of the product can be improved through the sharpening of the knives using files. It will be essential to ensure that it does not become dull. This will enable the user to carry out their cooking activities without involving extra force effectively. Besides, the issue of browning could be prevented when ceramics have been used to make knives. They do not rust and ever-remain sharp, meeting the needs of users.
Cognitive Workload Instruments
The cognitive workload involves individuals’ level of mental effort in response to more than one cognitive task. It is the individual’s property other than the tasks involved. The first one will apply primary simultaneous attention, as this will ensure that the user can multi-task. It is critical to becoming attentive to details when using a product. Secondly, pattern recognition is essential for inductive thinking when using the product. The speed of the information process will be critically important in enabling learners to process incoming information quickly. It is central to IQ functioning, as users should be attentive to the information they acquired. An individual involves excessive workload in various fields; however, these may not lead to poor performance. For instance, not being attentive while using knives may be inadvisable because there may be a possibility of injury. However, it does not imply that the use of blades to cut will usually cause injuries.
Implementing the Instrument Usability
The first step is defining objectives and creating a project. It will involve the problems users are trying to solve and tasks that need testing. Legitimate questions need answers before plunging into a usability testing session. In this regard, it will be an essential step when it is to be planned. Collaboration with the entire team will also be a necessary step in creating a test process. Secondly, building a wireframe after having clear goals that are to be achieved. Fidelity will be crucial in choosing the wireframe. The process will require resources, where the users will be applying in testing the final version of the product. Third, there is a need for recruiting test participants when carrying the tests. It will involve appropriate participants when trying the design. The last step will involve the data collection and analysis process to ensure detailed questions concerning the product.
References
Bindu, E., Shirin, H., & Reddy, M. V. (2016). Occupational hazards among cooks in commercial kitchens. International Journal of Science and Research, 5(6), 970-74.
Isaku, T., & Iba, T. (2015, July). Creative CoCooking patterns: a pattern language for creative, collaborative cooking. In Proceedings of the 20th European Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs (pp. 1-17).
Jeong, B. Y. (2015). Cooking processes and occupational accidents in commercial restaurant kitchens. Safety Science, 80, 87-93.