Design Thinking & Strategy - Good Kitchen Case Study

Summary

The transcript details a Danish municipality's initiative to enhance meal services for elderly citizens, collaborating with innovation firm Hatch & Blum. Initially tasked with improving the menu, Hatch & Blum employed a user-centered design approach, utilizing tools like journey mapping and co-creation to uncover deeper needs. They discovered emotional disconnects among seniors and kitchen staff, leading to a broader project scope. Through workshops and prototyping, they redesigned the meal service, resulting in a 500% increase in meal orders and improved satisfaction. The story exemplifies business model innovation beyond product development, focusing on the entire service experience.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Denmark faces challenges with an aging population, including the nutritional needs of over 125,000 senior citizens.
• 🍽️ The municipality of Copenhagen aimed to improve the meal service for seniors, initially focusing on menu improvements.
• 🔍 Danish innovation firm Hatch & Bloom was invited to innovate beyond just the menu, using a user-centered design approach.
• 👵 Ethnographic research revealed unmet emotional needs among seniors and kitchen workers, leading to a broader project scope.
• 🛠️ Journey mapping was used as a tool to understand the complete experience of elderly clients and kitchen workers.
• 🤝 Co-creation workshops involved stakeholders in understanding challenges and generating ideas for improving meal services.
• 💡 Brainstorming sessions used analogies to shift mental models and stimulate creative thinking about the meal service.
• 🎨 Visualization helped make abstract ideas more tangible, aiding in the decision-making process for new menu designs.
• 🔬 Prototyping and experimentation were used to test ideas with actual customers, leading to iterative improvements.
• 📈 The project resulted in a 500% increase in meal orders and improved job satisfaction for kitchen workers, highlighting the impact of design thinking.

Q & A

What is the main challenge faced by Denmark in the context of the aging population?

The main challenge faced by Denmark is serving the nutritional needs of over 125,000 senior citizens who rely on government-sponsored meals, with many suffering from poor nutrition and a reduced quality of life.

Why did the municipality of Costa Brau decide to improve meal service for seniors?

The municipality of Costa Brau decided to improve meal service for seniors to address the growing social problem of malnutrition among the elderly, which was affecting their health and quality of life.

What was the initial assumption of the municipal leadership regarding the project?

The initial assumption of the municipal leadership was that improving the nutrition of the elderly could be achieved by simply enhancing the current menu based on the preferences of the elderly clients.

How did Hatch & Blum approach the problem differently from the municipality's initial assumption?

Hatch & Blum approached the problem by adopting a user-centered design approach, which led to a complete redesign of the meal service rather than just improving the menu. They focused on understanding the emotional and functional needs of both the elderly and the kitchen staff.

What is the significance of the ethnographic approach used by Hatch & Blum?

The ethnographic approach allowed Hatch & Blum to deeply understand the behaviors, needs, and wishes of the elderly by observing and interviewing them, leading to insights that went beyond just fixing the menu to improving the overall meal service experience.

What is a journey map and how was it used in this project?

A journey map is a tool that follows a customer or stakeholder as they receive a product or service, paying attention to their functional and emotional experiences. In this project, it was used to trace the entire experience of the elderly from the meal delivery to consumption, uncovering unarticulated needs and opportunities.

What emotional needs were identified for both the seniors and the kitchen workers?

Both the seniors and the kitchen workers experienced feelings of disconnection and alienation. The seniors felt embarrassed about receiving assistance and lost control over their food choices, while the kitchen workers felt demoralized due to the low status of their job.

How did the co-creation process contribute to the project's success?

The co-creation process involved stakeholders in understanding the challenges and participating in creating a new meal service, leading to ownership, engagement, and better ideas. It was particularly useful in generating and testing ideas, such as using restaurant analogies to rethink the meal service.

What is the purpose of visualization as a design tool in this context?

Visualization in this context is used to make abstract ideas more concrete and understandable by using imagery. It helped participants feel more connected to the different options being considered for the meal service redesign.

What were some of the significant changes that resulted from the project?

The project resulted in a new menu, new uniforms for staff, a new name 'The Good Kitchen', improved communication channels, and a 500% increase in meal orders in the first week. It also led to a shift in employees' perception of their work, making them more satisfied and motivated.

How does the story of 'The Good Kitchen' relate to business model innovation?

The story of 'The Good Kitchen' illustrates business model innovation by not only developing new products or services but also innovating the entire business model to improve the meal service for seniors, leading to increased satisfaction and a more sustainable solution.

Outlines

00:00

🌟 Introduction to Design Thinking

The script begins by introducing the concept of design thinking through a real-world example in Denmark. The country faces challenges due to an aging population, particularly concerning the nutritional needs of over 125,000 senior citizens who rely on government-sponsored meals. The municipality of Copenhagen sought to improve this service and engaged Danish innovation firm Hatch & Bloom to enhance the nutrition of elderly citizens. Initially, the project was perceived as a simple menu improvement task, but Hatch & Bloom's user-centered design approach revealed a much broader opportunity. They utilized ethnographic research, specifically journey mapping, to understand the elderly's behaviors, needs, and wishes, uncovering unarticulated emotional needs and the importance of the job to be done. The approach also extended to kitchen workers, revealing a need to address their demoralization and lack of motivation, which was crucial for improving the meal service.

05:01

👵 Emotional Needs and Co-Creation

Paragraph 2 delves into the emotional needs of both seniors and kitchen workers, revealing feelings of disconnection and alienation. The seniors felt embarrassed by their need for assistance and preferred receiving help from relatives or friends over government support. They also valued control over their food choices and disliked eating alone. The kitchen workers were found to be constrained by perceived economic and logistical limitations, leading to repetitive, low-cost meal preparation. However, they showed a desire to do a good job and cared about their work. The Hatch & Bloom team conducted workshops to co-create solutions with stakeholders, including public officials, volunteers, and kitchen workers. They used brainstorming with analogies to shift mental models and generate ideas, such as viewing the kitchen as a restaurant. This approach led to the consideration of more enticing menu descriptions and other improvements, emphasizing the importance of co-creation in the design process.

10:03

🍽️ Prototyping and Testing Ideas

In the final paragraph, the focus shifts to prototyping and testing ideas generated from the co-creation workshops. The Hatch & Bloom team worked with participants to refine menu designs, exploring preferences for colors, photos, and illustrations using the visualization design tool. They also tested prototypes with actual customers, leading to packaging design changes and the introduction of new uniforms and a new name, 'The Good Kitchen'. This process not only improved the menu and meal descriptions but also transformed the entire business model, increasing employee satisfaction and customer happiness. The results were significant, with a 500% increase in meal orders in the first week alone. The story concludes by emphasizing the importance of business model innovation, moving beyond just developing new products or services to innovating the entire approach to serving the elderly.

Keywords

💡Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a problem-solving approach that focuses on understanding user needs and experiences to create innovative solutions. In the video, it is used to tackle the challenge of improving meal services for elderly citizens in Denmark. The process involves empathy, defining the problem, ideating, prototyping, and testing, which is exemplified by the Danish municipality's efforts to enhance the quality of life for seniors through better meal services.

💡Aging Population

The aging population refers to the demographic trend where the number of older individuals in a society increases. In the context of the video, Denmark faces challenges due to its aging population, particularly in providing adequate nutrition and quality of life for senior citizens who rely on government-sponsored meals. This keyword is central to understanding the problem that the design thinking process aims to address.

💡User-Centered Design

User-Centered Design is a design philosophy that prioritizes the user's needs, preferences, and behaviors in the design process. In the video, Hatch & Blum, the Danish innovation firm, employs this approach by conducting ethnographic research to understand the behaviors, needs, and wishes of the elderly. This approach led to a more profound understanding of the problem, which resulted in a completely redesigned meal service rather than just a menu update.

💡Journey Mapping

Journey mapping is a tool used to visualize the customer's experience with a product or service. It is a key part of the user-centered design approach, as it helps identify touchpoints and emotional responses throughout the process. In the video, Hatch & Blum use journey mapping to trace the experience of elderly clients from meal delivery to consumption, uncovering unarticulated needs and emotional aspects that contribute to the nutrition problem.

💡Co-Creation

Co-creation is a collaborative approach where stakeholders are involved in the creative process to generate ideas and solutions. In the video, Hatch & Blum organize workshops that include various stakeholders to review research, develop insights, and create a new meal service. This approach not only fosters ownership and engagement but also leads to more innovative and relevant solutions.

💡Ethnographic Research

Ethnographic Research is a qualitative research method that involves observing and interviewing people in their natural environments to understand their behaviors, needs, and cultural practices. In the video, Hatch & Blum conduct ethnographic research to deeply understand the lives of the elderly and kitchen workers, leading to insights that inform the redesign of the meal service.

💡Prototyping

Prototyping is the process of creating a preliminary model or representation of a product or service to test its feasibility and gather user feedback. In the video, Hatch & Blum use prototyping during workshops to test different menu designs and meal presentations, allowing for iterative improvements based on feedback from actual customers.

💡Visualization

Visualization is a design tool that uses imagery to make abstract ideas more concrete and understandable. In the video, Hatch & Blum employ visualization to present different menu design options to participants, making the decision-making process more tangible and effective.

💡Stakeholder Engagement

Stakeholder Engagement is the process of involving individuals or groups who have an interest or stake in a project, ensuring their perspectives are considered in decision-making. In the video, the design thinking process includes engaging a diverse set of stakeholders, such as public officials, kitchen workers, and elderly clients, to co-create a better meal service.

💡Business Model Innovation

Business Model Innovation refers to the process of rethinking and redesigning the way a business creates, delivers, and captures value. In the video, the redesign of the meal service for seniors is an example of business model innovation, as it involves changing the entire approach to serving meals, from menu design to employee engagement, to better meet the needs of the elderly.

💡Emotional Needs

Emotional Needs are the psychological and social requirements that influence an individual's well-being and satisfaction. In the video, Hatch & Blum discover that both the elderly and kitchen workers have unmet emotional needs, such as feelings of disconnection and a lack of control over food choices. Addressing these needs is crucial for improving the overall meal service experience.

Highlights

Design thinking is used to solve real-world problems, such as improving meal services for seniors in Denmark.

The municipality of Costa Brau collaborated with Danish innovation firm Hatch & Blum to enhance the nutrition of elderly citizens.

Initial assumptions about improving the menu were challenged, leading to a broader reframing of the project's goals.

Ethnographic research was conducted to understand the behaviors, needs, and wishes of elderly clients.

Journey mapping was used to trace the entire experience of elderly clients from meal delivery to consumption.

Kitchen workers' emotional needs were identified as crucial to the project's success.

The project scope was broadened to address both the seniors' and kitchen workers' emotional needs.

Co-creation workshops were held with stakeholders to develop insights and design criteria for a new meal service.

Brainstorming sessions used analogies to shift mental models and generate innovative ideas for meal service.

Prototyping and visualization were utilized to make abstract ideas more tangible for participants.

Testing prototypes with actual customers led to practical improvements in meal packaging and presentation.

The new meal service, 'The Good Kitchen,' was named to reflect the aspirations of all involved.

New communication channels were established to maintain close contact between kitchen staff and customers.

The transformation process led to a significant increase in meal orders and improved satisfaction for both staff and customers.

The project resulted in more than just a new menu; it innovated the entire business model for meal services.

The story of The Good Kitchen emphasizes the importance of business model innovation in design thinking.

Transcripts

to illustrate the design thinking

process that we've been talking about

I'd like to tell you a story about

design thinking in action as we go

through that story I will note different

tools and approaches that are being used

then at the end of the session I'll tell

you about some additional resources we

have available so that you can learn

more about them now you can use design

thinking to solve all sorts of problems

let's walk through one example to

illustrate what it looks like in the

real world to do so we're going to

travel to Denmark a country long

recognized for its distinctive attention

to design the Danes like citizens in

most developed countries recognized that

the aging of their population presents

many challenges one of these is serving

the more than 125,000 senior citizens

who rely on government sponsored meals

Danish municipalities deliver subsidized

meals to people who suffer from a

reduced ability to function whether that

is due to illness age or other

conditions many of these seniors have

nutritional challenges and a poor

quality of life because they simply do

not eat enough an estimated 60 percent

of elders living in assisted living have

poor nutrition an estimated 20% are

actually malnourished in response to

this growing social problem the

municipality of Costa Brau decided to

dedicate their efforts to improve meal

service for seniors and they invited

Danish innovation firm hatch & Blum to

work with them to figure out how to

improve the nutrition of their elderly

population municipal leadership saw the

project initially as straightforward in

order to get seniors to eat more the

current menu just needed improving and

they wanted Hatchin bloom to ask elderly

clients about their menu preferences

this is a great example of how to narrow

a definition of the problem to be solved

can drive a lot of innovation right out

the window before you even get started

the opportunity turned out to be much

greater and what action bloom ultimately

produced was much more than just a new

menu it was a completely redesigned meal

service that offered higher quality more

flexibility and increased choice this

dramatic reframing of the opportunity

emerged from the user centered design

approach that hatch and bloom brought to

the process in which they discovered

that nearly fixing the menu wouldn't

solve the nutrition problem let's look

at some specifics about how they did it

they began by exploring what is digging

deep into seniors behaviors needs and

wishes using observation and

interviewing to identify their elderly

clients living situation and try and get

at their unarticulated needs the

approach they chose to use was

ethnographic the specific tool they used

was journey map the journey mapping tool

follows a customer or stakeholder as

they receive a product or service or go

through a process it pays attention to

what designers called the job to be done

in some ways journey mapping is not that

different than the kind of flowcharts or

supply chains we might use in business

but there are some crucial differences

journey mapping recognizes that most of

us are trying to do jobs that are both

functional and emotional a lot of the

unarticulated needs turn out to be on

the emotional side making this tool very

valuable for uncovering hidden

opportunities to create better value for

people Hatchin bloom

used journey mapping to trace the

experience of the elderly from beginning

to end

they rode with food service employees

who delivered the meal they accompanied

them into the homes they watched as

clients prepared the food added

ingredients set the table and then

finally ate the meal they also

interviewed the supervisor of the food

preparation process in her workplace and

what they saw in the kitchen surprised

them

working in a public service kitchen was

a low status job in Denmark and kitchen

employees seemed demoralized and

unmotivated it was not going to be

enough to focus on the needs of the

elderly team members realized they would

need to address the problems of the

employees producing the meals as well

and so the team decided it was important

to broaden the scope of the project

beyond just improving the menu and they

helped the municipal officials

understand why this was necessary from

this dual focus on the people preparing

the meals and on the seniors receiving

them a set of interesting insights began

to emerge they discovered that both the

seniors and the kitchen workers had

important emotional needs that were not

being met

they were both experiencing feelings of

disconnection and alienation the social

stigma of even having to receive such

assistance weighed heavily on the

clients they were embarrassed help for

cleaning was considered acceptable in

Danish culture but helped from more

personal needs was much less so it also

mattered who was providing the help in

Denmark a senior hope to receive

assistance from a relative or a friend

if that was not possible perhaps one

could hire someone but it was a last

resort to receive assistance from the

government also painful to seniors was

the loss of control over their food

choices we discovered that deciding what

kind of food they put in their mouths

was the second most important thing for

the elderly after taking care of their

personal hygiene the head of the hatch

and Blum team told us and they hated

eating alone because it reminded them

that their families were no longer

around

all of these factors contributed

directly to the nutrition problem and

put it in a broader context the less

they enjoyed their situation the smaller

their appetites

the kitchen workers Hatchin Blum learned

we're making the same boring low-cost

meals over and over not because they

lack skills or because they just didn't

care but because of the perceived

economic and logistical constraints that

prevented them from doing something more

interesting the team also found positive

things however they discovered that the

generation of seniors they studied was

very responsible and capable in the

kitchen and had a keen sense of the

seasons and positive associations with

seasonal foods such as apples in the

fall and strawberries in the summer they

also often tried to customize their

meals by adding spices or using their

own potatoes or vegetables the Hatchin

Blum team also discovered that the

kitchen workers really did care and

wanted to do a good job once team

members had finished their ethnographic

research they moved into the what-if

stage for this they wanted to enlist a

broader group of stakeholders in

understanding the nature of the

challenges and participating in creating

a new and better meal service they

wanted to co-create with their important

stakeholders to accomplish this they had

a series of workshops that brought

together a diverse set of stakeholders

it included public officials volunteers

experts in elderly issues kitchen

workers and employees of residential

care facilities together they reviewed

the ethnographic research and develop

insights and design criteria to form

idea generation this kind of co-creation

is another important design tool

inviting stakeholders into the creative

process creates ownership and engagement

as well as producing better ideas the

co-creation tool will turn out to be

useful in every one of the four

questions as you'll see later

in the second question Hatchin bloom

used a brainstorming process in which

facilitators used analogies as trigger

questions to help shift participants

mental models of food service as they

generated ideas the facilitators asked

participants to think of the kitchen as

a restaurant triggering a creative rush

the kitchen workers they assumed then

must be the chef's and if they were the

chef's who were the waiters this began

to bring ideas like the condition of the

vehicles used for meal delivery into the

discussion they continued to work with

the restaurant analogy as they

considered the food itself until that

point the menus had been minimalist

factual descriptions of the food perhaps

detailing how it was prepared for

instance one item red liver potatoes and

sauce that's not exactly a description

that will make your mouth water is it

but now participants in the workshop

started to wonder maybe we should look

at actual restaurant menus

maybe we should describe our meals in a

completely different more enticing way

the third workshop move them into the

what Wow stage and continue to emphasize

the design tool of co-creation but this

time co-creation was used to test ideas

rather than generate them this third

workshop was much more hands-on and

involved prototyping at least in a rough

way the solutions coming out of the

what-if workshops for example hatching

bloom work with participants on three

different versions of the menu asking

them which they liked and how they felt

about various aspects such as the colors

they favored and whether they preferred

photos or illustrations they used a

design tool called visualization to make

these different options feel more real

to participants

visualization is one of the essential

design tools it's not about drawing a

skill that many of us don't have it's

about using imagery to make an abstract

idea more public and more concrete so

that it will be more visible clear and

understandable to others Hatchin bloom

didn't talk to people about the

different options they showed them the

different options they then moved into

what works testing prototypes with

different combinations and ways of

presenting the food with actual

customers the learning from this initial

set of experiments resulted in a second

project with some quick packaging design

changes that allowed for more modular

Mills where components were separated

instead of being mixed together the

process also yielded new uniforms for

employees and a new name the good

kitchen that reflected everybody's

aspirations it also included new

communication channels using newsletters

and comment cards to keep clients and

the kitchen staff in close touch with

each other and so a process that began

with a simple mandate fix the menu

evolved into something much more

significant as it moved through the four

questions using design tools like

journey mapping co-creation prototyping

and experimentation that process yielded

a host of dramatic changes a new menu

new uniforms for staff new feedback

mechanisms but equally important it made

everyone involved cognizant of the real

people they were serving or being served

by today poster brows seniors know who

is shaping their meatballs and preparing

the gravy in the kitchen and this

relationship between the kitchen staff

and the customers which is now both

personal and professional has increased

greatly the satisfaction of both

the results speak for themselves

reorganizing the menu and improving the

descriptions of the meals drove a 500%

increase in Neil orders in the first

week alone but the results were much

more about the number of meals served

one of the most important elements of

the transformation was the shift in

employees perception of themselves in

their work the kitchen workers are now

much more satisfied and motivate as a

result customers are happier with their

food if you have professional pride

you'll also cook good food and Murray

Nilsson the director of the good kitchen

told us good food has to come from the

heart what we are talking about in the

good kitchen story is about more than

just developing new products or services

we're talking about innovating the

entire business model I'd like you to

spend a few minutes now listening to

Jeremy Alexis a professor at the Chicago

Institute of design as he shares his

views on the importance of business

model innovation