THE GOOD KITCHEN

Curated Design Thinking case study:

How Design thinking helped to design a new meal service for the Municipality of Holstebro, Denmark. A seniors meal service daily, and it must ensure more quality, flexibility, and freedom of choice. Thus, the idea for ‘The Good Kitchen’ was born.

Challenges:

• Currently, 100,000 plus seniors are needed meal service daily. (this number will keep increasing because the total number of seniors above 67 will rise during the next decade).
• 60% of seniors live in assisted living facilities and have poor nutritional conditions (many seniors are at risk of diseases due to a lack of adequate nutritional food availability).
• The current meal service cannot accommodate the seniors’ individual needs and wishes (all seniors receive the same meal service, regardless of whether they are well functioning or heavily sick).

Design thinking process followed:

A) Observations & interview techniques:

+ Design anthropologists conducted ethnographic identification research of the seniors’ behavior, needs, and wishes.

+ Interviews with relevant experts were conducted, and the staff’s needs and work processes were summarized.

B) Idea generation through user workshops:

+ Several workshops were carried out with representatives from all user groups and interested parties.

(The aim was to develop ideas for a new and better meal service. Through ideation techniques, like ‘Radical Analogies Thinking,’ for instance, consider the meal service as a service for a family with children to generate ideas).

The result

1) Changed the seniors’ perception:

+ A new name (The Good Kitchen), visual identity, and communication design style were some design interventions that changed the seniors’ perception of Holstebro Municipality’s meal service.

+ After the rejuvenation exercise, ‘The Good Kitchen’ is perceived as a modern, user-centered kitchen focused on quality and good service.

2) Higher food quality and new dishes:

+ Through collaboration with one of Denmark’s best chefs, the meal service is able to offer new season-inspired dishes of high quality.

+ The emphasis is still on good traditional dishes with many familiar taste experiences.

3) Added guest menu and specialty foods:

+ The meal service today has an extended menu with a guest menu that allows the seniors to invite guests.

+ There is a menu of kitchen specialty foods, including chocolate confectionery and homemade pastry.