Maximising Kitchen Counter Space with a Collapsible Chopping Board
Tired of juggling space while cooking? The SpaceSaver chopping board is the answer. The design process for the SpaceSaver chopping board involved user interviews to identify the core issue of counter clutter. Informed by this feedback, the initial prototype underwent refinements, successfully addressing both physical and psychological barriers to an efficient cooking experience. The study covers key decisions, user insights, and iterative improvements that shaped the final design.
Do you ever feel like you are playing culinary Tetris in your kitchen? Kitchens are the heart of a home, but no matter how big your countertop, there never seems to be enough room to prepare a meal. I hear you, and I created a solution — the SpaceSaver chopping board.
The SpaceSaver chopping board creates more counter space as it sits on the sink so chopping, washing and even additional storage can occur on a single surface which is previously been unused. Read on to learn how this chopping board addresses counter clutter and makes meal prep a breeze with its built-in collapsible colander.
After reading this case study, please think about your own kitchen experiences and remember when counter space was limited. Picture being able to wash and chopping vegetables over the sink without moving everything. Then put the cut vegetables directly into the fridge without extra dishes. The chopping board expands the counter space and the collapsible colander saves space and steps. It solves common problems that many people face while cooking.
The Final Solution: A Hardwood Chopping Board With Built-In Collapsible Colander
The SpaceSaver chopping board addresses the crux of kitchen inconvenience — limited counter space. It maximises counter space by integrating a metal colander that can be collapsed down and covered when not in use into a hardwood chopping board. The board is designed to fit over the sink, so the unused sink area becomes an additional counter space and colander drains directly into the sink without requiring to move the board and the colander to a new spot or taking up additional counter space. The colander, once collapsed, retracts into the chopping board and can be covered and sealed with a lid, converting the entire surface into a usable prep space. When extended, the colander enables you to wash your produce directly in the sink. The colander can be removed, bonus lid popped on and placed directly in the fridge as a bowl to store chopped ingredients. This 2-in-1 functionality reduces the need for multiple prep tools.
The Core Problem: Limited Counter Space Causes Clutter and Friction
The Problem and Opportunity
Counter space in the kitchen is a hot commodity, especially during meal preparation. The limited space often leads to friction among family members, roommates, or even just the solo cook juggling multiple tasks. But this isn’t just a pain point; it’s an opportunity. By optimising counter space, we can not only make meal prep more efficient but also enhance the overall kitchen experience.
Who Are We Solving This For?
I interviewed 5 home cooks, ranging from the adept home cook to the complete novice.
All six home cooks identified counter space as a common frustration, resulting in constant tool, ingredient, and appliance shuffling, safety risks, and inconvenience. User complaints shared themes like limited space making chopping vegetables difficult and uncomfortable, crowded counters causing spills and contamination risks, clutter impeding cooking, disorganisation causing stress, restricted space limiting recipe choices, and a messy appearance stifling cooking creativity.
Why Solve This Problem?
For each of these personas, the kitchen is more than just a place to cook; it’s a hub of activity, a place for family bonding, a space for culinary creativity, and sometimes even a professional workspace. For these home cooks, having clutter-free counters was crucial for a pleasant cooking experience, regardless of their cooking skills. They wanted more space to comfortably chop, mix, and plate ingredients.
The following image is a UX storyboard that vividly captures the challenges the home cooks face in the kitchen. This visual narrative was crafted based on direct conversations with the home cooks themselves.
It is clear that even with better organisation, cramped counters held the home cooks back. Maximising counter space would give them more room for food prep, appliances, and ingredients, creating a less stressful cooking environment.
Addressing the counter space issue not only removed physical constraints but also reduced the psychological friction of cooking. The goal was to create a less cluttered and more efficient cooking experience.
How a chopping board with an integrated collapsible colander directly addresses users’ universal pain point of inadequate counter space:
The evolution of the problem statement began with a series of interviews involving five users: Student Sam, Urban Uma, Efficient Esha, Artistic Aarav, and Prudent Pavan. Each user had their unique relationship with the kitchen, but they all shared one common grievance: cluttered counters.
- Sam prioritised quick access;
- Uma liked to have the freedom to experiment;
- For Esha, it was about workflow efficiency;
- Aarav, the kitchen was an artistic space;
- And for Pavan, it was about mindful cooking.
The interviews were eye-opening. Counter clutter wasn’t just an inconvenience; it was a significant barrier that affected the cooking experience across age groups, genders, and skill levels. Whether it led to accidental spills for some or stifled culinary creativity for others, the issue was universal.
Why Counter Space Took Centre Stage
While other problems like poor ventilation or lack of a dining area were noted, the counter space issue was the linchpin that held back the entire cooking experience. An organised counter wasn’t a luxury; it was a necessity for cooking efficiency, safety, and overall well-being.
From Insights to Ideation
Armed with these insights, I brainstormed various solutions such as a magnetic spice rack for vertical organisation and robotic stirrer. Why did I opt for a chopping board over a robotic stirrer? The answer was simplicity and universal applicability. A chopping board is a basic tool used by cooks of all skill levels, making it the perfect candidate for innovation.
The Iterative Journey
My initial idea was a pull-out chopping board integrated into the counter. However, user feedback highlighted a critical flaw: it would be difficult to clean. So, I went back to the drawing board and eventually designed a detachable, easy-to-clean chopping board that could also serve as a serving platter.
The Final Solution
The result is a multi-functional chopping board that not only maximises counter space but also simplifies the cooking process, making it less of a chore and more of a joy.
From interviews, it was clear that counter clutter is more than a minor annoyance — it is a major hurdle in the kitchen for the users across different skill levels, age and genders. The issues varied: for some, the cramped space led to spills, while for others, it killed the joy of trying new recipes. Those with ample and organised kitchens felt more in control of their cooking.
Everyone was agreed: messy counters are a pain point, hindering cooking across skill levels. An organised counter isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’; it’s crucial for efficiency, safety, and morale. The bottom line? Clean, open counter space is a non-negotiable for cooks of all levels.
Key Decisions Across the Design Process
Improving my interview questions helped me get better insights:
Refining interview questions and having a diverse user pool helped to broaden the scope of insights and also mitigated potential biases and assumptions. These key decisions enriched the data gathered, making it more reliable for informing an inclusive and effective design solution.
Focusing on solving counter space issues presented a specific design opportunity as opposed to vague ideas like “modern aesthetics”:
Taking the key decision to focus on issues related to counter space as they were unanimously highlighted as a major pain point. By crafting a well-defined problem statement, I aimed to transform counter space challenges into a tangible design opportunity, sidestepping vague notions like “modern aesthetics.”
Prioritising early user feedback helped me better understand real-world counter space challenges:
By seeking early user feedback and prioritising it in the design process, I gained a more nuanced understanding of the real-world challenges and needs related to counter space, thereby informing a more effective and user-centric design strategy.
Narrowed my prototype scope to focus on maximising usable counter space, sacrificing some non-core features to effectively solve the core problem:
In summary, I trimmed my prototype scope to the feature that added the most value to the user i.e. maximising usable counter space. Resource constraints and knowledge limitations forced me to sacrifice some non-core features and some fidelity, which was challenging but ultimately sharpened the prototype to solve the core problem.
Prioritised user feedback which addressed safety and ease of use concerns to improve my prototype and enhance the user experience:
In summary, testing revealed unexpected insights around safety and usability. Focusing on this critical feedback, rather than trying to incorporate every suggestion allowed me to efficiently iterate my prototype and meaningfully improve the user experience.
Future Scope if More Time Allowed
Enhancing the prototype: With 2 extra weeks, I would fully design and render the retractable lid and sliding drawers into the chopping board features. I would engineer higher-fidelity prototypes to test these mechanisms for smoothness and durability. This would evolve the prototype toward a finished product.
Exploring sustainable materials: I would research and source sustainable materials like bamboo, recycled steel, and plant-based plastics to construct eco-friendly prototypes. Testing renewable materials would allow me to understand trade offs vs. conventional materials in cost, durability, and aesthetics.
Conducting concept validation: I would interview kitchen goods retailers to validate market viability. And speak to someone about estimated manufacturing costs and acceptable price points. I will survey a larger set of potential customers to confirm the product is desirable.
What I’ve discovered through this project has been invaluable:
Seeking Feedback on Kitchen Counter Space Project: Product Design, Problem Definition, and Key Learnings
I would greatly appreciate any feedback on my kitchen counter space project, specifically around the product design, problem definition, and key learnings.
I would love feedback specifically on:
- The product design and functionality — does it seem useful and easy to use?
- The evolution of the problem statement — did my process for arriving at the focus on counter space make sense?
- Key learnings — do the learnings resonate or are there other takeaways I’m missing?
I value your perspective to help validate and improve different aspects of this project. Please feel free to provide any other feedback too! Please share your thoughts in the comments!
