Zest
Personal Responsibilities
Design process from research, to ideation, prototyping and development
Deliverables
Research findings
Concept wire-frame
Pitch / thesis presentation
Executive Summary
Within two quarters I researched the creative process of restaurants, and prototyped, tested and developed a digital platform to enable chefs and their teams.
I primarily focused my time on researching and understanding chefs and their teams to understand where I could provide value. The remainder of the time was spent on concept testing and development.
Where do great meals come from?
I wanted to explore chefs' creative process and provide them with a tool that would enable them beyond their current capabilities
During my final two quarters at Northwestern I decided to approach the restaurant industry and design around it's needs for my thesis. Through thorough research and development I ended up creating Zest, a digital platform (primarily through a mobile app) that enables chefs to better capture, share and develop their ideas
I visited 8 different chefs in various culinary levels, roles and cuisines to learn about their creative process and restaurant cultures
The chef's creative process
Inspiration
Inspiration for an idea can come at any moment, through various sensory stimuli. Because of this spontaneity chefs have developed many different ways to capture their ideas, from expansive notebooks to post its, sketches and collected magazine clippings
Play & Share
At this point chefs are trying out a couple methods and communicating with their trusted circle. This can be a personal process, cooks at aucheval often stay after hours to perfect their ideas before presenting them. Executive chefs on the other hand have the ability to delegate their work to their teams. Regardless Thomas Lents told me “you never get it right the first time”
Assess & Refine
Finally, chefs will test their dishes, either with customers or peers and refine them into a recipe. Often they will use the "specials" menu to evaluate new ideas or simply consult their trusted circle. Once an idea is ready to go they must develop a recipe that anyone on their team can replicate, from the sous chef to the line cook
Zest is a companion to chefs and any member of the team looking to develop their own work. Through Zest, chefs are able to capture their ideas on the spot, share them with their trusted team and develop them version after version, in the kitchen, until they've created a finalized recipe
After various rounds of low and high fidelity prototyping, with peers and chefs, I developed a wire-frame and brand for Zest, outlining it's functional and emotional components.
