A trifold poster depicting a diagram of a kitchen.

Kitchens & Accessibility

Accessibility research • book design

Over the course of two weeks, I worked with my partner, Kaeli Walker, to further research the accessibility of kitchens for older adults.

After preliminary research on existing literature, we carried out an online survey and interviewed Kaeli's grandparents.

We then gathered our research and designed a twenty-five page booklet based on our findings.

A person holding the booklet.Accessibility barrier: cooking is a fundamental activity to everyday life for both young and old, yet kitchens have not been designed with aging in mind.
Slide: "Designing Accessible Stoves for the Elderly – Citations & Summary."
Article: "Designing Kitchen Technologies for Aging in Place." Includes a figure of an elderly woman baking in her kitchen.
Citation from article highlighting "concerns of privacy, trust, stigma and fear of dependence" and the proposal of reinforcing "existing skills and abilities."
Article: "Cooking risk analysis to enhance safety of elderly people in smart kitchen."
Article: "Research on design of the elderly kitchen based on behavioral logic."
Diagram and chart from cited article detailing user experiences and difficulties.
Research methods: interview, online survey, artifact analysis, body storming.
Flow of next steps for research.
1. Survey – a survey of 32 older adults (aged 65+) investigating the difficulty of accomplishing certain tasks in the kitchen. A pie chart and bar graphs from the survey results.A booklet spread detailing survey results.Another spread from the same chapter with the diagrams.2. Interview – an interview with Kaeli's grandparents, asking about their experiences in the kitchen and about suggestions they might have for change. Pictograms of her grandparents are labeled Richard Walker" and "Donna Walker." 3. Behavioral mapping – a diagram mapping Donna's movement as she prepares dessert in the kitchen.A full view of the diagram.4. Final thoughts – cabinets were the main recurring highlight of the study and need re-design to make kitchens more accessible. The industry standard for kitchens needs to change to be more flexible and adaptable. However, with limitations of the study, more research must be done.

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