'UniPrep' Portable Meal System
I
magine if your leftovers container was insulated, made 10x stronger, and could heat itself while still weighing less than 2 ½ pounds, enabling you to eat whatever, whenever, and wherever. The UniPrep system does it all, simplifying the on-the-go meal preparation experience for the busy student or worker. This conceptual product concept was the result of our first project in my Junior year at CMU's School of Design.
Contribution: All Original Work
Timeline: 8 Weeks
Material: Digital, PLA 3D-Printed Prototype
Date Completed: September - October 2024
Association: Carnegie Mellon University School of Design
Designed for Manufacturing (DFM) & Assembly (DFA)
Each component has been meticulously modeled and each material carefully considered for ease of manufacturing and assembly, bringing this concept closer to reality than any primitive prototype could. The temperature-control technology housed within the 'hot and cold cores' remains to be developed and tested, requiring collaboration with an engineer that was not
prioritized given the scope and timeline of the project. The container's metallic layers are individually manufactured, then welded together along each coincident edge. The circular rubber part seen between the second and third metal layers is manually inserted and held in place via friction. The divider insert and lid are not adhered, depicted for representation of use.
Animation showing how the container could be assembled vertically layer-by-layer.
Exploded view of the UniPrep system, identifying manufacturing methods.
Rendered representation of materials and their relative thicknesses (rubber thickness is arbitrary because it would be injection molded).
Highlights of the container's thoughtful form factor.
Overview of the 'hot and cold core' technology and features.
Animation showing how the hot core would be inserted and activated.
Graphic showing how heat travels from the hot core through the container and into the food.
Freedom Derived from Cohesion and Versatility
With so many containers on the market that mostly excel at one particular type of food (solid or liquid) and temperature, I wanted to conceptualize a system that can—with as few components as possible—excel at any food and any temperature, with the right accessories. The result was a system that revolves around divider inserts and 'cores.' The user is no longer
tethered to the nearest microwave and they can keep peace of mind knowing their food won't spoil all day thanks to the container's exceptional insulative properties. Additionally, the container's interior corners are curved to be swiftly cleaned with a few strokes of a soapy sponge. The stress we've come to expect from meal prep is left behind when you invest in a UniPrep set.
Chronological system diagram shows the day-by-day user experience at home and on-the-go.
User Research
Identified Meal Prep 'Strategies'
Note: These are large generalizations.
Strategy Maximize (6+ containers)
People who prepare meals in big batches and have a smaller set of meal varieties that they prepare often typically own many of the same kind of container (ex. 10 microwaveable plastic containers).
Strategy 'Diversify' (3-5 containers)
People who have a diverse set of meals that they prepare are those who typically own many kinds of containers (ex. One for hot soup, one for microwaveable pasta, one for keeping sandwiches cold, etc.).
Strategy 'Minimize' (1-2 containers)
People who prepare less frequently or day-by-day and have a smaller set of meal varieties that they prepare often typically own one or two of the same kind of container that are microwaveable (ex. 2 microwaveable plastic containers).
Visual representation of the survey respondent's pain points, the goals I laid out to solve each one, and the specific solutions I later identified.
Design Process
Going Forward
After completing this project, I identified three key considerations that would have to be made should this project become a reality.
Project Takeaways
T
his project afforded us as students a degree of freedom which we hadn't previously experienced. While intimidating at first, I found great joy from each phase of this project. As with any project, there are valuable lessons I learned about my design process from this experience. In previous projects, I have been upset at my lack of documentation. With this project, I feel I have excelled at this and only wish to improve further going forward. I took a distinctly technical approach to
this project, something which I do not regret; I think my mind works well with complex problems such as this. Going forward, I wish to improve my sketching skills even further and to place a greater emphasis on getting my thoughts out onto paper instead of into CAD. Furthermore, whenever I have the opportunity to conduct user research again, I should speak to more people in person to gain a deeper understanding of my target audience. I learned a lot from my survey, but there is a personal value missing.