Marketing and functional analysis of kitchen utensils: from
an ergonomic point of view

Abstract: This master thesis commenced in the beginning of September 2007. The
project has been performed in cooperation with Business Area 09 (BA09) at
IKEA of Sweden in Älmhult. BA09 develops the range of kitchen accessories.
The company is looking at what strategic launches to make between 2010 and
2012 and that is where this thesis comes in.

IKEA wants to develop products that will be referenced as ‘best in test’
product by independent test panels and the purpose of this project has been
to collect as much information as possible regarding how to get there.

A thorough ergonomic investigation concerning handle design has been
conducted providing guidelines on design features to consider in order to
design an ergonomic handle and also help on how to implement anthropometric
data into the this process.

A marketing analysis, investigating products on the market checking out the
competition has been implemented. The analysis focused on an analysing
functions, materials and design in order to find problem areas and be able
to use the analyzed material in a more detailed function analysis.

A questionnaire was distributed in order to collect more information from
the consumers about what utensils they owned/want to own/ consider useless
and also to get an idea of the usability provided by today’s kitchen
utensils. By studying material from the questionnaire the marketing
analysis as well as different tests conducted by independent consumer
services mainly in Sweden and the United states a functional analysis was
conducted. The analysis resulted in a more complete criteria guide, on what
to consider during the design process. Common for many of the utensils and
gadgets turned out to be the need for them to be easy to clean as well as
comfortable to handle yet effective. The criteria guide’s aim is to help
the designers during the continuing product development process.