The Ideation Capacity Guided by an Intercultural Experience During the Concept Designing Process, a Case Study

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1 The Ideation Capacity Guided by an Intercultural Experience During the Concept Designing Process, a Case Study Dirk van Gogh* Hiroko Yamazaki ** * Chairman of Design Study Group of KASK,-Royal Academy Fine Arts Ghent, Belgium, dirk.vangogh@hogent.be ** Homeopath, VGC association, Antwerp, Belgium, hiroko_ymzk@yahoo.co.jp Abstract: The present paper evaluates the concept designing process among Belgium students of the course Product Development and the students of the course Multimedia Design. Examining 4 projects during the design workshop, named: Inspired by Japanese Home Cooking, we discuss how the ideation capacity was activated by intercultural experience. Key words: Culture, Ideation, Cooking 1. Introduction As one of the trainings to optimize students design capacity in an international context, the Higher Institute for Product Development, Design Sciences, University College of Antwerp holds a workshop-week in the year of 2009 under the theme of Products and Services for Food and Drinks. A similar workshop was held in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, University College of Ghent during the course Multimedia Design in May In this paper, a brief report is presented of one workshop, named Inspired by Japanese Home Cooking and run by, a Belgian doctor in product development Dirk van Gogh and a Japanese homeopath Hiroko Yamazaki. The main objectives of the workshop were: to activate students ideation capacity by giving inspirations from authentic Japanese home-style cooking and to make it possible for students to develop innovative products or eating environments based on Western and Asian cultural viewpoints. 2. Methods 2.1. Participants Twenty students participated, including 4 from first-year master course, 6 from third-year bachelor course, 5 from second-year bachelor course, and 5 from international students of the European Erasmus program Procedure The workshop especially focused on the following aspects: Introduction of Japanese home cooking: First of all, some key characters of Japanese home cooking were presented. One of the characters is its variety; that is, Japanese has introduced many other cultures cooking into their daily eating while respecting their own 1

traditional ways as well. Some sample dishes allowed the students to see its variety. Harmony with seasons was introduced as another character.

Careful attention is paid in terms of not only seasonal ingredients, but also food presentations, table settings, or family members health condition in that season.

In addition, some products and one traditional dish, onigiri (a rice ball with a pickled ume and seaweed), were demonstrated.

Concept design issues: In order to activate students integrated thinking during a product development process [1], three key aspects in concept design [2,3] were briefly explained:

small groups about the following questions: From product design point of view, what inspirations you get from Japanese home cooking?

2 traditional ways as well. Some sample dishes allowed the students to see its variety. Harmony with seasons was introduced as another character. In authentic Japanese kitchen, the season when the food and drinks are served is to be considered carefully. Careful attention is paid in terms of not only seasonal ingredients, but also food presentations, table settings, or family members health condition in that season. Typical examples were shown about every season (spring, summer, autumn and winter). In addition, some products and one traditional dish, onigiri (a rice ball with a pickled ume and seaweed), were demonstrated. Students could experience and deepen their understanding about how Japanese people behave and interact with every product in cooking, eating and drinking contexts. Concept design issues: In order to activate students integrated thinking during a product development process [1], three key aspects in concept design [2,3] were briefly explained: solution-typical issues (e.g. materials, productions, etc.), prototypical issues (e.g. archetype, culture, etc.) and behavior-typical issues (e.g. handling, acting, etc.) [4]. Figure. 1 Demonstration of Products and Onigiri Brainstorming, group presentation with hand-sketches and final proposal: After all presentations, the students were encouraged to discuss in small groups about the following questions: From product design point of view, what inspirations you get from Japanese home cooking?, and, Which inspirations are key for your product development? Then, the students were asked to develop innovative products or eating environments. Final product proposal was scheduled by poster presentation. Projects could be run either by a group or an individual. Personal guidance was available if required. Figure. 2 Brainstorming Session and Group Presentation with Hand-sketches 2.3 Measures Students final proposals were evaluated on a scale from 1 to 20 (20 representing the highest point). In addition, self-report questionnaire was done to evaluate the end result of workshop. Every student was asked to answer 8 items with 4-point response scale (4 representing the highest point). 2

3. Results Eleven projects were achieved, including 2 new restaurant concepts, 2 new lunch box concepts, 1 new dining table concept and 6 new products for cooking, eating and drinking (table wares,

to 15, with the average of 13.65. The 4 randomly selected projects will be highlighted as below. 3.1. Project: We Cook When Japanese people drink together, they pour sake or beer into each other s glasses, and the custom of sharing drinks helps to create friendly atmosphere [5].

3 3. Results Eleven projects were achieved, including 2 new restaurant concepts, 2 new lunch box concepts, 1 new dining table concept and 6 new products for cooking, eating and drinking (table wares, dishes and cooking tools). The grade of projects ranged from 11 to 15, with the average of The 4 randomly selected projects will be highlighted as below Project: We Cook When Japanese people drink together, they pour sake or beer into each other s glasses, and the custom of sharing drinks helps to create friendly atmosphere [5]. Inspired by this custom, student Emma Janssen, Sara De Moitié, and Nigel Ooms developed a new restaurant concept, named We Cook. In this restaurant, customers can cook by themselves on the table and share the dishes each other. New products were designed to combine cooking and eating environments together into one plate. The dining table has round shape and a rotating disk at the center to share spices and dishes. The table is also flexible to arrange depending on numbers of customers. All these features enable more lively, social and interactive eating experiences at the restaurant. Figure. 3 We Cook : Flexible Dining Table and Tools to Cook, Share and Eat Project: Season s Student Shaun Bruyninckx and Ruben Camerlynck designed another new restaurant concept, Season s, inspired by harmony with seasons in Japanese cooking. The restaurant offers four big tables on one large floor and each table represents every season with typical seasonal dishes and colorful decorations. The round table, with no chairs and with capacity for 8-10 persons to stand at, enables interactive communication in buffet-style dinner. The table has a feature of rotating for serving food and also water flow to keep food cold for summer and warm for winter table, as shown in figure Project: Tabemasho!! Student Gertjan Van Looveren, Dries Vervoort, Sander Michiels, and Benjamin Vanelslande created a new concept dining table, Tabemasho!! inspired by mainly two characters of Japanese home cooking: paying careful attention to food and its presentation, and sharing food among company at the table. This new table allows everyone to join the preparation of dishes and eat together as well, to make cooking and dining experiences more social and enjoyable [6]. The table, as shown in figure 4, also realizes user-friendly environment by taking into account the integration of materials and technology. 3

Figure. 4 Project: Season s and Tabemasho!! 3.4. Project: Go Fresh! Inspired by a Japanese bowl, student Jasper Blockx developed a new lunch concept, Go Fresh!

Putting raw materials in the bowl, adding water and heating up on its cooking platform, hot and fresh lunch will be ready for eating. 3.5.

4 Figure. 4 Project: Season s and Tabemasho!! 3.4. Project: Go Fresh! Inspired by a Japanese bowl, student Jasper Blockx developed a new lunch concept, Go Fresh!, which allows people to enjoy hot and fresh food at work. The product is a new type of bowl using similar heating system as water cooker. Putting raw materials in the bowl, adding water and heating up on its cooking platform, hot and fresh lunch will be ready for eating Responses of Questionnaire All 20 participants answered the questionnaire. Regarding satisfaction to 5-day workshop, 40% rated very much satisfied and 55% rated satisfied; to sum up, 95% were generally satisfied with the workshop. Regarding introduction of Japanese home cooking, generally, most presentations could give inspiration to the students. Especially, its variety and demonstration of products got high rate as inspirational (variety: 25% very much inspired and 65% inspired; product demonstration: 30% very much inspired and 55% inspired). Regarding presentation about concept design issues, more than 50% students got very much inspired or inspired, by all three aspects. Figure. 5 Rate of Inspiration by the Introduction of Japanese Home-style Cooking and by the Presentation of Concept Design Issues 3.6. How Cultural Experience Contributes to the Students Insight Students were inspired by the experience of Japanese home-style cooking. The following table 1 shows how the Western-minded students got insights from the Japanese cooking experience. The table describes, during the concept designing process in four projects, what kind of insights were especially generated through the intercultural experience. 4

5 Table 1. Relations between Students Insight and the Generated Concepts. Japanese cooking experiences and its influence on the Western mind-set: Projects: We Cook Season s Tabemasho! Go fresh 1. Products can be designed to offer all the dishes (e.g. starter, soup, O main dish and dessert) at the same time. 2. Products can be designed to share the food with others. O 3. Products can be more harmonized with the different seasons. (e.g. seasonal ingredients, food presentations, table settings etc.) 4. Products can produce cozy eating experience by allowing people to prepare, cook and eat together. O O O O, means that there was an insight while designing O, means that there was no insight while designing 4. Conclusions The present paper has explained how much Western-based product development can be activated by the inspiration from Japanese culture. In the workshop, many topics were mentioned and discussed in various ways, such as tasting food, product demonstration, lectures, group discussion, etc. This variety enables the students to be aware of their own culture including their archetypes. Consequently, they are able to rethink the current product archetypes and develop a new, innovative product concept. 5. References [1] Verhaert P. and Braet J. (2007) The practice of new products and new business, Acco Leuven. [2]. Muller W. (1997) Vormgeven, ordening en betekenisgeving, Utrecht Uitgeverij Lemma. [3]. van Gogh, Dirk (2006) Design as a Method of Thinking, KASK CAHIERS, No.3. [4]. van Gogh, Dirk, Goethijn Frank, Meskens Luc, (2007) T.H.E.-method, a Visualised Assessment Tool Used for Integrated Product Development, Proceedings, International Association of Societies of Design Research. [5]. Earley P. Christopher, Redefining Interactions Across Cultures and Organisations: Moving Forward with Cultural Intelligence, Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 24, p [6]. Kashima Yoshihisa, 2006, Describing the social World : How is a person, a group, and a relationship descrived in the East and the West?, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 42, p

International Journal of Business and Commerce Vol. 3, No.8: Apr 2014[01-10] (ISSN: )

International Journal of Business and Commerce Vol. 3, No.8: Apr 2014[01-10] (ISSN: ) The Comparative Influences of Relationship Marketing, National Cultural values, and Consumer values on Consumer Satisfaction between Local and Global Coffee Shop Brands Yi Hsu Corresponding author: Associate