Part 9 – Three Phases of Design Thinking (3PDT) – Applied to the Development of Half-Time (Convection Microwave) Oven

For this newsletter, we are continuing to talk about Design Thinking (See the last newsletter for details on Design Thinking). Here we will apply Design Thinking to the invention of the Half-Time Oven. This is one of many parts of The Nine Linked Management Models (9LMM) of the Full Cycle of Sustainable Change.

The Inventor, the Example, and the Tool.

Before we look deeper into Design Thinking, let’s set the stage for our case study/example of inventing the first Synchronized Microwave Convection Oven (the Haft Time Oven). Ken Eke is my friend and is known in the microwave community for his 75 patents (and counting). Ken Eke is the owner of Apollo Microwave USA. He's an entrepreneur and chartered engineer who created Apollo Microwave Inc. in the early 1970s after working for the British Government at the Ministry of Aviation in the UK and calibrating electronic instruments in the DC, RF, and microwave fields. You can find more information about him on his LinkedIn profile https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/ken-eke-50601544/ .

How Ken and I Became Friends and tor-Mentors for Each Other - Ken and I are neighbors. We first met during our HOA community meetings. We two engineers would talk shop between mingling with other neighbors and sampling potluck contributions. Often, when I saw Ken sitting out on his porch with his lovely wife, I would join them to solve world problems.

Ken and I also love to give each other a hard time (he is my tor-Mentor). If you stand back and watch it, you would likely be confused but entertained. I try to live up to his banter... you know, "Guy Stuff."

At one of our front porch summits, we talked about my art. Ken showed me his cellphone screensaver photo of his favorite airplane. It was the Spitfire, the pride of the WWII Royal Air Force. In Ken’s world there never was a nicer airplane.

As usual, I put my foot in my mouth and said, “I can do that, I can paint that.“

To which Ken replied with his signature response in his English accent, “Do it!”

Several weeks later I showed him the results of his push (figure 3).

Well, since that time, his reason for living and the love of his life, after 50 years of marriage, died. We grieved and became closer friends in the process, going to church together, eating meals, talking about possibilities, and drinking lots of English Tea with cream and sugar. To help him push past this, Ken and I have also been working on more projects together. ?

Later, when he read some of my articles, he asked me, “Why are you not writing about what we are doing together?”

I said, “Well I could but...”

To which Ken replied with his signature response, again in his English accent, “Do it!”

So here we are.

Three Phases of Design Thinking:

Ken invented several microwave-related products, but the one we will talk about is the “Half-time Oven.” It was the original synchronized microwave convection oven. After all, new microwave ovens and older convection ovens existed but had problems working together. (i.e., one of my “watch for ideas” of several things that could be combined into one). This brings us to applying the Design Thinking tool we talked about during our last newsletter.

Ken Starts His Journey:

The Selection of the Target Product and The Genesis of the Idea: Back in the 1970s, Ken went to a conference in the United Kingdom hosted by the Electricity Organization in England. Officials from the Electricity Brigade in the UK spoke to roughly 300 people about ways to use electricity and how to sell it.

They believed that the greatest use of electricity was in the kitchen, therefore, they wanted more products invented for the kitchen. At that time, everybody cooked and ate food prepared in their own kitchens. The new microwave became a major talking point because it used a lot of electricity to cook, but in a short time. Therefore, they reasoned, it would become the most desirable product at that time. ?They explained the United Kingdom had 55 million people in the country and 25 million of them are females and would want this kind of product in their kitchen.

They told the audience to go find ways to give the customers what they wanted. This started Ken’s journey.

Phase 1: ?Analysis - “Understand”

Step 1 – Empathize - During this phase, one must have an Attitude of Empathy for the user. Here we take our first steps to understand for whom we are designing.

Step 2 – Define – During the Define Step we combine data, explore users’ problems, and investigate “what is.” We look at the Form, Fit, and Function for what is and think about what could be.

Ken’s Journey:

Ken went back to his company and started thinking, “You know, we're in the microwave business, therefore we need to actually understand what is out there.” So, they bought an American Microwave Oven. It wasn't very attractive, but nevertheless, it did a job. It cooked and heated a cup of coffee very fast.

But why did it sell in America? It was selling for a thousand dollars. That was very high for a kitchen appliance. Only people with a lot of money would buy that, but nevertheless, it was selling. Ken thought, “If that is the way it is, let’s see if we can produce the product for half that amount?”

This is an example of Value Engineering, same function, more value, or bang-for-the-buck. ?

So, Ken started asking, “What does it do? How much time does it take?”

It defrosted frozen stuff, heated up cups of coffee, popped popcorn, and reheated food, but that was about all it was used for in the US. It wasn’t used for cooking, yet it was a kitchen device. That did not make sense, to spend that much money on something in the kitchen that did not cook. What else can we make it do?

So, Ken started experimenting with different foods. He put them in the oven but none of them turned out right. The foods came out pappy and soft, with no texture, no resolve. He didn't like that and decided, that's why people in the United States did not use microwave ovens to cook.

Ken decided that somebody needed to reinvent this, and it might as well be him.

What were its problems? What did it lack? It lacked browning and actual cooking. The microwave is good for speed, but you're left with a piece of meat that's horrible or a cake that doesn't brown.

Phase 2: Problem-Solving - “Explore”

During this phase, we foster attitudes of Experimentation and Embracing Ambiguity.

Step 3 – Ideate – Here we generate wild and crazy ideas of “what if” and “what wows.”??

Step 4 – Prototype – Build prototypes and simulations, use trial-and-error, and keep working on it until you find “what works.”?

Step 5 – Testing – Show, demo, work with and get feedback from the users. In an agile type of project, one would see this during the different sprints.

Ken’s Journey Continues:

Ken used each of the steps in cycles.

Ken asked, “What if” and “How do we get it to brown?” Reasoning, that you can only get browning with heat, he asked, “Why not get heat in there?”

So, without the microwave on, they got a hair dryer, heated the oven and it started to work. Then he added two hair dryers, then more, forcing hot air inside the oven. They injected the cavity with a lot of heat and found they got browning.

This incremental approach to research is also an example of Design of Experiments (DOE) and is found in Agile project demos as well.

Ken was starting to feel clever and decided to develop a product that adds heat with a recirculating system. Therefore, they repeated the first phase and bought an American conventional oven. They found that they were all very similar in size, about three or four cubic feet. And they went through the process of thinking “What is?” The convection oven worked to get browning.

Ken thought, “Therefore, why don't we take a convection system out of one of these ovens if we can, and introduce it into this oven that's called a microwave oven.” They did that, they cut the back of the oven and fixed the heating system of a conventional oven to it. Then they were able to get browning, which was one problem solved.

After having done that, the next question was, how can we get the microwave and the convection oven to work together? ?So, they injected a lot of microwaves into the cavity, and it was okay, but the microwave results were too severe. Because heat takes a long time to build up to the needed temperature, but the microwave switches on straight away - "That's not good!" They did not want the heat at the beginning, they wanted the heat at the end.

They also found that they needed to get rid of some of the water molecules that turn to steam generated by microwaves. So, they switched on the microwave immediately and it started to heat. They could see that within a very short time, whether it be meat, pastry, bread, or whatever, moisture started to develop.

That wasn’t good, so how could they fix the moisture issues?

They decided some heat at the beginning of cooking would help but not for browning. They only needed browning at the end. After testing, they decided to start with a cold oven, then switch on the heat to remove the moisture, and leave the microwave off for a while. Then after several minutes of heating, introduce the microwaves. That is when they started getting results that they liked.

Next, they tested “rising items” like biscuits, pastries, and puddings.

The pastry rises with microwave heat, but the problem with the microwave when they switched it off the pastry collapsed. When they switched it on again, it rose. That wasn’t good.

So, they redesigned the microwave to give very low microwave power, thinking the microwave results were too severe. And they went from one kilowatt of microwave down to a 200-watt microwave throughout the cooking cycle. They then turned both the heat and microwave on. They played with trial and error until they got it right, including venting the humidity and trying different settings and different types of cooking. They then found it was possible to cook everything from chicken, steaks, apple pies, apricot pies, bread, etc., in a short time. They even produced a book called Combination Cooking and continued to develop more customer-focused features and simplifications.

Phase 3: Implement – “Materialize”

During this phase, we reinforce an attitude of Creative Confidence and boldness.

Step 6 – Implement – Here we put our visions and solutions into action.???

Ken’s Product Materialized:

By the end of the seventies, Apollo Microwave came up with a great design that was in high demand. They continued to improve and design other products over the years and continue to do so today. Ken is retired but he and I are always thinking about new ideas. He has many more stories about how he interacted with large companies around the world, but those will have to wait.

See the products and more about Apollo here: https://www.apollomicrowave.com/about/ )

Bottom Line:?

We can think of Design Thinking as having three phases and several steps that bounce around in cycles. We applied the Half-time oven to this outline.

1.????The Analysis “Understand” Phase

The Empathize Step

The Define Step

2.????The Problem-Solving “Explore” Phase

The Ideate Step

The Prototype Step

The Testing Step

3.????The Implement “Materialize” Phase

The Implement Step

It is a systematic and repeatable process and it requires time, creativity, and work.

Either change or become irrelevant!

Coming Next:?Strategy and the Storms of Chao as Applied to Today’s World. ?

We will come back to the Seven Attributes of Excellent Management later but next, we will focus on Strategy and all the crazy stuff that is happening in the world today.

Invitation:

Contact me! Unlock your potential and take your career to the next level by signing up for one of our workshops. We have created some nice, gamified project management training where we look at all the issues of change, the Seven Attributes of Excellent Management, and take a full systems approach to the application of PM Tools. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn and advance your career!

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