Living in small urban spaces such as apartments and condominiums often presents challenges, including finding ways to make small outdoor areas usable. Outdoor cooking and entertaining is a way for city dwellers to enjoy being outside, yet few solutions currently exist for a safe and efficient way to cook in urban outdoor environments such as apartment balconies, rooftops, and small yards.
Designed for modularity, practicality, and space efficiency, Volta is a compact electric grill that enables the perfect outdoor urban cooking experience without the mess and hassle of gas or charcoal.
Process
Upon researching how outdoor cooking can be integrated into small urban spaces like apartment balconies, I found that most apartment buildings do not allow open flame cooking on balconies and rooftops. This presented an opportunity to look at how an electric grill could be designed to create the perfect outdoor cooking experience in any size space.
After conducting research from customer reviews, a competitive landscape analysis, and a user survey, I focused on one major question:
How can we design a compact and easy-to-use electric grill that will combine the desired effects of flame grilling with the safety and environmental benefits of an electric grill?
Problem patterns and themes:
- portability
- stability
- quality of cook
- heating control
- supporting food prep experience
In ideation, I began exploring how modular surfaces can enable space efficiency and multiple use cases. With a limited amount of outdoor space comes a need to maximize the square footage available. I explored how the grill could be used as storage and secondary surface space when not in use, while creating a seamless workflow and efficient grilling experience.
Prototyping
First grill prototype
Handle pulls out to create a shelf
Surface on top of lid becomes a prep surface
Removable grate for easy cleaning
Removable drip tray
Final Design
