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Divide Equally prototpes of dish and board

DBA Inclusive Design Challenge 2009

Divide Equally / Rodd

A series of tools for preparing, serving and storing the correct amounts of food that provide simple ways to encourage people to eat the right amount without the need for scales or measures. Divide Equally educates and enables people to take more control over their health and nutritional well-being through better portion control.

Background
Over the last 50 years, we are doing less but eating more. Nearly one in four adults and almost one in three children in the UK are now overweight or clinically obese. Portion sizes have increased dramatically - an average plate of pasta is five times larger than in 1980; bagels and burgers have doubled in size and some biscuits have grown by 300 per cent. User research sparked ideas on how portion control could be tackled through the design of simple household objects.

How it works
The team designed a series of preparation aids to get people to eat the right amount:

Measuring aids

  • Chopping board with high-contrast rings to indicate the correct portion size with further text information on the back.
  • A 'one cup' marking system for any container to eliminate inaccuracy and uncertainty about a correct cup measure.
  • A simple plastic measuring cone for different food types that lies flat for storage and can be incorporated into packaging or supermarket recipe cards.

Serving and storage aids

  • A double-walled cup and portioned crockery to provide you with the correct-sized meal.
  • A baking dish system with a notched rim to indicate the correct portion size.
  • A set of portioning tools with pasta, rice and cheese measures.
  • Crockery with lids that allow extra meals to be stored easily.

User input

  • Mothers with large families and older people living alone.
  • Users with dexterity and visual problems.
  • Staff at a children's nursery.
  • Catering staff at a Sanctuary Care home.

What the designer said:
'Truthfully, we considered entering the Challenge as part of our marketing plan. But at the first briefing we connected with the honest-to-goodness multi-disciplinary design approach. Our entries have created significant commercial and press interest - Divide Equally is hopefully on its way to retail in 2010.'
Ben Davies, Rodd

What the judges said
The judges found the team's approach to the key issue of portion control clever and highly imaginative. Their response in the form of a cornucopia of new product ideas - simple, desirable and beautifully realised tools with an iconic brand at the centre - showed how well they understood that portion control could not be addressed by a single gadget alone but required a systemic approach. The projects stands a very good chance of commercial implementation.

Further development, Divide Equally products launched
The first two products have now been revealed from Rodd's house wares brand 'Divide Equally'.

Divide Equally is a range of simple house wares products that help to approximate a healthy portion of food, promote a healthier understanding
of the food we eat and simplify the understanding of GDA (Guideline Daily Amounts).

Divide Equally marks a strategic decision by Rodd, to balance consultancy work with products that are proactively developed and bring to
market with brand partners under licence.

"We are extremely pleased with how Divide Equally has grown from a studio study into a fully fledged retail product range. It builds on everything our clients recognise us [Rodd] for, simple, elegant consumer driven innovation" Ben Davies. Managing Director. Rodd Design Limited

Rodd are exhibiting two products; 'Cone' a simple roll up measuring product and 'Board' a non slip chopping board shaped to approximate the 'volume' of the chopped ingredients at 'Trading Places' at London's, Sackler Centre at the Victoria & Albert Museum. 19 April - 6 May 2010.

Download Divide Equally brochure here (PDF 2.3Mb)