At the age of 6, my older sister and I were in charge of cleaning the dishes and sweeping the kitchen after making dinner together for ourselves on nights my mom went to college to better her education.
This early memory of mine is what sparked the idea of Kitchen Tales and its core mechanics as an app.
Competition
During a literature review on children in the kitchen, I observed a range of cooking and baking products for kids. Illustrated recipe guides stood out, especially from Raddish Kids and Baketivity. Both offer monthly subscription boxes with child-friendly recipes and utensils. Raddish Kids also includes a companion app with digital guides.
Unique Value
In the early stages, the app was envisioned as a tool for parents to quickly capture fun kitchen moments with their children—an idea rooted in my own childhood experience of having few photos despite many cooking memories. The few I did have were found in my mom’s camera roll and Facebook posts.
When I shared this concept with professors and classmates, they questioned whether a photo-only app was enough. This feedback led me to expand the app’s features, adding recipe and messaging functions to better support the parent-child relationship around food. Inspired by my own experiences, the solution encourages children to cook independently while giving parents a sense of connection and oversight through messaging and notifications.
Kitchen Tales
Empowers children in the kitchen while equipping parents with timely insights into their child’s culinary journey.
User Research
267 Survey Responses were Collected
52% of responses agreed with this statement: "I learned to cook the most from my mom"
5 interviews were Conducted
"My father emphasized the importance of family dinners."
"Eggs and rice are the first hot foods I taught my daughter."
Design Fiction
This design fiction depicts how I imagine Kitchen Tales being used for a boy and a working single mom.
Prototype Build
Learning is a Journey
Credits:
Created with images by M.studio - "berry fruit" • M.studio - "berry fruit" • Markus Mainka - "Food background fruits collection apples berries banner kiwi oranges fruit" • M.studio - "berry fruit"