Using Co-Design to Explore New Trends in Future Kitchen Designs: An Exploratory Workshop Study of College Students in China

The current COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the challenges facing human society. The public is increasingly concerned about the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. To enhance human health and well-being, user expectations for the future need to be understood. The kitchen, a central area of a home, is closely related to healthy living. In this study, a series of seven exploratory workshops were held at a Chinese university using co-design to understand the expectations and thinking of Chinese college students about the future of kitchen design in terms of health and well-being. A methodological innovation was introduced in co-design workshops, where participants were asked to imagine, discuss, and sketch concepts together to stimulate creative design. A six-dimensional tentative model of future kitchen expectations, including 34 sub-themes, was constructed based on the data analysis to explore the expected characteristics of kitchens. These dimensions include intelligent technologies and interaction experiences, health and well-being, inclusivity and extensibility, ecosystem circulation and sustainability, emotional and meaningful experience, and spatial planning and aesthetic experience. The resulting model provides valuable insights into the expectations of future users, providing direction and systematic strategies for future kitchens along the six-dimensional characteristics. Future kitchens, if the younger generation is to adopt them, need to positively affect users’ lives and meet their health and well-being standards.