Grana
Grana is an AI-powered grain cooking assistant that ensures perfectly cooked grains every time, eliminating guesswork and manual adjustments.
❓ Problem Statement
💡 How might we help home cooks achieve consistent, high-quality grain cooking results without trial and error?
📌 Problem Background
Many home cooks struggle with cooking grains due to unclear settings, inconsistent results, and grains sticking to the pot. The Instant Pot’s grain cooking performance is often unpredictable, forcing users to rely on guesswork. With competitors integrating AI into smart kitchen appliances, Instant Pot needs to innovate and maintain leadership.
✨ Grana provides an intelligent solution to optimize grain cooking effortlessly.
📊 Research Insights
⚡ User Pain Points
- 70% struggle with selecting the right cooking settings.
- 65% experience inconsistent cooking results.
- 60% face issues with grains sticking and burning.
- 75% want a delayed start feature for better meal planning.
- 60%+ want better control over cooking time and temperature.
📈 Supporting Data
- 70% prefer separate grain settings over a one-size-fits-all approach.
- 60%+ like AI assistance but still want manual control.
- 65% seek simpler interfaces and clearer instructions.
- 50%+ say pot material affects cooking results.
💬 Feedback
- 60%+ want AI-powered cooking with customization.
- 50% struggle with pressure-based cooking methods.
- 55% say included accessories need improvement.
🏗️ Landing on the Solution
✨ Explanation of Solution
Based on user research, Grana was designed to provide:✅ AI-powered grain cooking recommendations for precise water-to-grain ratios and cook times.✅ Step-by-step guided cooking to ensure optimal results.✅ Smart alerts and notifications for soaking, progress tracking, and completion.✅ Personalized cooking profiles to remember user preferences.✅ AI chatbot support for troubleshooting and cooking advice.
🔗 User Flows/Mockups
- 📌 Mockup Visualization
- https://app.banani.co/preview/MUH1ZTObFGUc4fqdG5XA
- 📌 User Flow Visualization
- https://whimsical.com/ai-powered-grain-cooking-connected-user-flow-JehWFPQPbzthLYQ6Kj7KW1
🔮 Future Steps
🎓 What We Learned
- 🛠️ Users value personalization and want the ability to tweak AI recommendations over time.
- 💧 Real-time cooking adjustments, such as adding water mid-cycle, significantly improve results.
- 🎙️ A dedicated voice command feature could enhance hands-free interaction.
🔜 Possible Additional Features
- 🍚 Expansion to more grain types (e.g., farro, bulgur).
- 🥗 Smart meal planning integration with dietary preferences.
- 💎 Subscription-based premium AI features for advanced cooking insights.
🎬 Final Thoughts
Grana transforms the grain-cooking experience by combining artificial intelligence with user-friendly guidance. By reducing friction in the cooking process, Grana enhances user confidence and ensures perfect grains every time. 🍚✨
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Joshua Ighalo
Building Grana taught me the importance of balancing automation with user control. While AI can enhance the cooking experience, users still want customization. It was a valuable exercise in understanding how technology can simplify daily tasks while still allowing for personal preferences. I also gained insights into how user research and iterative feedback loops drive product success.
Designer Learnings:
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
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As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
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As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
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Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
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- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
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All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
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I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.