Design flaws in everyday things: Ninja Air Fryer

Air fryers have become an essential appliance in most kitchens. One of the most versatile kitchen appliances made, it can cook a steak just as well as it bakes bread. I’ve found one easily fixable design flaw in my air fryer.

Machine: Ninja Air fryer

Ninja Air Fryer — the most used appliance in my kitchen

(I suspect what I will be writing about includes most air fryers, but this is the one I use.)

Task Analysis

• The user takes out the fryer tray.
• The user places the ‘to-be-cooked’ ingredient inside the tray.
• The user slides the tray into the air fryer
• The user selects a temperature manually or by choosing a preset cook mode.
• The user specifies the duration of cooking.
• The user hears the alert letting them know that the cooking time has elapsed.
• The user takes out the tray.
• The user removes the food into a serving bowl/plate. The user could do the task in the following ways:

1. The user uses a tong.
2. The user uses a serving spoon.
3. The user uses a spatula to pour the contents out by tilting the tray towards the serving bowl/plate.

Problem

The Ninja Air fryer comes with a removable non-stick crisper plate inside the air fryer basket. In the case where the user tilts the basket to pour the contents (e.g., fries) out of the basket, then the hot plate can slide out and burn the hand of the user or lead to the contents falling outside the serving bowl/plate.

Let's break down the problem in the following way:

What use errors might users make on each task?

The user may tilt the bowl at a steep angle leading to the plate falling out.

The plate falling out like this while tilting the basket can be a major risk

What circumstances might cause users to make use errors on each task?

1. If the user is in a hurry to serve the food, they will prefer to pour it out.