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My Dabba

A New Category in Smart Culinary Design
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About

Research

Design

Concepting

Prototyping

Engineering

Final Design
RKS Design partnered with My Dabba to create a smart, modular food container that keeps meals cold for hours, then reheats them to perfect eating temperature on demand. Inspired by the traditional Indian tiffin, My Dabba combines cultural familiarity with advanced thermal engineering to offer true hot-and-cold functionality—preserving freshness during the day and delivering a warm meal when ready to eat. Through intuitive design, sustainable materials, and seamless usability, it gives users the freedom to enjoy healthy, home-quality food anywhere. Guided by the Psycho-Aesthetics® methodology, RKS balanced emotional appeal with technical precision to deliver a beautifully engineered, self-heating and cooling dining experience.

Redefining mealtime freedom through intelligent, sustainable design.

Client

My Dabba

Markets

Consumer

What We Did

Psycho-Aesthetics®
Ethnographic Research
Innovation Consulting
Industrial Design
UI/UX Design
Product Engineering
Product Development
Close-up of a sleek, modern, circular device with a ribbed surface and a small, oval button labeled doblo on top. The device is gray-blue with smooth, rounded edges and minimalistic design.
Guided by the Psycho-Aesthetics® methodology, RKS explored how emotion, behavior, and culture influence eating habits in modern life. Through ethnographic observation, user interviews, and emotional mapping, the team uncovered a need for simplicity, portability, and control—especially for people seeking balance between health, time, and sustainability. Insights revealed a deeper desire to reclaim mealtime as an intentional moment rather than an afterthought. By translating those emotional needs into functional opportunities, RKS laid the foundation for a product that delivers freedom, trust, and comfort through design, transforming not only how people eat but how they feel about the experience.

Psycho-Aesthetics® & Research

KEY OUTPUTS

Psycho-Aesthetics® emotional mapping
Competitive and persona research
Usability and ergonomics insights
Behavioral analysis of meal habits
How We Used Psycho-Aesthetics™ to Identify Unique Opportunities in the Project.
Using the Psycho-Aesthetics® methodology, RKS uncovered the emotional and behavioral insights driving how people connect with food and routine. Through interviews, observation, and emotional mapping, the team identified key desires for freedom, comfort, and trust—the ability to enjoy a home-cooked meal anywhere without compromise. These findings guided My Dabba’s form, materials, and user experience, balancing warmth and precision. By understanding not just what users needed but why they cared, RKS transformed a utilitarian container into an emotionally resonant product that empowers independence, reduces waste, and restores the comfort of home to meals on the go.
A 2x2 matrix with axes labeled Self-Actualization and Interactivity, showing various devices clustered in the lower-right. A single round black device is highlighted at the top center, labeled Opportunity Zone.
A grid of 16 presentation slides featuring diagrams, flowcharts, photos, text blocks, comparison tables, sticky notes, and images of bags and containers, all illustrating a product design or process workflow.
The industrial design phase refined My Dabba’s form, proportions, and ergonomics into an experience that feels both intuitive and elevated. RKS sought to create a design language that communicates warmth and precision—balancing the tactile simplicity of traditional containers with the technological sophistication of modern devices. Foam models, digital renderings, and ergonomic testing shaped every detail, from the curvature of the bowl to the placement of the interface ring. The result is a form that feels human, balanced, and deliberate—an object that invites use through clarity, proportion, and emotional resonance.

Industrial Design

KEY OUTPUTS

Refined CMF strategy and surface detailing
Ergonomic mockups and validation studies
Interface hierarchy and placement
3D visualization and render package
Close-up of a modern, dark gray electronic device with an illuminated orange power button featuring a power symbol. The design is sleek with smooth curves and textured grip.
A sleek, modern black and silver electronic device with a rounded, bowl-like shape and a small orange indicator light on the front, set against a plain white background.
A person holds a bowl of creamy tomato soup topped with croutons and basil leaves on a white surface.
RKS explored numerous design pathways to harmonize modular performance with emotional appeal. Early sketches and form studies examined how proportions, materials, and stacking logic could express lightness and order. Brainstorming sessions focused on user flow—how the product is filled, carried, charged, and cleaned—to ensure each step felt seamless and intuitive. Through iteration, the team refined My Dabba’s architecture into a system that is as practical as it is poetic, combining the modular simplicity of a tiffin with the refined usability of a connected lifestyle device.

Concept Exploration

KEY OUTPUTS

Form-factor mockups and material studies
Concept refinement and selection matrix
CMF palette development
Concept sketch boards and ideation sets
Hand-drawn concept sketches of a rounded electronic device, showing exploded views and assembly details with yellow and pink highlights, illustrating different components and design angles.
Two people stand in front of a wall covered with photos of ceramic objects, discussing the designs. One points to the images while the other looks at them thoughtfully.
A group of people stand around a long white table with several round, beige objects of varying sizes arranged on it. Two people in the foreground are gesturing toward the objects, while others watch attentively.
Moving from concept to functionality, the RKS team built and tested multiple prototypes to validate thermal performance, durability, and usability. Mechanical and electrical components were integrated into a rapid-prototyped system that emulated final manufacturing intent. Firmware, PCB layouts, and insulation materials were fine-tuned to balance energy efficiency with safety and user satisfaction. Testing under real-world conditions—at desks, in cars, and during commutes—provided insights that informed ergonomic adjustments and thermal optimization. Each prototype iteration brought My Dabba closer to a refined, manufacturable solution ready for daily life.

Prototype Development & Testing

KEY OUTPUTS

Thermal and performance validation
Material and BOM documentation
CAD assemblies and 3D data
Usability test results and feedback
Two images side by side show beige, rounded ceramic bowls on white tables. On the right, one bowl appears to have a metallic interior among the otherwise identical ceramics.
A split image: left shows electronics equipment, circuit boards, and an oscilloscope on a workbench; right shows a metal bowl of white cubed pieces with green wires attached, and a digital meter displaying readings below.
Composite image: Two line graphs of thermocouple temperatures and device telemetry on the left, connected by colored lines to corresponding experimental hardware setups and a heated coil on the right.
Two photos: Left, a matte black round container with its lid partially open on a light surface. Right, a hand holding the closed container outdoors on textured ground.
Two views of a modern, round, white electronic pet water fountain: a side view showing its smooth exterior and a top view displaying a circular lid with a button and water outlet.
Three round, modern electronic devices with metallic and plastic surfaces are placed on a white background. The largest device has a textured lid, while the two smaller devices have smooth, metallic tops, one marked with a caution symbol.
RKS translated design intent into engineering precision, refining materials, assemblies, and performance through rigorous validation. The team optimized My Dabba’s thermal core to keep food cold for up to six hours and heat meals to serving temperature in as little as fifteen minutes. Mechanical tolerances, material durability, and safety compliance were verified through repeated testing and QA cycles. Collaborating with manufacturers, engineers refined DFM/DFA strategies to ensure consistency and reliability across production. This phase proved not only the product’s technical viability but also its emotional promise—reliability, trust, and comfort, achieved through thoughtful engineering.

Engineering & Validation

KEY OUTPUTS

Verified heating (≤15 min) and cooling (6 hr) data
Alpha and Beta prototype validation
DFM/DFA and QA documentation
Material and safety testing
A test methods summary for tofu, pasta, and pizza samples, showing heating and cooling performance test descriptions, expected temperature changes, a results table comparing methods, and line graphs displaying temperature over time for each food.
Three technical drawings showing exploded and assembled views of a round container with a lid and mesh insert, featuring detailed part lists, dimensions, material notes, and assembly instructions.
A flowchart shows how to operate a device with modes: Warm, Hot, Extra Hot, and Standby. It details steps to turn on/off, activate each mode, pairing Bluetooth, and wireless charging, with arrows connecting each action.
Three identical round, white smart speakers with dark tops are shown side by side. Each has a different colored LED light at the base: blue (left), yellow (center), and red (right), all against a light grey background.
The final My Dabba embodies the harmony of emotional design and technical mastery. Its compact, dishwasher-safe form conceals a sophisticated thermal system, app connectivity, and USB-C charging for modern flexibility. Every tactile surface, from its soft-touch lid to its stainless-steel bowl, was engineered for both beauty and durability. Designed to last, My Dabba enables users to eat on their own terms—sustainably, conveniently, and with a sense of ritual. The result is more than a smart food container—it’s a portable expression of comfort, autonomy, and everyday innovation.

Final Design

KEY OUTPUTS

Production-ready Beta prototype
Verified usability and performance data
Final CMF, branding, and packaging
Integrated charging and connectivity features
A sleek, round, green container with a ridged, slightly recessed lid featuring a small oval opening and a central label that reads dotdot. The design is modern and minimalistic.
A man in a yellow hoodie sits at a table, resting his chin on his hands, and looks at a round, modern device placed in front of him. The background is plain and softly lit.
A woman with curly hair and bracelets leans on a kitchen counter, smiling thoughtfully. In front of her is a modern, red, round electronic device with a lid, possibly a kitchen gadget, in a bright, contemporary kitchen.

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