For my DTC-2 class at Northwestern University, my team and I developed a practical, hygienic solution to a common problem faced by Northwestern students: eating on the go. Through interviews, surveys, and personal experience, we identified core frustrations: students struggle to balance food, bags, and utensils while walking; meals spill easily; and cold or lukewarm food is often the norm. This helped us develop the following design requirements: portability, temperature regulation, spill prevention, odor containment, ease of use with just one hand, collapsibility to enhance storage, easy to clean, and constructed from sustainable materials. We also conducted patent research to ensure our final design concept would not infringe on existing compartmentalized food container designs. Additionally, we conducted competitive market research on existing food container products by analyzing a range to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. We finally iterated through several early concepts before developing and testing our final prototype.

Our final product, the PortaBowl, is a compact, reusable food container made from collapsible, food-safe silicone that expands to hold full meals and folds down for easy storage. It includes three compartments to keep food separated, a secure leak-proof lid that locks in heat and prevents spills, and built-in utensil storage for convenience. Designed to fit easily in a backpack, the PortaBowl is lightweight, hand-washable, and helps keep meals at a desirable temperature for up to an hour—offering a clean, organized, and practical solution for students eating on the go. 

User testing of our final prototype has informed our next steps to refine the PortaBowl’s materials for improved insulation and durability, as well as to explore cheaper manufacturing options. If we had more time, would have planned to improve how users interact with the container, particularly in terms of opening, closing, and accessing food with one hand.