Research

Research metodologies

For our research, we decided to use a Macro to Micro approach based on the Human Centered Design (HCD) principles and methodologies. First we started with a literature research to understand the trend of eating alone in South Korea. Then, we decided to define the scope in university scenario and the students eating habits.

We​ ​gathered​ ​demographic​ ​data​ ​using​ ​open​ ​and​ ​closed​ ​questions​ ​to​ ​trigger​ ​their​ ​feeling regarding​ ​the​ ​last​ ​meal​ ​they​ ​ate​ ​alone.​ ​From​ ​the​ ​wide​ ​open​ ​survey,​ ​we​ ​could​ ​see​ ​some demographic​ ​data​ ​and​ ​reflect​ ​over​ ​some​ ​assumptions​ ​we​ ​had​ ​as​ ​a​ ​team.​ ​The​ ​recruit​ ​was based​ ​mostly​ ​on​ ​UNIST​ ​students​ ​and​ ​the​ ​way​ ​we​ ​spread​ ​the​ ​questionnaire​ ​was​ ​online​ ​to chatting​ ​rooms​ ​and​ ​friends.

We​ ​first​ ​assumed​ ​people​ ​wanted​ ​to​ ​connect,​ ​however,​ ​our​ ​questionnaire​ ​showed​ ​something different:​ ​they​ ​were​ ​looking​ ​for​ ​more​ ​comfort​ ​while​ ​eating​ ​alone​ ​because​ ​they​ ​did​ ​not​ ​care about​ ​its​ ​surroundings​ ​perception.​ ​Thus,​ ​it​ ​required​ ​some​ ​more​ ​personal​ ​approach​ ​with​ ​Diary Studies.

From​ ​questionnaire​ ​and​ ​Diary​ ​Studies​ ​we​ ​could​ ​gather​ ​data​ ​from​ ​where​ ​our​ ​users​ ​eat.​ ​We went​ ​to​ ​those​ ​places​ ​to​ ​observe​ ​without​ ​them​ ​noticing.​ ​We​ ​noticed​ ​trends​ ​towards​ ​their behavior​ ​and​ ​how​ ​cellphones​ ​are​ ​a​ ​part​ ​of​ ​their​ ​eating​ ​habit.​ ​Observing​ ​people​ ​can​ ​be somehow​ ​difficult​ ​and​ ​uncomfortable.​ ​That​ ​was​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​reasons​ ​why​ ​we​ ​decided​ ​not​ ​to​ ​do a​ ​contextual​ ​inquiry.​ ​However,​ ​we​ ​feel​ ​like​ ​a​ ​video​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Eating​ ​Alone​ ​moment​ ​would​ ​be insightful​ ​and​ ​decided​ ​to​ ​“do​ ​it​ ​yourself”.

When​ ​we​ ​did​ ​observation​ ​at​ ​the​ ​convenience​ ​store,​ ​and​ ​cafeteria​ ​in​ ​Unist,​ ​we​ ​need​ ​more detailed​ ​behavior​ ​of​ ​user’s​ ​data.​ ​So,​ ​we​ ​tried​ ​observe​ ​ourselves​ ​eating​ ​alone.​ ​The​ ​trend​ ​we saw​ ​before,​ ​we​ ​could​ ​confirm​ ​with​ ​our​ ​team​ ​member​ ​video.​ ​We​ ​find​ ​the​ ​people’s​ ​habit​ ​that​ ​is common​ ​but​ ​couldn’t​ ​recognize​ ​before​ ​we​ ​observe​ ​the​ ​eating​ ​alone​ ​video.​ ​Most​ ​of​ ​eating alone​ ​users​ ​are​ ​eating​ ​while​ ​they​ ​are​ ​watching​ ​their​ ​phone​ ​for​ ​entertainment.​ ​They​ ​are​ ​not focusing​ ​on​ ​eating​ ​rather​ ​than​ ​they​ ​are​ ​more​ ​focus​ ​on​ ​the​ ​other​ ​problems.

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Research: Literature Review

News articles and media about the 혼밥 (alone eater)

Most of the news report the growing habit of eating alone. For instance, 96% of people in South Korea already experienced the trend. Together with it 55% of 혼밥 (Honbab) feel comfortable doing so. However, there is not that many solutions especificaly made for them. Normally they use other solutions and adapt to their contexts.

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Research: Questionnaire

Questionnaire for the University students (in KR and EN)

Full English Questionnaire

Full Korean Questionnaire

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Research: Observation

UNIST campus and Ulsan University campus

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Research: User Diary

What you ate, with how and how you felt

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Research: Do it yourself

Partial version of "Do It Yourself" video

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Research: User Needs

Defining the Needs

- Not​ ​focus​ ​attention​ ​on​ ​the​ ​user​ ​while​ ​using
- Make​ ​the​ ​eating​ ​experience​ ​more​ ​pleasant​ ​for​ ​people​ ​eating​ ​alone
- Make​ ​users​ ​feel​ ​like​ ​they​ ​are​ ​in​ ​their​ ​own​ ​world
- Be​ ​easy​ ​to​ ​use
- Take​ ​away​ ​frustration​ ​and​ ​other​ ​feelings​ ​while​ ​eating​ ​alone
- Bring​ ​meal​ ​to​ ​first​ ​place​ ​instead​ ​of​ ​second​ ​in​ ​the​ ​eating​ ​experience
- Create​ ​opportunity​ ​to​ ​share​ ​moments
- Customization​ ​(circumstance)
- Be​ ​able​ ​to​ ​adapt​ ​to​ ​persons​ ​routine
- Make​ ​“eating​ ​alone​ ​places”​ ​a​ ​better​ ​environment​ ​to​ ​be​ ​and​ ​not​ ​be​ ​so​ ​judged
- Make​ ​“eating​ ​alone​ ​places”​ ​more​ ​attractive​ ​to​ ​eat​ ​at

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Research: User Needs

Research Outcome

​With​ ​a​ ​macro​ ​to​ ​micro​ ​approach​ ​in our​ ​user​ ​studies​ ​data​ we ​found out:​ ​(1)​ ​meal​ ​is​ ​secondary​ ​in​ ​the​ ​mealtime​ ​unless​ ​the​ ​taste​ ​is​ ​bad;​ ​(2)​ ​people​ ​use​ ​technology to​ ​create​ ​their​ ​own​ ​world​ ​and​ ​feel​ ​comfortable;​ ​and​ ​(3)​ ​eating​ ​alone​ ​is​ ​comfortable​ ​and university​ ​students​ ​don’t​ ​care​ ​about​ ​it,​ ​(4)​ ​however​ ​they​ ​still​ ​have​ ​a​ ​judging​ ​perception towards​ ​others​ ​who​ ​eat​ ​alone.

With​ ​this​ ​data,​ ​we​ ​were​ ​able​ ​to​ ​define​ ​design​ ​needs​ ​that​ ​can​ ​be​ ​achieved​ ​with​ ​the​ ​use​ ​of technology.​ ​Our​ ​team​ ​ideation​ ​is​ ​in​ ​the​ ​process​ ​but​ ​it​ ​is​ ​more​ ​likely​ ​we​ ​will​ ​go​ ​towards​ ​helping the​ ​user​ ​feel​ ​more​ ​comfortable​ ​towards​ ​others​ ​perception​ ​and​ ​give​ ​it​ ​an​ ​opportunity​ ​to​ ​enjoy more​ ​its​ ​own​ ​food.

Main Findings

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Ideation: brainstorm

Brainstorm

The 3 of us decided to sit together with our user needs in hands. Armed with post its we started to split out ideas. We focused in quantity rather than quality for this stage. The later stage can be found on this picture where we started to check feasibility and its relationship with crowd x isolation and ways to make food primary instead of secondary

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Ideation: storyboard

Merge with the Storyboard

Simplified version of what we wanted to accomplish with our application.

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Ideation: key concept and key words

Key words for the project

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Ideation: User Flow

User Flow

After discovering the user flow we determined it would be an application that the user would get in and be able to activate the eating mode. Eating mode would be dedicated to make his eating primary with food being the main focus. As a result, the user would enter the app and be able to check his or hers profile, locations to eat alone nearby and start the eating alone mode. The eating alone mode would work with a flow of content based in different categories of interest based on our user research.

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Deliver: lo-fi

lo-fi design

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Deliver: 1st evaluation

Evaluation of the lo-fi

During the evaluation we were able to discover that our product ran away from the main characteristics we proposed. It was making the food even more secondary and just being an aggregator of content. We decided to take a step back and minimize even more the user behavior while redesigning the app from scratch. From the lo fi, we selected a few categories that would make eating more relaxing and focused.

From it, we decided to cut all the interactions which could be done while eating and focus only on things you can do with your phone without looking at the screen. The remaining categories became: nutrition, news and relaxing environmental sounds.

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Deliver: hi-fi

Hi-Fi Design

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Deliver: Prototype & Final design

Full working Prototype

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