food stuff

I've talked with some group (ii) users, i.e. people who prepare most of their meals themselves and use a compact in place of a full size refrigerator,.  Several important attributes of items stored in the fridge emerged from these discussions, as well as from reflecting on my own experiences.  Here they are, along with some related hypotheses.


(1)  lifetime   -  How long before this item goes bad?

long <--------------------------------------------------> short
condiments                   bacon              fruit

+  short-lifetime foods are often forgoten about and expire when they are stored in less visible spots (e.g. drawers,behind other items)
+  people often store short-lifetime foods in more visible spots (e.g. upper door bins, front of shelves) to avoid the above situation
+  long-lifetime foods are often stored in less visible spots


(2)   frequency of use   -  Is this item accessed everyday or every month? Is it continuously going in and out of the fridge or does it tend to stay put?

frequent <-----------------------------------> infrequent
O.J.         deli meats      worcester sauce 

+ frequent-use items are typically stored where they are easily accesible (e.g. upper door bins, front of shelves)
+ infrequent-use items are often stored in less accessible places (e.g. behind other items)
+ vegetable crispers are often used to stored infrequent-use items, rather than storing the short-lifetime items they were intended for


(3) presence   -   Is this type of item usually in the fridge or is it something uncommon or unexepected to the fridge?

strong <-------------------------------------> weak
milk, condiments      grapes      leftover Chinese

+  strongly-present items tend to have established spots in the fridge
+  rearrangement is often necessary to make room for weakly-present items
+  new items move in to replace the spaces left by items that have been used up


Here some early ideas for design criteria for spaces:

+  must have quick and easy access spaces for frequent-use items
+  must have visible spaces for short-lifetime items
+  should have long term storage space for long-lifetime-infrequent-use items (given that quick access / visible space is limited)
+  might have reserved spaces for strongly-present items

Some other attributes of items were related to the size, shape and other physical properties of iitems.  These were:

 stackability  -  Does its shape, strength and weight lend itself to be stacked on top of other items? Underneath other items?

 flexibility/compactability  -  Can it bend and compress to fit in a variety of spots in the fridge or is it rigid?

independence  -  Is this a stand-alone item or does it require or are there benefits from placement in a container?

I don't think I understand these last 3 so well, yet.  I have to start thinking about packaging and auxiliary containers for storage (e.g. tuperware, plastics bags).   => More research.

Bonus Thoughts: It might be also be helpful to further break down some of the attributes.  For example, we could break natural-lifetime down into out-of-fridge natural-lifetime and in-fridge natural-lifetime, which can both be further broken down into unopened natural-lifetime and opened natural-lifetime.


Bonus Meta-Thoughts:  Several times, I've reminded myself that description and explanation are not the primary purpose of design.  Description and explanation are useful to the extent that it provides insight into what should be created.  Too much of an emphasis on  description and explanation, and we are entering scientific domains of inquiry.  So, as Lucas suggested, I'm trying to edit myself down to the 4-5  things I think are most important with respect to design, rather than aiming for comprehensive explanation and description of some specific phenomenon.  Through my training in mathematics I've developed a habit of formality and rigor that tends to emerge when working in areas other than math and science.  Clearly, formality and rigor can be powerful in many areas other than math and science, but only when applied appropriately.  Hopefully as the course progresses, I'll become better at avoiding getting locked down in mathematical and scientific modes of thought, and I will improve my judgement as to what is important with respect to design.