research plan (in more detail)

User Context Research


Here are the meal-user recruits I have so far:

1. (friend) Matt lives in the dorms at IIT but goes home every weekend. He doesn't have a meal plan, and prepares a lot of meals himself but does not have a kitchen. He shares an under-counter fridge AND a snack fridge with his roomate, who is in similar situation as Matt (except he's on a meal plan).

2. (friend) Mike lives in the dorms at IIT and never goes home during the school year. He has a kitchen in his room and prepares many meals for himself and has a partial meal plan. He has two under-counter fridges.

3. (brother) Nick lives in a small apartment in Germany where he goes to school. He has a kitchen and a single compact fridge, and cooks most of his meals for himself. He loves to cook meals for himself and others.

4. (classmate) Kurt lives in the dorms at IIT. He loves to cook and has two compact fridges. Since he doesn't have access to a kitchen in his building, he often walks over to the other dorms to use their kitchen.


User Research Methods

Contextual Inquiry
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I plan on asking these people questions while we look at the contents of their fridges and other objects in their room. I'd like to see demonstrations of how people use their fridge and other tools for meal preparation.

Photo Documentary
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Even though these people would (at least at first) be happy to answer any questions I have, I want to try and take up as little of their time as I possible. However, getting lots of photos of their fridges shouldn't take too much time. By looking at pictures of the state of their fridges and kitchen areas over time, I can start to draw insights and selectively ask questions as needed.



Discussion Guide (1st Draft)

Each set of questions is preceeding by some comments where I've tried to capture the motivation behind the questions.


// what are purchase drivers? What were the intended uses? How do intended use and actual use differ?

Why did you buy this model ?
Was brand name important? Performance? Features? Appearance?

// general questions to get a feel of the user's situation

How do you use your fridge on a typical day?
What is the biggest challenge you face with organization?

// What are the different fridge contents, tasks and tools?
// In general... What's bad: what are the problems, workarounds, unmet needs, ideas for improvement? What's good?

Walk me through:

- making a meal
- making a snack
- organizing fridge contents
- stocking your fridge (and shopping)

How well does this (workaround) work for you?


// Test and probe specific behaviors and objects you've identified, e.g. lifetime, frequency, stackability, compactability; internal organization hypotheses

What kinds of items do you typically keep in the fridge?
How do your fridge contents change from day to day?
Do you stack items a lot? Ever think about investing in tupperware containers?
Do you forget about items often? Do you throw out a lot of food that goes bad?
Do you always keep these items over there? Which stuff do you use the most? The least?
How often do you rearrange items? How often to you adjust the shelves? Reconfigure interior?
How often do you cook meals? In what contexts?


// critique current features

What's good about this feature? What's bad?

- can storage
- door configuration
- shelves
- chiller
- crisper
- exterior (door, top, dimensions, level legs)

What features do you wish this model had?


// planning and strategies, or lack thereof

Is their a method to the way you organize contents?
Is their a method to the way you plan shopping lists?
Is their a method to the way you plan meals?
How often do you organize contents, plan shopping lists and meals?


// identify other kitchen tools

What other kitchen appliances do you use?
What other tools do you use for preparing meals?
What are the most essential tools you use?

// what's missing from your kitchen?

What other resources do you wish you had? A stove? More space? More time?
What would your ideal kitchen consist of? What are the essentials?

// how does preparing meals and organizing food fit into your daily life

Do you like making meals?
Is preparing meals fun or a chore? Why?
What's the most important object in your kitchen? In your room?

Business Context Research

My plans for context research feel relatively underdeveloped, but here are some areas I want to investigate further:


+ How do compact fridge manufacturers in the low-price range compete ? (they don't seem to be competing on price and features)

+ leasing and other business models for small fridges and other appliances

+ kitchen organization products ( tupperware, what else?)

+ small kitchen appliances / college kitchen appliances (what's new? what's popular?)

+ What are the full-size fridge innovations? Can these features be inherited or adapted to compacts?

+ think about other systems for organizing stuff (???)