TREAT
October 2015
COLLABORATORS
Rebecca Johnson Yeri Kim Hui Xuan Xie TOOLS USED Ethnographic Research Parallel Observation Design Thinking Adobe Illustrator FINAL FORM Pitch presentation App and website mock-ups Slide deck |
PROJECT SUMMARY
My project team set out to explore ways to improve the eating experience for night school students at Carey Business School. We found that disruptions to one's food routines altered the psychosocial and functional importance of eating, negatively impacting the students' quality of life. We employed passive and active research methods, including passive observation, parallel observation at a fire station, an online survey, a graffiti grab wall, and in-depth interviews. Our findings indicated a lack of delight or joy associated with eating at school. Food had become purely functional, with no psychosocial benefits to speak of. To counter this, we proposed a concept called TREAT. |
Contextualization of Problem Space
We chose to pursue a frustration that we had all experienced and could reasonably expect to be shared by many other students: food. Part of leaving the workforce to become a student again means experiencing an upheaval in your food routines. Eating suddenly requires significantly more thought and planning. When will I have time to eat? Is it okay for me to eat this here? I had planned to eat at home but I’m too hungry to wait--what can I get here to tide me over? Because eating holds both functional and psychosocial importance, breakdown in the eating experience can take a heavy toll on quality of life. Our working hypothesis was that current offerings for students were not delivering a food experience that fulfilled their needs.
We narrowed the focus of our research based on a group discussion about how to best conduct research and data synthesis that were feasible within the three week project scope. We decided to only look at food choices at Carey Business School, at both the DC and Harbor East campuses, and to target the students who we perceived to struggle most with food decisions: night school students. Night school students, whether they are currently employed or not, face unique challenges due to the timing of their classes- 6 to 9 PM, spanning what most would consider normal dinner hour. We decided not to further filter out this population based on cultural background, gender, or age as we did not expect that those differences would significantly impact the students’ food needs.
Research Methods
We employed both active and passive need-finding research methods. To confirm our hypothesis and begin to gain a better understanding of the eating landscape, we spent the first week of the project collecting passive observational data. Any time we saw a night school student eating on campus, whether it was before, during, or after class, we recorded that data and inputted it into a collective ELITO spreadsheet. These observations continued through the second week of the project as well.
Another passive method we employed was to gather insights through a white board graffiti grab. For one week, we placed two white board posters up at Carey’s Harbor East campus. The first poster, located next to the 2nd floor vending machine, asked students what they would stock in the vending machine of their dreams. The second poster, located near the microwave and kitchen area, asked students what they would add to the space to improve their food experience. The boards collected 20 and 16 responses respectively and largely reinforced our hypothesis that the offerings on campus were at odds with what students wanted.
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For active methods, based on the information we gathered from initial ELITO observations, we generated questions for in-depth interviews and an online survey. We designed questions that would allow us to dig deeper into the procedural or psychological philosophies that students held about eating at or around school. We organized interview questions with a decision tree; based on their answers, interviewees were asked a divergent set of follow-up questions. The online survey was similarly set up through the logic feature--if the student said this, then they were directed to that.
All survey respondents and interviewees were also asked to expound on any negative experiences they have had with eating and whether the current situation worked for them. We were able to conduct 7 in-depth interviews and collected 40 viable survey responses. This was the brunt of our research.
A second active research method we used was parallel observation. We identified numerous situations where busy individuals were forced to eat in an irregular situation- firefighters, nurses, new mothers, and hospital visitors. Based on time constraints and accessibility, we chose to interview firefighters at the Bromo Seltzer Art District fire station. Interview questions and discussion centered around what they eat, how and when they eat, the culture surrounding eating, and how eating on-duty was different than eating off-duty. Insights gained from their responses and interviewer observations confirmed that firefighters face constraints in their food landscape that are similar to what night school students face, though to a more extreme degree. Their quality of life, both on the job and off, are impacted by how they’ve adjusted to a less than ideal eating situation; therefore, their hacks and routines could be applicable to informing solutions for Carey night school students.
A second active research method we used was parallel observation. We identified numerous situations where busy individuals were forced to eat in an irregular situation- firefighters, nurses, new mothers, and hospital visitors. Based on time constraints and accessibility, we chose to interview firefighters at the Bromo Seltzer Art District fire station. Interview questions and discussion centered around what they eat, how and when they eat, the culture surrounding eating, and how eating on-duty was different than eating off-duty. Insights gained from their responses and interviewer observations confirmed that firefighters face constraints in their food landscape that are similar to what night school students face, though to a more extreme degree. Their quality of life, both on the job and off, are impacted by how they’ve adjusted to a less than ideal eating situation; therefore, their hacks and routines could be applicable to informing solutions for Carey night school students.
Insights/Needs-Finding
In exploring, examining and discussing the results from our active and passive research, the team was able to walk away with three key findings. These findings not only confirmed the hypothesis that current offerings for students were not delivering a food experience that fulfilled their needs, but also formed the foundation for concepting and ideating solutions.
In examining the eating habits of Carey evening students, the research uncovered a behavioral dichotomy between those who eat on campus and those who do not. According to survey results, there are those students (20%) who actively choose to not eat at school. While a good portion do not eat at Carey because they do not believe it to be appropriate etiquette, an almost equal portion cite unsatisfactory offerings as their rationale. When it comes to their opinion on others eating in the classroom, this group of non-eaters are torn.
While eating in class is not right for them, at least over half of the survey respondents do not view others eating in class as totally inappropriate or unreasonable. When asked to elaborate on their feelings about others eating in class, respondents actually thought eating in class was fine unless it was loud or smelly. There are two insights to be drawn here. The first is that current options are dissuading students from eating while at Carey. The second is that although some people will choose to not eat at Carey - for various reasons - there is not a strong belief amongst this cohort that eating in class or at Carey is unacceptable.
The second insight gained from research is that the current eating environment has turned food into purely a functional action and one that is completely disconnected from pleasure and social interaction. While students report eating at Carey, their enjoyment of eating at Carey is low and non-optimal.
This lack of enjoyment is caused by a variety of factors including: unsatisfactory offerings, internal conflict over the inappropriateness of eating, and time constraints. In our passive observations, survey and interviews, students do understand the importance of healthy eating for both their educational and nutritional success, but the vending machines do not empower students to enjoy healthy and delightful food choices. Students report having a preconceived idea of what they’ll find in a vending machine and the offerings and the experience of even using a vending machine is disappointing. This situation leads to either unhealthy choices that students scarf down or to students forgoing eating until they are home at 9:30 and later.
The third and final insight surrounds what students are currently eating and what they would potentially want to see out of a Carey food experience. Many of our recorded passive observations had students snacking on healthy food options mostly brought from home (e.g. veggie sticks, fruit, yogurt) and some bought from the vending machine (e.g. nuts and chips). Other items brought with students included protein shakes, packed sandwiches, salads from external vendors (e.g. Chop’d, Sweetgreen, Whole Foods, etc.) and to-go bags from local food establishments.
When asked what food if any they’d like to have available to them on campus, students requests centered around simple, healthy and convenient food options. Healthier options in the vending machine was a common comments as was the want for there to be access to sandwiches, yogurt, salads, soups, sushi, non-sugary beverages and hot meal items. It appears based on our observations and recorded student preferences that student eating behaviors correspond with the food items they wish existed on campus. There is both a need and a demand for healthy, nutritious and excitement-generating food options.
In examining the eating habits of Carey evening students, the research uncovered a behavioral dichotomy between those who eat on campus and those who do not. According to survey results, there are those students (20%) who actively choose to not eat at school. While a good portion do not eat at Carey because they do not believe it to be appropriate etiquette, an almost equal portion cite unsatisfactory offerings as their rationale. When it comes to their opinion on others eating in the classroom, this group of non-eaters are torn.
While eating in class is not right for them, at least over half of the survey respondents do not view others eating in class as totally inappropriate or unreasonable. When asked to elaborate on their feelings about others eating in class, respondents actually thought eating in class was fine unless it was loud or smelly. There are two insights to be drawn here. The first is that current options are dissuading students from eating while at Carey. The second is that although some people will choose to not eat at Carey - for various reasons - there is not a strong belief amongst this cohort that eating in class or at Carey is unacceptable.
The second insight gained from research is that the current eating environment has turned food into purely a functional action and one that is completely disconnected from pleasure and social interaction. While students report eating at Carey, their enjoyment of eating at Carey is low and non-optimal.
This lack of enjoyment is caused by a variety of factors including: unsatisfactory offerings, internal conflict over the inappropriateness of eating, and time constraints. In our passive observations, survey and interviews, students do understand the importance of healthy eating for both their educational and nutritional success, but the vending machines do not empower students to enjoy healthy and delightful food choices. Students report having a preconceived idea of what they’ll find in a vending machine and the offerings and the experience of even using a vending machine is disappointing. This situation leads to either unhealthy choices that students scarf down or to students forgoing eating until they are home at 9:30 and later.
The third and final insight surrounds what students are currently eating and what they would potentially want to see out of a Carey food experience. Many of our recorded passive observations had students snacking on healthy food options mostly brought from home (e.g. veggie sticks, fruit, yogurt) and some bought from the vending machine (e.g. nuts and chips). Other items brought with students included protein shakes, packed sandwiches, salads from external vendors (e.g. Chop’d, Sweetgreen, Whole Foods, etc.) and to-go bags from local food establishments.
When asked what food if any they’d like to have available to them on campus, students requests centered around simple, healthy and convenient food options. Healthier options in the vending machine was a common comments as was the want for there to be access to sandwiches, yogurt, salads, soups, sushi, non-sugary beverages and hot meal items. It appears based on our observations and recorded student preferences that student eating behaviors correspond with the food items they wish existed on campus. There is both a need and a demand for healthy, nutritious and excitement-generating food options.
Concept
Sitting down to a meal serves at a touchstone in our days: meals physically ground us, provide consistent moments of respite from other activities, and often reinforce our social connections. Our concept is derived from the insight that the constraints around eating at school reduces the food experience to one that is just functional--asocial and rushed. From observations and comments from our interviews, we patched together that the ideal eating situation is generally one where there is good company and enough time to enjoy the creation and consumption of a satisfying meal. With the understanding that not everyone wants this ideal meal during class time, we instead created an eating delivery system that incorporated some of the same joys of that ideal meal into the spaces before and after eating in class.
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Based on the idea of a care package, Treat is a mobile app, paired with a physical snack stand in the Carey Business School Buildings, that allows the friends and family of Carey students who cannot join them to eat and chat during class to instead send food and a message. Though the social connection is transformed and in small form compared to sitting with another person at a face-to-face meal, the connection is a great enough reminder for students to pause on the happiness of building relationships and to rewire their focus on enjoying what they eat--even during class. The social moments in Treat are built to frame the window of time a student spends in class: students can imagine the time and care their treat-sender spent picking out the food and writing the message they received and then can pick up this social connection by calling/texting/emailing afterwards.
An added benefit of this app is that the food options offered do not have to be constrained to the limited real estate and functions of a vending machine. Students’ desire for healthier and a wider variety of food options came up throughout our research, and our vision of food options spans from healthy to real treats and from snacks to full, easy-to-eat meals. Revolving holiday and seasonal options would add to the appeal for excitement and variety in what is available to eat at school.
In a typical Treat-sender’s journey, the friend or family member would log into the app, choose from food options or even holiday/birthday/event food packages, select a Carey student recipient, and add a typed or handwritten message. Other options would include the ability to send an item anonymously (just for fun and for those who want to be a good-will, pay-it-forward Treat-giver), elect to send a Treat at a later date (for anticipated birthdays, events, etc.), and sign up on a subscription basis.
In a typical Treat-sender’s journey, the friend or family member would log into the app, choose from food options or even holiday/birthday/event food packages, select a Carey student recipient, and add a typed or handwritten message. Other options would include the ability to send an item anonymously (just for fun and for those who want to be a good-will, pay-it-forward Treat-giver), elect to send a Treat at a later date (for anticipated birthdays, events, etc.), and sign up on a subscription basis.
We decided to not directly address our insight that the social rules around eating in classes are ambiguous to student. Our surveys showed that, if anything, the social element of eating in class is most often anxiety or guilt-producing rather than positive. There is a lot of concern around when and what is appropriate to eat, what might disturb others, and a general awareness of judgment. But as we wrapped up this concept, we realized that the potential joy and excitement around this app could disrupt the ambiguity and inherently make eating in class acceptable.
Challenges/Learnings
The main learning that I will always cherish from this project was the realization that you can gain access to anyone and any location for interviews if you have the confidence to ask. I was initially hesitant about asking to conduct parallel observation at the fire station, but the firefighters welcomed me in and opened up fairly quickly after I explained that I was a student researcher. I hope to always be armed with that confidence long after my student ID badge has expired.
In terms of teamwork, the main challenge of this project was finding ways for every member to contribute during each phase. This was particularly challenging because we never reached the prototyping and testing phase, which would have been the forte of some. If we had been able to push the project further and actually put the concept in front of users, these members would have been able to put their strengths to use and we all would have felt more satisfaction and closure.
In terms of teamwork, the main challenge of this project was finding ways for every member to contribute during each phase. This was particularly challenging because we never reached the prototyping and testing phase, which would have been the forte of some. If we had been able to push the project further and actually put the concept in front of users, these members would have been able to put their strengths to use and we all would have felt more satisfaction and closure.