October 2007 Archives
The 'user' is the centre figure for user experience designers. Tradition, a sense of place and simplicity are the 'leitmotives' of great meals and diners. How they play a crucial role for food addicts is the topic of this magazine.
Mark Hurst (Good Experience) refers to an article which suggests that the experience of drinking wine is determined less by the wine itself and more by the consumer's own expectations for the wine. Another article suggests that "the apparent origin of (a) wine affects the perception of a restaurant's food and even the probability that the customer will return."
Some time ago, Robert Brown wrote a comprehensive study on cheese. This ebook (made available in the Gutenberg project) describes from almost any perspective possible the experience of making, smelling and eating cheese. For cheese lovers.
Nathan Shedroff has been one of the very first identifying similarities between webdesign and gastronomy. Nathan is a thought leader in the field of Experience Design and a long time new media guru. From a culinary point of view, he connected the dots of the various design disciplines.
How to communicate food, cooking and recipes with online videos, just have a look at the Food Network Video Guide.
Food stylists and food photographers help us get appetite browsing through illustrated cookbooks. Looking at sites regularly does not urge me to browse further. How do they do it? Foodesigns provides some inspiration. The Tweezer Times is their "e-zine that covers timely and informative news about the world of food photography. It includes articles on food styling techniques, profiles featuring professional stylists and shooters, and reviews of tools and equipment. Content provided by recognized professionals in the business of food photography." - Visual design in optima forma.
Virpi Roto (Sr. Research Scientist Mobile HCI at Nokia) stated in this paper 
that "(...) we can talk about user experience whenever there is interaction with a product. A cake does provide user experience, because I can interact with it: I touch the cake and feel how soft it is, and bitting that cake gives delicious taste as 'feedback'. That's how I interact with the cake." - So, food and UX do have things in common.
Styling seems crucial for food presentation. How to present, shape and form food, meals and dishes determines how our senses process what's in front of us. The Japanese kitchen is the theatre for this type of art. Garr Reynold's knows the best how this works.
