FoodAware - GR1 - Project Proposal & Analysis

GR1 - Project Proposal & Analysis

Who We Are

• Damian Oslebo
• Patrick Hurst
• Yewen Pu
• Wei Zhao

The Problem We're Solving

Central Problem Statement:  Addressing diet restrictions in the restaurant environment.   This issue is compounded by language barriers, server level of knowledge with menu, the fact that high risk ingredients are not highlighted in some menus, and the fact that violating a dietary restriction could have disastrous results.

User Analysis

We have divided the user classes into two major categories. Individuals with dietary restrictions who would like to dine in restaurants as one user class.  We tried to avoid subdividing this user class up in order to not alienate a specific class of people that may not have a mainstream dietary restriction.  This class is very broad and the single descriptor for this class is that they have issues eating in the restaurant environment because of the limitations imposed by eating out.  The second user class of users would be those who serve people with dietary restrictions.  We would like to make an application that is also is to use and update for the this class to present its menu options to those with dietary issues.  The major characteristic of this class are that they have menu items that conflict with people who have dietary restrictions.

Interviews and Observations

People with dietary restrictions

1. Sally - Vegetarian

Sally is a 21-year-old undergrad at a prestigious universities in the U.S. All her family are vegetarian. Sally finds that being a vegetarian can be quite challenging especially when she goes to eat out with her friends. Having been a vegetarian for 21 years, she has become “allergic” to many types of meat. Many people do not understand that vegetarians sometimes cannot eat meat, as meat can be quite dangerous to them.

She doesn't like going out to eat out at all, because it can often get very complicated while ordering and eating food. She found out that many restaurant owners/servers have no idea about what a vegetarian is.  She also noticed that many restaurant owners/servers are not aware of different categories of vegetarians. Having had several unpleasant experiences eating at restaurants, she decided to cook herself unless she has to go out to eat for some social events. Plus, many restaurants think that vegetarians only eat salad, so they have got very few options for vegetarians.

Lessons learned:

•  Want to eat safe food without worrying about getting wrong food
•  Want a easier communication process. 
•  Want to see more options on the menu with balanced meal

2. Rishabh - Chicken Vegetarian

Rishabh is a 25 yr old Indian male who come to America for graduate school. He eats at home roughly 30% of the times and eats out 70% of the times. He follows a simple diet of pizza/pasta/ and sometimes Chinese food when he dines out. For dining out, he has a good idea of a "go to" food. When confronted with a new restaurant, he first asks for vegetarian options, if none are present or if they are not good, he resorts to eating chicken. He first had chicken in 2009, when he came to the U.S. and remarked that it is more for practical reasons, but he also remarks that it tastes good. He usually learns new food items by asking friends if they are safe to eat, although he does remark not all friends can be entrusted with this task (ahem Eunsuk). He usually trusts the waiter with their recommendations.

Lessons learned:

• He follows a simple diet and has "to go" foods as defaults at the places he frequents
• Will not go back to a restaurant if they make a mistake in serving him meat
• Is willing to interact with the waiter to ask if meat can be removed from a certain dishes.

3. Suvinir - Vegetarian

Suvinear is a graduate student who come to America recently. He usual eats lunch outside(student center, food truck, chipotele, sabatian, asian and mexican, subway). He remarks that some food can be deceptive as brown beans are often cooked in chicken broth while black beans are often full vegetarian. Although after going to a place repeatedly, the owner become known of his preferences. He usually stick to a particular dish once he is set on them. He needs to ask very specialized questions and follow up questions to interactively select the correct food. On weekend he likes to explore new resturants. However, when he first arrived at U.S. he has trouble because of the language barrier. 

Lessons learned:

• Has difficulties exploring choices when first came to U.S. (wheat bread? honey mustard? what do they mean?)
• Feel many vegetarian options are missed because of the language barrier
• Does not mind a iterative process with the waiter to discuss the right food
• Would like to explore new food items, but frequent places with a "to go" item

4. Katherine - Crohn's

Katherine suffers from Crohn's disease and hypersensitivity, meaning that her dietary restrictions are unusual compared to the more common cases of vegeterians, vegans, etc. She cannot eat uncooked vegetables or fruit or 'stringy protein', and can only eat meals that are low in fiber. As a result, she often has to look at restaurant menus online in advance so that she can find something that she'll be able to eat; this means she can't go out without planning it in advance. Often times at specialty restaurants, such as vegetarian or seafood restaurants, there will be nothing on the menu she can eat.

Lessons learned:

• Dietary preferences are atypical
• Fatigue means that she would rather not have to iterate
• Does not want to have to explain herself every time

People who serve people with dietary restrictions

1. Ian

Ian is a 24 year old male server at Moksa restaurant and Naga nightclub in Central Square, Cambridge.  This is his first work experience as a server in Central Square.  He is a Massachusetts native and has plans to finish college in the Boston area. He was observed under a relatively light table load for the restaurant capacity.  

Lessons learned:

• Uses an IPad to manage night club events, which could be used for other purposes as well.
• Asks upon taking menu orders if any of the patrons have food allergies.
• A Cheat sheet is located at the server station with a compilation of food items with common allergies (i.e. peanut, soy, gluten)
• Sometimes forgets menu choices altogether.

2. Noon

Noon is a 32 year old restaurant partner at Moksa restaurant and Naga nightclub in Central Square, Cambridge.  She is a veteran in the restaurant and service industry with over ten years experience in the United States.  Prior to coming to the United States she was involved in various service related jobs in Singapore and New Zealand.  She designed the cocktail and drink menu at Moksa as the Beverage Director. 

Lessons learned:

• Severity should be asked for as well for instance people with strong allergies to peanuts can have reactions to products prepared with the fryer.
• Not concerned with alienating a percentage of clientele over menu content.  Considers people with diet restrictions a nonevent.
• Overcomes server lack of familiarity with menu through "training, supervision, and communication."
• Sometimes patrons with diet restrictions don't even read the menu, and orders have to be taken away from the table after the food is prepared.

Goals/Needs Analysis

Needs

• A patron with dietary restrictions must be able to identify foods from a restaurant menu.
• The Server and patron must locate an answer quickly in regards to diet restrictions.  If the server cannot answer a question in a quick fashion, the customer may be lost.  If a patron cannot choose from the menu in a quick fashion the patron may default to a restaurant he/she is more comfortable as evidenced by user interviews.

Goals

• Patrons and Server should be able to overcome language barriers and bridge any gaps in language as evidenced by some of those interviewed not being able to fully comprehend all listed items in a typed menu in a restaurant.
• Servers should be able to not only handle and present the static day to day menu options but also be able to handle "daily specials."
• Restaurants should be able to communicate to patron users food options at other restaurants that may be out that user's "comfort zone" despite having a menu that is conducive to the patron's individual restrictions.