Research and product design to minimize food waste in western domestic kitchens

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2010

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Bekteş, Ahmet

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The aim of this thesis is to explore design directions to minimize a food wastage problem in western domestic kitchens. Central to the thesis is an understanding of people’s behavior towards the food waste phenomenon. Three interconnected studies and one design project are included. In Study I, 18 participants were interviewed to explore their perceptions and attitudes towards food waste, revealing the most wasted food types and reasons for food wastage. The findings of Study I are clustered under four phases of food handling: acquisition, preparation, consumption and storage. Study II comprised a generative session with three users and two designers, devised to explore latent and tacit knowledge regarding food wastage. Study II resulted in user-generated ideas for minimizing food waste, which were analyzed so as to reveal possible design directions. From these results, a set of criteria for a ‘perfect’ kitchen appliance, which could minimize food waste, was drawn-up. The design project took the research findings of Study I and II and devised a collection of design concepts as possible ways to help reduce domestic food waste. Two concepts – Philips Dispense and Canvas - are taken further because they relate to the most wasted food types: ‘bread’ and ‘vegetables and fruits’. In Study III, Philips Dispense and Canvas were evaluated with a questionnaire. According to the results, in households containing busy couples without children, Philips Dispense is valued highest (it takes the food waste responsibility away from users) whereas Philips Canvas was valued lower (it gives feedback on current stocks and persuades homeowners not to waste food).

Subject Keywords

Household appliances., Industrial design.

URI

http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12612597/index.pdf
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/20282

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis

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Citation Formats

A. Bekteş, “Research and product design to minimize food waste in western domestic kitchens,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2010.