The assumption that children prefer food presentations that match adult preferences appears to be unjustified. Future research and interventions that are designed to improve childhood nutrition should test for the impact of diverse presentations on actual food consumption among a variety of populations across institutional settings.

Is there a need for a set of methods within Design Thinking tailored specifically for the Food Design process? Is there a need for a branch of Design Thinking dedicated to Food Design alone? Chefs are not generally trained in Design or Design Thinking, and we are only just beginning to understand how they ideate and what recourses are available to them. Given the sheer variety of eating situations, and the complexity of the factors influencing them, a design method that specifically stimulates thinking about Food Design would be very useful. I introduce TED (Themes for Eating Design, a design method developed to generate themes on the ideal eating situation, which summarizes the themes it has generated in previous research, and how these themes have been transformed into a tool for the idea generation phase called "Thoughts For Food"). I present an initial test of TED and Thoughts For Food in practice, with groups using them to design an eating experience. Initial results suggest both have promise for designing food or any other aspect of the eating experience and that these methods can form part of a new branch of design theory that I call Food Design Thinking.Keywords: food design thinking, design thinking, creativity.Design Thinking refers to the methodology adopted by designers in various fields. Studying Design Thinking helps build a better understanding of how the most successful designers identify relevant needs and develop products that satisfy them, an understanding which can then be applied by other designers, enabling them to find solutions more efficiently and generate more creative ideas. So far this approach has not been applied to designers in the food industry, an oversight the present study aims to rectify.

Abstract

Food is central to cross-cultural studies of behavior, thought, and symbolism. The way it is presented to people, however, can have a dramatic influence on how palatable it is perceived and what is eaten. Because of this, issues of food plating and presentation are of applied interest to anyone who wishes to influence the perceptions and consumption of prepared food. This includes chefs, marketers, and parents. This study examines two questions: (a) What are these visual preferences of plating, and (b) How do they vary across cultures? To explore these questions, we presented a wide range of meal photos to adults from the United States, Italy, and Japan to assess preferences for various plating arrangements. Across six visual dimensions of food, there was a consistent preference for the number of colors on a plate (three), components on a plate (three to four) and the fill level of a plate; however, there were diverging preferences regarding the preferred position of the featured main course, how the items should be organized, and whether they should be casually presented. We discuss the implications of our findings for cross-cultural researchers as well as those who wish to influence the perceptions and food consumption of others.

Abstract