How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategies

Designers hope that their innovations will be adopted by the people they are designed for. How well their designs align with consumers’ cultural contexts is a key determinant of whether they are accepted or rejected. This is especially important for food solutions, as eating habits are deeply rooted...

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Main Author: Hendrik N. J. Schifferstein
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Intellect 2023-07-01
Series:International Journal of Food Design
Subjects:
Online Access:https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/ijfd_00061_1
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author Hendrik N. J. Schifferstein
author_facet Hendrik N. J. Schifferstein
author_sort Hendrik N. J. Schifferstein
collection DOAJ
description Designers hope that their innovations will be adopted by the people they are designed for. How well their designs align with consumers’ cultural contexts is a key determinant of whether they are accepted or rejected. This is especially important for food solutions, as eating habits are deeply rooted in local cultures. However, academic disciplines from the humanities and social sciences that study food culture not always provide the knowledge, methods and tools that food designers need. Whereas these disciplines mainly investigate the past and present, designers look to the future to create new possibilities. In addition, designers often look for concrete, physical touchpoints they can use, whereas the other disciplines may look for sources of underlying meaning and, thereby, may generate conclusions that remain rather generic or abstract. In this article we discuss how culture and cultural context can be understood and utilized by designers. We describe models and tools designers can use to gain sociocultural insights, and we describe different strategies designers can employ to build on such knowledge in their design process. We conclude with suggestions to close the gaps between designers, design researchers and the other disciplines that study food culture.
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spelling doaj.art-c40bb7aa5982458080335de2e3ab850a2024-03-07T10:01:33ZengIntellectInternational Journal of Food Design2056-65222056-65302023-07-0191739910.1386/ijfd_00061_1http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/ijfd/9/1How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategiesHendrik N. J. Schifferstein0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3424-7138ISNI: 0000000120974740 Delft University of TechnologyDesigners hope that their innovations will be adopted by the people they are designed for. How well their designs align with consumers’ cultural contexts is a key determinant of whether they are accepted or rejected. This is especially important for food solutions, as eating habits are deeply rooted in local cultures. However, academic disciplines from the humanities and social sciences that study food culture not always provide the knowledge, methods and tools that food designers need. Whereas these disciplines mainly investigate the past and present, designers look to the future to create new possibilities. In addition, designers often look for concrete, physical touchpoints they can use, whereas the other disciplines may look for sources of underlying meaning and, thereby, may generate conclusions that remain rather generic or abstract. In this article we discuss how culture and cultural context can be understood and utilized by designers. We describe models and tools designers can use to gain sociocultural insights, and we describe different strategies designers can employ to build on such knowledge in their design process. We conclude with suggestions to close the gaps between designers, design researchers and the other disciplines that study food culture.https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/ijfd_00061_1identityeating experienceinnovationfood historyculture-sensitive designcultural heritage
spellingShingle Hendrik N. J. Schifferstein
How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategies
International Journal of Food Design
identity
eating experience
innovation
food history
culture-sensitive design
cultural heritage
title How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategies
title_full How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategies
title_fullStr How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategies
title_full_unstemmed How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategies
title_short How to include the sociocultural context in food design: Insights, tools and strategies
title_sort how to include the sociocultural context in food design insights tools and strategies
topic identity
eating experience
innovation
food history
culture-sensitive design
cultural heritage
url https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/ijfd_00061_1
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