Design, Thinking, & Communication

Picky Eater Package

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Appendix E: Team Ethics Plan

Based on consideration of our project and users, our team has prioritized the following primary ethical concerns:

Influence on the minds of young children
User privacy and transparency
Inequitable monetary cost and/or lack of cultural flexibility of product

These concerns were very important due to the intended age range of users. Our project, although benevolent in nature, is intended to alter the thought processes and habits of 3-5 year olds in order to influence behavioral changes. This is a big ethical consideration that must be treated with much care and attention. Such changes can have significant short and long term impacts on impressionable, developing children. Additionally, the product is intended to be useful for any family with a child in the age range. However, it may not be inclusive of families who deviate from the majority. Many families may be unable to eat certain products due to cultural or monetary concerns, or children may be allergic to certain recommended foods. This could be an issue when trying to reach all families, and could even lead to a fatal allergic reaction in the worst case scenario. There is no singular solution for every individual; thus, we must be careful in the way our design is presented. Last of all, we must, of course, respect our users; this includes protecting the users’ privacy, as data may be collected regarding personal aspects such as cultures or allergies to prevent the scenarios above. This also includes any initial data collected (i.e. interviews and surveys) as research. We need to be transparent with our limited data as well as the constraints set by this course’s timeline, so as to be specific about what our product can actually do and cannot do.

In order to respect the ethical concerns, a plan must be made and carried out. Below is a list of the steps that our team has decided are important to follow so as to protect the users based on these concerns.

The Research Phase:

The research phase consists of a few different types of research. This includes secondary research that we have gathered from the internet and the primary research that we intend to conduct through in-person or virtual interviews and observations. We have kept in mind our three ethical concerns when conducting and planning how we have researched and are going to collect information in the following ways.

In The Collection of Secondary Research:

Many statistics found on the internet will be used in the creation of our project. It is important to keep in mind that while these trends and averages are helpful, they are only that; there are many individuals who are not represented by these statistics. It is especially necessary to consider all possibilities; further research will need to be done in regards to more personal stories. We will follow through and investigate specifics with the types of food we recommend. It is important to note that depending on the final product, it may or may not be possible to accommodate exceptions based on these guidelines. In that case, user transparency is absolutely necessary in order to be clear about the limits of our product. In regards to the effects on habits, research will be done into similar products to see what has been effective. Our biggest goal will be to stress the importance of healthy eating and nutrition education, and the foundation must come from reliable and ethical secondary research.

In The Collection Of Information From Interviews and Observations:

When collecting primary research, we must keep in mind that the accounts are all personal opinions; while these are useful, they will not necessarily apply to the larger community—stories and necessities will largely vary from person to person. It will be important to watch the reactions of children without bias, as we may have pre-existing notions about their behavior from personal childhood experiences. This is one of the biggest points of user privacy; information must be kept confidential and we must respect the users’ trust in us by using the information only for the project.

The Design and Mockup Phase:

When designing the project, it will be impossible to include perfect solutions for every ethical concern. The most important part is keeping these concerns in mind and addressing them to the best of our abilities; for instance, being transparent about the lack of inclusiveness to certain cultural or ethnical groups. It will also be important to test these as much as possible. This will allow initial testers to catch additional concerns we may have missed. With the fast pacing of our project, it is highly likely that there will be minor oversights on our parts. The more extensive the testing, the easier it will be to catch these in an early phase.

Discussion Board Responses

In the discussion board, our peers mentioned concerns about the reasoning behind the primary ethical concerns we picked as a team. One of these was how the cost associated with the product and recommended foods is an ethical concern. As the design promotes consumption of healthier food options, it recommends parents and their children to choose certain foods over others. Although it is not intentional, this may cause a degree of burden on some families whose financial situations may not be able to accommodate such choices (e.g. organic produce or seasonal fruits) in place of faster and cheaper alternatives. We must acknowledge that not all of our users have access to the same resources. Regarding the cultural influence, that is largely up to the parents and caretakers. We will do our best to include as many cultures and beliefs as possible, but our product will likely not be able to do this perfectly; it is most important to acknowledge the limits of our product and focus on what we can do well with it.

We also received feedback regarding sources of information. Our team plans on collecting information from the survey we distribute to parents of 3-5 year olds in the Chicagoland area, as this would provide information directly related to our user group. Similar to the economic concern, we plan to stay respectful by recommending food groups and many alternatives, or possibly generalizing more (this will also be easier to understand for young children). Moreover, our design will stress the importance and the mindset behind healthy eating rather than the foods themselves. This will help teach children the foundation for eating in a more healthy way, rather than forcing specific foods that may conflict with familial and/or cultural beliefs.

There was no action-based advice given in the discussion section, but we made sure to discuss the feedback and do our best to incorporate it into our plan.

Appendix F: Limitations and Next Steps

Limitations

Throughout the research in the design process there were a number of limitations that potentially could have had an adverse effect on our final product. They are acknowledged in this section.

Food safety

The current prototype is not food safe. Initially, vinyl was selected as the material for the themed plate because it was recommended by the shop specialist as the easiest way to adhere customizable designs. However, the vinyl used was not food grade and may be toxic to ingest. It should under no circumstances be eaten off of. The final product must be food safe to be effective in its purpose.

Limitation of washing capabilities

Due to the fragility of the vinyl designs, it is recommended for the plate to be hand washed. This is a time commitment especially when the product is designed to be used by busy parents. In the future, it would be more effective to use dishwasher-safe materials, and to do tests regarding this.

Limitations of plate compartments

The plate was bought pre-made off of Amazon. This means that the plate came with compartments that do not necessarily reflect the best eating practices or synergize the best with the design. If this were to be professionally produced, all materials including the plate would be created from scratch with specifications more specific to the goals.

Limitations of influence due to social differences

Due to our limited time for this project we were only able to create one story for our book and one set of corresponding designs with the plate. One of the concerns that we have are the limitations of influence that our story may have. In other words, our story and designs likely will not be appealing to every kid and parent due to socioeconomic and cultural differences. The limitations of our story cannot necessarily be quantified but it is likely fair to assume that there will be users that will not connect to the characters, words, and designs that we use.

Next Steps and Future Development

We created our prototype to the best of our ability with the available time and resources to meet the user needs established at the beginning of the design process. However, there is always room for improvement and with the limitations mentioned above, our group has constructed a set of goals that we would pursue if we were to continue this project in the future or hand it off to another team. These goals are as follows:

Further testing

User testing

The Picky Eater Package was developed based on secondary research, user observation, interviews, and survey testing with one parent and child who were connected to us through our professors. Conducting additional user testing with more users within our age range could provide additional information to improve the effectiveness and ease of use of the product. In particular, we hope to reach more individuals from diverse backgrounds, since our user testing only contained data from one family. It would be helpful to collect data from a variety of children who fall within the 3-5 year range, as they would be more representative of how those with different interests and habits interact with our design. This could help refine the story or even lead the way to the development of additional stories that focus on other food groups.

Performance testing

Testing the performance of the prototype over a longer period of time would help improve the features and safety of the Picky Eater Package. It is important to assess how durable the materials are, as both components are used and cleaned repeatedly. The information gained from testing can be used to select materials for a higher fidelity model. Another area of interest is how long the book and plate can be used before the child’s engagement decreases as a result of redundancy. We would also like to assess how the design’s use in different contexts (e.g. time of day, who the caretaker is, frequency, location) influences its effectiveness.

Improvements to the design

Food grade finish

Adding a food grade finish to the plate would increase the safety of the product so that children can actually use it during their meal times. It could also seal the vinyl stickers to protect them from damage when placed in a dishwasher. Alternatively, the white plastic plate could be replaced with a clear plate and the vinyl sticker designs could be adhered beneath so that food does not have to directly contact the vinyl.

Book binding

The current mechanism that holds the book pages together is three binder rings. The size of the binder rings is large relative to the thickness of the book, making it flimsy to flip through. The binder rings could be replaced with another book binding mechanism, such as interspinal, comb, or spiral binding, that offers greater stability.

Additional storylines

Creating more storylines could improve user engagement, as different children have different interests. Additionally, variations of the book can promote other food groups besides vegetables. Including diverse themes can decrease the likelihood of boredom from repetitive use. The additional stories would be complemented with matching plate designs to be used together.

Executive Summary

Problem

Many children have picky or poor eating habits which neglect important food groups and can lead to long term health consequences. Our project partner, [client], tasked us to design an interactive product that can assist parents in helping children make healthier eating choices.

Research and testing

We interviewed our project partner in order to further understand the issues with current healthy eating products and the characteristics of young users. We constructed two mockups and presented them to parents of 3-5 year olds in a survey to hone in on a final design concept. We received feedback during a design review, which we used to design and construct a final prototype. This prototype was tested with two parents of 3 year old children to gauge effectiveness.

Purpose and requirements

In order to provide an engaging solution for children ages 3-5 with picky eating habits, the product needed to be appropriate for their interests and provide some education about neglected food groups, while remaining convenient to use for working parents. We designed the picture book and plate to have the same characters and theme around vegetables to promote a stronger connection between the positive narrative and meal times.

The design of the Picky Eater Package is intended to meet five main requirements:

User engagement: The book and plate provides a relatable, gender neutral, and child-friendly narrative about winning a game.
Ease of use: The Picky Eater Package has a simple design that makes it accessible and comprehensible for parents and young children. It is also easy to set up and clean by parents and caregivers.
Safety: Both components of the design have a BPA-free plastic finish that are not ingestible and are lightweight, which allows children to safely use it while eating.
Addresses healthy food choices: The design focuses on one neglected food group, vegetables, and exemplifies the relationship between healthy eating and success.
Appearance: The Picky Eater Package has appealing age-appropriate graphics.

Final Project Report

Introduction

Many parents of children between the ages of 3-5 years old struggle to encourage them to eat healthy food and to exercise good habits over long periods of time. The intention of this project is to ease the burden and time commitment on the parents by offering a product that can help show kids the benefits of eating these otherwise neglected food groups. Dietary habits influence much of the health of a person’s body; an unhealthy diet can lead to many undesired consequences, from malnourishment to cancer. Studies have shown that over 20% of adult deaths are caused by poor eating habits [1]. Additionally, habits created at a young age often carry over towards later years [2]. As such, this product will help influence children to maintain healthy eating habits while simultaneously supporting parents and caregivers in their endeavors to raise their kids successfully.

[Client], founder and CEO of [Company] commissioned DTC Team 10.1 to create an educational product to teach children the importance of eating healthy. The time frame of the project was 10 weeks from initial research to the final presentation during the spring of 2022.

[Client] has been working on a similar product to meet this goal for ten years and originally wanted the team to work on the same design concept: an interactive electronic plate that would educate children about their food (see Appendix C: Client Interview Summary). Similar products already exist in the market, and due to the nature of the class our product aims to answer the same problem in a different way. The goal itself, however, is a challenge due to the user group. The vast difference in youth developmental stages means that one product may resonate with a specific child more than others. This is especially true when dealing with a literary and artistic product—different characters and narratives can have vastly different impacts depending on the interests of the reader. Consequently, our team chose to focus on a specific user group of 3-5 year olds in order to develop a more suitable product.

To address the design challenge presented to us, we developed the Picky Eater Package, which meets the project requirements by offering an interrelated picture book and plate. Our package provides a gender neutral narrative which promotes a positive narrative about vegetables. The components of the Picky Eater Package can be used independently of one another, but are most effective together with priming (see Appendix J: Instructions for Use).

This report outlines the design development process of Team 10.1, including our main users, design requirements, design concepts and rationales, and next steps. Furthermore, the report contains appendices that summarize important junctures in the development of our design.

Target Users

Picky Children:

Our main users are children aged 3-5 years old who do not eat the CDC-recommended amount of certain foods, such as vegetables and meat. They have poor or picky eating habits and are unable to determine for themselves which foods are considered healthy or unhealthy; as a result, they are also unaware of the consequences of their eating habits. Naturally, children within this age group are reliant on their caretakers to set their diet for them. This product is designed, at the current stage, specifically to help these children eat their vegetables. Although the product is targeted specifically at children aged 3-5 years old, it may be expanded at parental discretion.

Caretakers of Children:

The largest group of caretakers of children would be the parents. Similarly, nannies, grandparents, older siblings, or assorted older household members may perform the same role. These secondary users would read the book to the child, or help convince them to eat vegetables using the plate. This could possibly be utilized by other caretakers of children, such as those in schools or daycares; however, these groups are not specifically targeted by our design, and the usage may be less efficient in these scenarios.

Design Requirements

User Engagement

When dealing with children in this age group, it is essential to engage their short attention span. The product must capture the child’s attention for long enough to have an impact on their dietary habits.

Age Appropriate

The product must be suitable for users of the appropriate age range. In this design, this largely includes friendly characters and certain diction. Specifically, caution was taken to use short words when possible and write in a child friendly manner; in this case, the book was written in rhymes.

Visually Appealing

One of the most important aspects of an engaging design is visual appeal. The visuals and art will largely contribute to whether the user is interested in the product that is presented to them.

Addresses Healthy Foods

The goal of the project is to inspire children to eat healthier foods. As such, it is important to mention the foods they should eat in a positive light. Ideally, the product will help them want to eat these foods of their own volition.

Easy and Safe to Use

The user is a very small human. Caution must be taken so that all aspects of the design are child safe (i.e. no small pieces or sharp objects). Also, the product is ideally easy to clean and hardy enough to withstand accidents.

Logical Understanding

Specifically for the book, a clear and logical progression should be attained even for a young user. In other words, the child must understand in the story what the benefits of eating vegetables are with a clear motivation to eat vegetables themselves (see Appendix A: Project Definition).

Design Concept and Rationale: The Picky Eater Package

The Picky Eater Package is to be used as follows: the picture book is to be read by the caregiver to the child and the plate is to be eaten upon by the child. The time of day that the picture book should be read is at the discretion of the caregiver; nevertheless, the lamination allows food stains to be washed off in case of use during mealtimes. Furthermore, while the plate can be used for every meal, it is recommended to be used when a child is eating vegetables. In order to keep the Picky Eater Package engaging to children as long as possible, it is recommended that the caregiver only use it as needed.

Picture book

Use and specifications

The first component of our design is a character-led children’s picture book authored and illustrated by our team. The book is 6” in. in width and 11” in. length. It consists of laminated cardstock held together with three 0.6 in. binder rings (see Appendix I: Instructions for Constructions). The story is about a rabbit named Billie who eats vegetables, causing him to play well and win his soccer game. The picture book is to be read and shown by a caregiver to their child so that they become more accepting of vegetables.

Figure 1: Picture book

Rationale

The rationale behind using a picture book for our design can be explained with a series of logical choices. Picture books are interactive yet low-cost, making them a very practical choice for our target audience. Furthermore, research shows that reading a picture book with a character-led narrative that contains a positive message about vegetables leads a child's perception of vegetables to be more favorable. This is due to the visual and social reinforcement of the concept, which holds more weight through repetition from other sources (see Appendix B: Background Research Summary). A picture book is interactive without being electronic, and not only lessens the time requirement from the parent towards inspiring healthy eating, but also turns this time into a positive bonding experience with the child rather than an argument or fight over something the child rejects. This interactivity both with the book and between the child and parent also helps solve the issue regarding the age range of the user; the parent or caretaker’s intervention and explanations can help tailor this product not only to more age ranges but also to each specific user.

Regarding choices within the story, Billie’s Vegetable Bonanza includes a narrative about a soccer game because it is a well-known game that young children from most backgrounds are familiar with. The story’s plot about Billie’s aspiration to win the competition is relatable among our user group of 3-5 year olds, as there is a simple and clear goal with a desirable outcome. In the story, Billie wins the soccer game after eating vegetables, earning a trophy and affection from the mother. This establishes a connection between healthy eating habits and outcomes of accomplishment and social validation. Furthermore, the book consists of simple and rhyming syntax reflective of the cognitive ability of the target audience. This is intended to make the book even more engaging with a child while also not overwhelming them with complexity.

We selected the main character to be a bunny because animals are less gendered than human characters. Feedback from design reviewers and professors expressed that creating a more gender neutral narrative would be more inclusive of children from diverse backgrounds. Additionally, initial testing survey feedback indicated that out of other themes, animals were the most preferred. Furthermore, vegetables were selected as the target food group because they were listed by 71% of parents as a neglected food group (see Appendix F: User Testing Report). Therefore, this food group is the focus of the story in order to convey a more straightforward message to young children with limited attention spans.

Our team’s initial mockup testing for the picture book and its successive iterations showed that the children were able to recount the story well after having it read to them and identify the cause and effect aspect of the narrative (eating vegetables leads to good outcomes). This demonstrates that our particular picture book is effective at being engaging, as well as projecting the positive message about vegetables.

The choice of material for the picture book can be justified by the context in which it will be used. More specifically, the picture book is designed to withstand the wear and tear associated with children within the age range. For feasibility, cardstock was chosen as the medium for the book because it is inexpensive yet more durable than traditional paper. Furthermore, the purpose of using lamination is to allow for food stains to be washed off the book when read while eating as well as general protection for the cardstock. Lastly, binder rings are used to hold the book together because they are inexpensive yet reliable.

Story-themed plate

Use and specifications

To complement the picture book, a themed plate is also included in the Picky Eater Package. It includes designs with the same character from the book, Billie the Bunny, to further engage the child with the themes of the story. The plate measures 10.2” in diameter and 1.1” in depth, and has three main divisions for food to be placed in. The material is BPA-free dishwasher safe plastic that is white in color (see Appendix L: Bill of Materials). The plate designs are made with permanent vinyl cut stickers of various colors adhered onto the surface.

Figure 2: Themed plate design

Rationale

Out of all the mockup ideas presented in the initial user feedback survey, the themed plate received the highest ratings at an average of 4 out of 5. This provided us the confidence to move forward with the design concept. The reason the plate is included in the Picky Eater Package is that it provides an interactive tool that complements the picture book and can directly be used during meal times. Doing so can increase children’s awareness of their eating habits and engage them during the target time period, as specified by the project needs (see Appendix A: Project Definition). Moreover, the user observation found that the subject was much more engaged in external entertainment (i.e. TV) than her food, causing her to eat very slowly. This provides evidence that it is important to include an entertainment factor related to the food she is eating to draw more attention to it (see Appendix D: User Observation Summary). Thus, adding engaging designs onto a plate presented itself as a natural solution.

We decided to select an existing plate as the base of the design because it provided a sturdy and reliable base which could easily be designed upon. The material of the plate is BPA-free plastic because it can be easily washed by caregivers and is safe to eat off of, which is essential for food utensils. Additionally, we chose a plate with compartments— one large compartment and two smaller ones— to help parents and caregivers with portions for different food groups. The plate has an inch of height, which provides rims so that food is less likely to be spilled by messy eaters. Using the plate is intuitive, as there are pre-divided sections within the dish to place different foods into. Furthermore, the plate designs are made of permanent vinyl cut stickers. Vinyl was the recommended material by the shop specialist (see Appendix G: Expert Interview Summary) because it is non-removable and simple to adhere onto most surfaces. Using vinyl stickers that can stick directly onto the plate eliminates the need for creating a new mechanism (e.g. a special slot) for a removable design.

The initial version of the design involved the creation of our own two-compartment plate with interchangeable plate designs of diverse themes. However, feedback from the design review and shop specialist consultation suggested that this was unnecessary because the interchangeable designs did not explicitly relate to the picture book. All of our design reviewers expressed positive responses to making just one design that relates the picture book to the story (see Appendix H: Design Review Summary). In order to do so, we took specific scenes from the book (Billie playing soccer with Billie’s mom present, Billie winning the trophy, and Billie with vegetables) and implemented them in the different sections of the plate. This reinforces the main themes of the story, which was that eating healthy food, specifically vegetables, leads to desirable outcomes such as strength and victory.

Conclusion

Our team was tasked with designing an engaging, interactive product that assists caregivers and/or parents in promoting the acceptance of vegetables in children between the ages 3-5. The two part design consists of a character-led picture book and a story-themed plate. The story-themed plate contains characters and overall references to the narrative in the book which makes the overall combination cohesive when used together. The narrative of the picture book is about a rabbit who eats vegetables causing them to win their soccer game. Our story has been shown to be engaging and promote a positive perception of vegetables within the target age range (see Appendix F: User Testing Summary). The plate and its illustrations from the picture book’s narrative is visually appealing and further reinforces a positive view of vegetables when used while eating. If our design is recognized on a larger scale, there would be important implications. First, with the help of professionals, the quality of the materials, the writing, and the illustrations would have potential for major improvements.

Second, the design could be made to be more individualized and directly address the multifaceted problem of promoting a healthy diet rather than just get children to like vegetables more. The next step for the design of the plate is to either replace the vinyl on with a material that is more safe to eat from or redesign the plate itself so that the vinyl never comes in contact with food. For the book, the next steps for the design relate to the materials used. We would want to look for potential substitutes for the binder rings, cardstock paper and lamination as all of those materials pose design limitations which could have negative implications on our project.

Appendix A: Project Definition 3.0

Mission statement

Design an interactive product that engages children’s interests, promotes acceptance of neglected foods, and assists parents and caregivers in encouraging healthy eating habits.

Project deliverables

Final report (either printed or in PDF format)
Presentation to the project partner and DTC section
Final prototype

Constraints

$100 budget
Final design due June 6, 2022
Access to user group for user testing

Users and stakeholders

3-5 year old children with picky and/or poor eating habits who will use the design as an educational tool inside or outside of meal times
Parents and caretakers of young children between ages 3-5 who will watch and help them interact with the design
The project partner, [client], who may implement the design in a home or school environment.

User profile

Children between the ages of 3-5:

Unable to determine for themselves what types and quantities of food are considered to be unhealthy and healthy
Rely on their parents and/or older figures to set their diet for them and to prepare their daily meals
Unaware and in less control of their own bad habits than their parents

Parents:

Searching for an easy and effective method to educate their children on healthy eating habits
With busy work lives unable to supervise all of their children’s meals
Who may have limited knowledge on children’s nutrition

Illustrative user scenario

Maria Diaz is a mother of three children who owns her own business. After a busy day of work, she comes home to feed her children. She heads to the kitchen, pulls out her healthy recipe book, and starts cooking. Following 30-long minutes preparing food for her children, she calls them for dinner. The dinner starts off well; Maria is relaxing after spending the entire day testing her new prototype and all her kids are eating something. Nevertheless, about 10 minutes into the dinner, her kids refuse to finish the rest of their food. Jason doesn’t want to finish his vegetables, Sam doesn’t want to eat his chicken, and Sarah doesn’t want to eat her beans. Maria tries to encourage her kids to eat their food, but they all refuse and start pouting. Maria, who is already tired, doesn’t have the energy to make her kids finish their food. She relents, giving her kids what they want. If only she was able to instill good eating habits at a young age!

Table 1: project requirements

Appendix B: Background Research Summary

At the beginning of the project, we did background research on a range of relevant topics in order to better understand the project needs. Our client, Malvina de Salvo, requested a design that would teach children to have a healthy relationship with food where they eat a balanced diet and avoid picky eating. Our background research helped us understand our problem in many different areas to prepare us for brainstorming our own solution. In our research, we focused on (1) ideal nutrition for children, (2) children eating habits and causes, and (3) existing solutions for teaching good eating habits.

Ideal children’s nutrition

There are a lot of recommendations for how to structure child nutrition. As a general guideline, a child’s diet should be made up of five main food groups: grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and protein [3]. It is important that their diet primarily consist of nutrient dense foods within these food groups [4]. This can include fruits and vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean sources of protein. Furthermore, it is important to limit calories from added sugars, saturated and trans fats, and sodium [5]. The Mayo Clinic has created nutritional goals for girls and boys in different age groups [4, Tab. 1].

Table 2: daily diet guidelines for children

Characteristics of poor and picky eaters and their causes

Throughout the 2000s, there has been a trend of improvement in children and adolescents’ diets in terms of beverages and fruit intake. The consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks decreased, while total fruit intake increased. However, both still do not meet ideal recommendations. Empty calories from added sugar and fats still account for 40% of daily calories in the age range of 2-18 year olds [3]. About half of these empty calories come from soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, pizza, and whole milk. Furthermore, most youth do not consume the recommended amount of water daily.

A Finnish study identifying eating habits in children aged 9-14 found that there are three types of eaters: Unhealthy eaters (12.3%), fruit and vegetable avoiders (43.3%), and healthy eaters (44.1%) [6]. Fruits and vegetable avoiders tend to eat less sweet and fast food but avoid eating fruits and vegetables. Unhealthy eaters are characterized by consuming large amounts of fast food, sugary drinks, and sweets. Furthermore they tend to have irregular meal and breakfast patterns and tend to have parents of lower education level. The study’s correspondence analysis indicates that there is a correlation between children’s eating habits and factors such as meal patterns, breakfast patterns, and socioeconomic background.

The socioeconomic effects on child nutrition is even more apparent in a 2015 study using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. It reveals that there is an 18% increase in the risk of a poor diet in children between the ages of 2-18 years old in lower-income households that skip breakfast [7]. Although eating breakfast shows a connection to a good diet, nevertheless, eating breakfast did not entirely mediate the effects. Thus, to reduce differences in dietary quality among children, those who are economically vulnerable must be prioritized.

Unhealthy eating habits can be attributed to many factors including: parenting, early feeding difficulties [8], late introduction to lumpy foods [9], and pressure to eat and early choosiness. These factors contribute to poor dietary variety, insufficient nutrient intake, comorbidity (e.g anxiety or mood disorders), and developmental difficulty [10].

Current solutions

There are currently some commercialized and non-commercialized solutions already focused on getting children to eat better. Studies show that both farm-to-fork picture books and character-led narratives that promote positive messages about vegetables lead to children having more accepting views on vegetables [11]. It is thought that visual similarity and social reinforcement are the mechanisms that contribute to the increasing liking of vegetables. Picture books [12, Fig.1] don’t require electronics and are inexpensive making them very practical to use. However, picture books are inherently limited in their ability to be interactive in comparison to something electronic.

Interactive games have also been shown to promote healthy eating habits in children [13, Fig. 2]. While the games and apps are great at engaging children, they are targeted to children between the ages of 9-13 years old and require a computer/mobile device. With our target age range being between 3-5 years old, current video games on the market would not be appropriate. This is not to say that a game or an app could not be a potential solution, rather most current games are targeted to older children and would be out of our age range.

One last solution that is interactive yet different to solutions already presented is the Funeat. It is an intelligent dinner plate system that consists of an interactive electronic plate that can project images onto the plate when the sensors detect a change of weight on the plate after food is removed [14, Fig. 3]. There is a loudspeaker in the plate which also interacts with the user when stimulated. Tests of the system conducted with children aged 5-7 with picky eating behaviors showed that the Funeat system had a positive effect on improving their eating habits [15]. While the concept of the Funeat is promising, it is currently only a project created by researchers at Zhejiang University and isn’t actually commercially available.

References

[1] “The importance of starting healthy habits at an early age.” [Online]. Available: https://mountainkidslouisville.com/blog/healthy-habits-early-age/. [Accessed: 06-Jun-2022].

[2] “New Study finds poor diet kills more people globally than tobacco and high blood pressure,” Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 26-May-2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.healthdata.org/news-release/new-study-finds-poor-diet-kills-more-people-globally-tobacco-and-high-blood-pressure. [Accessed: 06-Jun-2022].

[3] “Childhood Nutrition Facts | Healthy Schools | CDC,” Feb. 16, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/nutrition/facts.htm (accessed Apr. 04, 2022).

[4] “What nutrients does your child need now?,” Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/childrens-health/in-depth/nutrition-for-kids/art-20049335 (accessed Apr. 04, 2022).

[3] “Importance of Good Nutrition for Kids | Children’s Bureau,” Child Abuse Prevention, Treatment & Welfare Services | Children’s Bureau, Feb. 05, 2018. https://www.all4kids.org/news/blog/importance-of-good-nutrition-for-young-children/ (accessed Apr. 04, 2022).

[4] R. A. de Oliveira Figueiredo, J. Viljakainen, H. Viljakainen, E. Roos, T. B. Rounge, and E. Weiderpass, “Identifying eating habits in Finnish children: A cross-sectional study,” BMC Public Health, vol. 19, no. 1, 2019.

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Appendix C: Client Interview Summary

We held our first interview with our client, [client], an independent entrepreneur and business owner, on Thursday, April 7th at 6:00 p.m. on Zoom. All four team members were present, along with another team in our DTC section. The goal of the interview was to gain a better understanding of the requirements and users of the project. This appendix summarizes the information gathered regarding the design problem, requirements, users, and next steps.

Problems

Our client mentioned some existing problems:

One in three children in the United States are overweight
Picky eating and inadequate nutrition education has contributed to poor eating habits in children
Current solutions lack interactive, engaging, and/or educational components for children with poor eating habits
Current solutions (e.g. picture books, plates with divided sections) are hard to implement while children eat

Requirements and constraints

Our client described some desirable design features and project outcomes:

Results in a working prototype
Provides engagement and some educational component
Explains important topics appropriately (e.g. major food groups, calories, energy)
Encourages questions, dialogue, and actionsAddresses picky eaters
Captures the child’s attention
Creates positive behavior change
Assists parents with busy working lifestyles

Our client also described some features to avoid in the design:

Explanations which create negative bias towards particular foods
Simple dichotomies between foods that are good vs. bad for health

Users

Our client provided the following information about the children who will most likely be using our design:

Ages from 1-6 years old May be affected by additional eating disorders or health complications
Consume excessive amounts of added sugars and processed fats
Appear healthy, but may have high cholesterol or border-line diabetes
Have parents or caregivers with busy lifestyles who are unable to supervise and/or teach eating habits
Next steps and recommendations

Our client discussed the following methods of further research:

Schedule a user observation with kids in the specified age range
Look into studies on interactive children’s games, such as VTech and LeapFrog

The interview with the project partner helped clarify the user group for which we will be designing a solution for in addition to adding specific requirements and constraints. A future observation of a child within the age range will provide us with more information about what design would be most suitable for our users.

Appendix D: User Testing Report- Mockup 1

Primary Research

Methodology

Initial user testing was done through a google forms survey. This primarily asked parents/caregivers what eating methods they employed with their children and rough feedback on our initial ideas. Another google survey was created regarding the picture book mockup; parents/caregivers were asked to read the book to their children and gauge their engagement. The children in question were then asked their opinions on vegetables before and after reading the book. In addition to these primary sources, other students in the class were asked for feedback on our initial designs following a short presentation.

Initial User Testing Survey

What foods or food groups does your child avoid in their diet, if any?

A majority of participants reported that they struggled to make their children eat meat and vegetables. It may be relevant to note that three participants referred to vegetables as “veggies” while two refereed to them as “vegetables”; there was an ongoing debate over how to refer to the word in the picture book.

What methods have you tried to teach healthy eating with?

A majority of the respondents reported trying books, songs/auditory methods, and entertainment/shows. Just under half reported trying games. Only one participant utilized the “other” option; they use the incentive of “eating the rainbow” choices.

Which methods were effective? Please describe which ones and why.

Multiple respondents reported that no method had worked yet. However, many did report at least one method, and the responses are summarized below:

Leaving food on the child’s plate even if it was unwanted
Small chocolate desserts for incentive
Watching shows about healthy eating; although it motivated the child to try vegetables, the taste was found quite lacking
Eating food the color of the rainbow and checking off colors
Food therapy

Are you comfortable with your child using computers?

All but one adult was comfortable with their child using computers, but each respondent said they still needed supervision.

Respondents were asked to respond to the following questions on a scale from 1-5:

How effective do you think a picture book would be in increasing acceptance of neglected food groups?

The mean value was 2.6 and the median was 2. Overall, it was not very optimistic, although one person responded with a 5.

Would a computer game help change your child’s mind about eating healthy food?

The response to this design seemed largely positive, if only barely: the mean was a 3.3, while the median was a 3.

How effective do you think a themed plate would be in increasing acceptance of neglected food groups?

The feedback on this idea was by far the best; it yielded a mean of 3.6 and a mean of 4; notably, 1 respondent rated the idea a 1 while all other respondents rated it a 4.

Which plate does your child find most engaging?

The large majority commented that the most engaging initial mockup was the animal themed plate.

Summary

The respondents were all very open with feedback, and each was willing to be asked about our final design. Based on the initial feedback, the best idea would be a themed plate with a focus on teaching children to eat meat and vegetables. Based on feedback along with our own opinions, the video game design has been removed. If only one project was completed, the plate had the best response. However, our team has been leaning towards doing a related book and plate design; as such, this will almost definitely invoke a more positive response than a video game. One respondent brought up another point; their child was already happy to eat most foods, but they may use our product as reinforcement. It would likely be better not to focus on groups like this, as they are not only few compared to the average, but likely to throw the project off the original course.

Purpose

The goal of testing this mockup is to see how effective the picture book is in increasing the acceptance of vegetables for 3-5 year olds while also simultaneously observing how engaging our product is for the children. With the information collected in this report, we can make potential changes to our design which would positively affect our final prototype.

Methodology

The testing was done by our DTC professor with her granddaughter on Friday, April 29th. The test involved our mockup picture book in the form of a powerpoint presentation. We also included a survey that provided instructions for the caregiver to ensure that they were using our product effectively and correctly. Outside of this specific test, we sent this survey to as many recipients as we could find but received little response. The survey was not personalized to our DTC professor or her granddaughter and was meant to collect a larger amount of data. For those who participated, the survey first asked the caregiver to ask their child their opinions on vegetables and record their response. Then, it prompted the caregiver to read the book to the child and show its illustrations. Afterwards, the survey prompted the caregiver to ask the child what they think of vegetables after reading the book and record their response. Finally, the survey asked the caregiver to record on a scale from 1-5 how engaging the book was with the child.

Results

Please ask your child the following prior to reading the book: What do you think about vegetables?
- Nonna: Gigi, do you like vegetables?
- Gigi: I like chips
- N: Do you like vegetables?
- G: Yes

Please ask your child the following after reading the book: What do you think about vegetables now?
- N: What was the book about?
- G: James playing soccer and he wins
- N: Why did he win?
- G: Cause he runs fast because he eats vegetables
- N: will you eat vegetables?
- G: yes
- N: which ones?
- G: strawberries
- N (turning to page showing vegetables): which ones
- G (points to carrots, then tomato)
  - Note: she's never eaten a tomato

On a scale from 1-5, how engaging was the book with your child.
- 4/5

Discussion

Our initial mockup testing gave us sufficient feedback and information to consider in the future. While our book performed satisfactory in terms of engagement, our professor recommended that we adjust our syntax and word choices in the book so as to make the book more cohesive and understandable for children ages 3-5. Likewise, our team found another way to measure engagement after our professor asked their granddaughter to recount the story. We determined that prompting the child to recount the story would help us identify specifically what the child got out of the book. Our narrative about a boy eating vegetables before his soccer game appears to appeal to children within our age range based on the engagement question and anecdotal evidence from our professor. However, it is likely that our narrative will change throughout our design process as we collect more information so that our product can appeal to as many children as possible.

Next Steps

There are a couple of adjustments that our team will make to our current mockup. First, we will alter the syntax and word choices of our book to better reflect our target age group. We will also make the narrative more cohesive and readable in our efforts. Second, our team will add an additional question to the survey which prompts the caregiver to ask the child to recount the story. This is another way to gauge how appealing the book was to the child as well. This will also provide insight on how well the child understands the cause and effect aspect of the book (eating vegetables leads to positive health effects). With our adjusted book and survey, we hope to do some more testing and finalize our picture book. Furthermore, our team will need to consider the medium and material of the finalized picture book so that we can produce a reliable, durable product which is suitable for sustained use over time.