Project “Chopsticks”
An Asian Life-style Study in Domestic Culinary Habits for Design
Yanta H.T. LAM*
Kun-Pyo LEE**
Guanzhong LIU***
Toshimasa YAMANAKA****
Maggie WOO*
* The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Design
Hong Kong, sdyanta@polyu.edu.hk**Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Industrial Design
Korea, kplee@kaist.ac.kr***Tsinghua University, Systemdesign Studio,
Industrial Design Department of Academy of Arts and Design
PRC, systemdesign@263.net****Tsukuba University, Institute of Art and Design
Japan, tyam@geijutsu.tsukuba.ac.jp

Abstract : While the Pan Pacific Region gradually emerges as an economic and politicalpowerhouse in the 21stCentury, people in the area tend to be apathetic toward their own traditions
due to Western influence in the past. In fact, their rich and colorful traditions, if understoodproperly, could give rise to new opportunities in design and thus business in the new era.

Project “Chopsticks” is a trial cross-cultural research exercise in Design that aims at understanding
selected Asian people in the “Chopsticks” culture, particularly in their culinary habits at thedomestic level. It has led to the exploration of design opportunities in Asian cultural identities, andhas also provided the opportunity for collaborative, cross-cultural design research among several
universities in Beijing and Hong Kong of PRC, Japan and Korea. The objectives of the study wereas follows:

To experience a cross-cultural collaborative design project, thereby exploring and appreciating thedifferences and similarities amongst cultures relevant to the area of study;To establish electronic database for Asian cultures and lifestyles in related areas;To explore the possibility of allowing Asian culture and lifestyle to become an important element
for future regional/global design development;To establish the design process and related methodologies relevant for the study;

To define and explore design opportunities in Asian cultural identity with relation to people’s
relevant activities in the selected areas.

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The research subjects were the middle-class families of Beijing and Hong Kong of China, Japan,
and Korea. The study looked at people – their lifestyle, habits, behaviours and preferences ineating/dining. Information probing methods were based on the understanding of the typical“users-tasks-environments” relationship, in which the “tasks” were food preparation, cooking andconsumption. User-oriented methods were employed to collect and analyse information necessary
for comparison and design explorations. Theses methods included family visits, interview, video
ethnography, observational camera, user-diary, photo diaries, site visit, and shadow tracking –“one-day in the life of a middle-class family”.

Experimental designs based on local needs and desires were subsequently proposed for selected
situations and projected scenarios. The project has taken 12 months in 2004 to complete among thefour universities. The students and faculty members of the universities have worked jointly in aremote manner, yet shared common methodology and assigned themes through computer
net-working (Diagram 1) and physical workshops. Two of such workshops held in Hong Kong
have brought all participants together to meet and to share information/views and design proposals.
The opportunity allowed findings comparison, which has suggested cultural differences andsimilarities for indigenous designs and potential business to develop. The academic objectives asstated above have also been achieved to a great extent.

Keywords: Asian Life-style, Culinary Habits, Product Design, Methodology

Diagram 1: Project “Chopsticks” website for sharing information/views among participating
members.

Fig. 1: Project “Chopsticks” website for sharing information/views among participating members.

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1.

The Project
The project is an academic exercise hosted by School of Design of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University(PolyU), and facilitated by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC). The Participating Institutions are: Department ofIndustrial Design of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Korea; Systemdesign Studioin Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University (Tsinghua) PRC; Institute of Art and Design of Tsukuba
University (Tsukuba) Japan. Gold Peak Industries (Holdings) Ltd. has kindly offered the sponsorship.
The project is thus a cross-cultural research exercise. It is aimed at understanding people, in terms of users, ofdifferent cultures in their daily habits, behaviours and lifestyle in food preparation and consumption at thedomestic level. The subjects of research were a number of middle-class families in selected Asian countries andregions: Beijing and Hong Kong of PRC, Japan and Korea.

2.

The Rationale
Liu 1 (2003) suggests that in Design, “matters/issues”2 always come first. They then encourage theemergence of objects/artifacts/systems. “Matters/issues” are the overall external factors, which shape, determine
and confine the man-made objects. The theory puts the “human-based” concept into the research of people’s
intrinsic requirement, and, through analysis of the change of state in the behavioural process of various usergroups, positions the different requirements caused by those external factors. It addresses the issue of cultural
understanding, which Hall3 (1966) suggests mainly “lies hidden”. This is agreed by Lee4 (2003) who queried
the “myopic definition of culture” in Design fields, and thus structured the “culture” for Design into multi-layers:
the visible and tangible “artifact” lies on top; in the middle there is the “value” that obviously exists and yet issometimes difficult to verbalize; finally there are the subconscious “basic assumptions” which are normallytaken for granted. The last layer is a deep-hidden one to which culture attributes. The intrinsic requirement ofpeople (e.g. conscious and subconscious needs), the invisible part of cultures (for instance, the cognition andemotion) in Design, all require thorough tools and methods to fully analyse and understand; only then could this“hidden dimension5” be utilized to create original, meaningful designs. It is believed that the rich and colourful
traditions of Asian cultures, if understood properly, could give rise to new opportunities in design andbusiness in the new era.

2.1 The Cultural Issues
When “culture” is mentioned, people and environment are brought into consideration in parallel as theother two key elements (McKenzie6 2003; O’Hagan7 2001; Hall8 1990). “People” refers to all that falls under
the same domestic social-economic structure, while “environment” refers to the surroundings the above peopleinteract with. Among the many approaches to the definition of culture, the anthropologists’ is the mostcomprehensive as a total measure of mankind aspects. They regard culture as a holistic study of humankind – its
origins, development, social and political organizations, religions, languages, art and artifacts. Sociologists
instead focus on the aspects of the changes of economy, politics and living manners of the environment, whereas
psychologists see culture as non-genetic codes from social and physical environment that form people’s specificmanner of living.

3

Hence, to understand a culture, the way is to understand the people of that culture by studying their behaviour,manner of living and how they react with their environment. Alternatively, understanding a culture of aparticular environment can also lead to understanding the people living in it: their beliefs, their behaviour, theirliving practice and habit. Culture is thus a set of values evolved by a group of people living in the scoiety toshape the society with specific characteristics, identities, attitudes and behaviours; it could be conscious andsubconscious to those within in the society.

These values, including customs/rituals, concepts, beliefs, notions and habits, come from the social andphysical environments. Gradually they infuse into people’s lives through the process of learning and training.
They become regular living practices, with some more noticeable than others.

2.2 Sub-culture in Society
A society can have different sub-cultures because it is made up of people who may come from different
origins to aggregate at the same place. These people bear different value systems and influence each other toshape a specific culture for the society. To realize that a culture exists, there must be the other culture existing at
the same time in the same environment for comparison. Culture in China is obviously different from culture in
United Kingdom. But Beijing Chinese culture differs, too, from that in Hong Kong because of different
historical and geographical influences on the people (Diagram 2).

Sub
culture…

Sub
culture…

A SocietySubcultureCulture…

Fig. 2: Sub-cultures in a Society

3.

Subjects in Research
Middle-class families: There were 8-10 young “middle-class” families (defined according to different

country/region) in the participation institution’s hometown as samples for the study, in terms of people, families– lifestyles, physiological, psychological, cultural, social, demographic issues; habits – in particulareating/dining habits, preferences, behaviours, etc.).

4

Table 1: Common characteristics of selected Middle-class Families in Beijing (BJ) & Hong Kong (HK) of PRC,
Japan (JP) and Korea (KR)Family: Family members under one roof
Family structure:
Husband, wife, son and or daughter.
Average age range of man and wife: 40-50
Children in school
Education of main member: Professional, or with Tertiary
Education or above.
Regular average income.

BJ
Yes

HK
Yes

JP
Yes

KR
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Affordability to spend (food, leisure & entertainment,
traveling, continuous education).

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Possession of one or more properties, investments, withreasonable savings.
Domestic helper employed.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

---

---

Small household area thus tight space in dinning room andkitchenAttitude toward foods – time saving yet health conscious.
Tendency to improve living space & related domestic
equipment/facilities.

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes

4.

Remarks

In reference to local costof living.
Families with greater
exposure, tend to be moresociable and they entertain
guest more frequently athome.

Unusual in middle-classfamilies of JP, KR.
Problem to entertain guest
at home.
Except during week-ends.
For quality of life and forsocialization.

Methodology & Process
The initial focus of the Research Project is on “food preparation and consumption” for daily living(ordinary weekdays and weekends as opposed to, e.g. festive seasons) in “middle-class” families. Information
probing

methods

wereprimarily

based

on

the

understanding

of

the

typicalbasic“users-tasks-environments” relationship, in which “tasks” stand for food preparation, cooking andconsumption. Based on the suggestion from KAIST, all participating universities have generally taken theapproach to avoid ordinary product-centred design process, and adhered to the culture-centred method (seeDiagram 3), which is seen equivalent to the “Human-centred Design Process”, yielding more complete data to
support design exploration. (It was believed that this method would deal more than merely with objects/artifacts,
and would allow designer to draw from cultural materials and related information to address to the more holistic
perspective of design for people).

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Fig. 3: Ordinary Product-centred Design Process (on top) vs Culture-centred Method (below), which waspreferred in this study. (Source: Lee 2003)

4.1 Working Procedures
The exercise began in early 2004 and lasted until the end of the same year. The research teams were madeup of students at postgraduate/undergraduate level and Research personnel. A Cyber workplace was set up for
dialogue among the institutions. Experience, data sharing and common terminologies were discussed.
Three workshops were arranged in Hong Kong for all participants to share views, approach and findings acrossthe institutions: The final two workshops (in July and November 2004) provided opportunities for the four
universities to exchange cultural perspectives on food consuming attitudes, dining habits and related design
issues. It also established a solid foundation for the Project’s future development towards extending the role of
Asia culture and lifestyle in the global design platform.

4.2 Secondary Research
It was mainly a desktop research from books, magazines, newspapers, journals, radio/TV broadcasting,websites, etc to inform project direction. Several steps were included (see Diagram 4):
Topic identification and finding of keywords.



Search of desktop data.



Information classification.

Structuring information according to applications.



Extraction of key points as guidelines for primary data probing.

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Fig. 4: Overview of the Secondary Research Process (Source: KAIST for Project “Chopsticks”)

4.3

Primary Research
All participating universities shared the following methods (see Diagram 5&6) except in the case of “video

ethnography” which has been made possible only by KAIST through negotiation with the subject families:

Defining target user group.



Definition of “Middle-class Family”.

Research method selection and planning (Questionnaire, Home visit, Shadowing, Video Ethnography, User
Diary, Experts Interview, Focus Group Interview).



Analysis of results.

Interpretation of results for design scenario development.

Design explorations.



Analysis of results.

Interpretation of results for design scenario development.

Design exploration.

7

Fig. 5: Guidelines for Primary Data Search (Source: KAIST for Project “Chopsticks”)

Fig. 6: Selection of User-oriented Research Methods. (Source: KAIST for Project “Chopsticks”)

85.

The Findings and Discussions

5.1 The Cultural differences and Similarities
This project looked at the cultural similarities and differences in food habits among the four different
cultures (Hong Kong and Beijing Chinese, Korean and Japanese). Cultural differences lead to different habits,
beliefs and therefore differences in the design of implements and ways of using them. For instance, thechopsticks in the four cultures have a common application of picking up chopped foods, but they vary in theproper handling and in how they should be used (for table manner), and thus also in the detailed designs. The
length of the Chinese chopsticks is longer than those in Korea and Japan. The reason is that the Chinese sit
together to dine and share several dishes which are placed in the middle of dining table at the same time, as
opposed to each individual having his/her own food set. A longer pair of chopsticks enables easier pickup offoods. The length also helps when serving (a Chinese way to serve) guests who might be sitting at the other endof the dining table. Japanese chopsticks narrow along the shaft from one end to other end, which becomes apointed tip. It is not for piercing foods but for picking up small food items that could be as small as sesame seeds.
Chinese chopsticks have bigger, blunt tips which help the user push rice into mouth. The Korean and Japanesetraditional table manner does not encourage that to happen, while it is perfectly fine in Chinese culture. The
Chinese rice bowl design also supports the latter – with the smooth flair rim edge for lips: rice can be more
readily sent into mouth. The foot-ring of the bowl in China and Japan facilitates the secure grip by fingers. Yet in
Korea, rice bowl does not have a foot-ring, it is because holding bowl in hand is discouraged.

Fig. 7: Different chopsticks – From top to bottom: HK Chinese, Korean, Chinese-luxurious, Japanese. (Source:
PolyU for Project “Chopsticks”)

9Fig. 8: The proper Chinese way of putting rice into mouth – hold the bowl in hand and rake the rice into mouthwith chopsticks. (Source: PolyU for Project “Chopsticks”)

Fig. 9: Holding the Chinese rice bowl in hand. (Source: PolyU for Project “Chopsticks”)

We have, however, placed more emphasis on the similarities rather than the differences. Through thesesimilarities, we believe that the common themes of development areas could be made possible.

The secondary information search and analysis among the four design teams thus informed these common
issues for primary data study:

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1.

Food as “family relation enhancer”.

2.

Food for health and beauty.

3.

Menu & recipe for pleasure, enjoyment and entertaining.

4.

Kitchen for efficiency and convenience; for user-friendliness with updated technology; for eco-friendlinesswith “green” concern; for “lifestyle expression”.

5.

Re-discovery of tradition.

6.

Re-think of “kitchen process”.

The above are important for primary data probing, which has informed the design explorations in thefollowing four themes:

1.

From menu preparation to shopping.

2.

From cleaning/preparing of food ingredients to cooking.

3.

From table-setting to Serving/storing and dining.

4.

From clean-up to storage of foods and foods waste disposal.

5.2 The Primary Information
About 40 families were visited. Each participating university research team visited about 10 sample
families in its own city/region. We admit that the sample number is not extensive enough to yield more accurate
data. But the depth of study through the proposed methods of understanding users did make good suggestions toprobe scenarios and to encourage design explorations which then followed.

The primary results from the Hong Kong team suggested that the middle-class families could be stratified
into 5 layers according to their education, exposure, experience and esteem (4Es). Their demand andpreference for quality of living move them up in the chart of Table 2, on being pushed9 by the 4Es.

According to the other teams, the middle-class families in Beijing, Korea and Japan do share similar
situations, and therefore these were taken as the commonalities in the middle-class families across the 4cities/regions:

Professional with stable income.



Received tertiary education either locally or in overseas.

Have knowledge assisting the development of entrepreneurship.



Mostly live in self-contained private housing.



Have one or more investment.



Care about own future development.

Lead balanced life of living: care about health, yet work hard, learn hard and care about quality of life.



Being regarded crucial for sustainable development and stability of the society.

11Table 2: Hong Kong Middle-class Families (Source: PolyU for Project “Chopsticks”)

5.3 The Change of Dining Habits
The middle-class family members are busy people. They are used to work hard and enjoy little. But today,
the middle-classes are all conscious of quality of life. Dining has become an important and significant activity toenhance good living. “Dining”, as the research subjects (families) have often referred to, is not merely eating but
include the following experiences in processes (often together with family members/friends for fun andcommunication):

From menu preparation to shopping.

From cleaning/preparing of food ingredients to cooking.



From table-setting to Serving/storing and dining.



From clean-up to storage of foods and foods waste disposal.

These are carried out during free time of the week such as week-ends, or holidays when they do not see work as
duty tasks. On week days, meals are prepared and served normally in an informal manner to save time and effort.
In the four regions of study, inviting friends to have meals at home is not common. It is because their homes arenormally tight in space. The younger middle-class generation, however, sees gathering at home an enjoyable
event as an alternative to socializing in places such as pubs and restaurants. This view point indicated the need ofa new development of systems/facilities for cooking/living/dining – food habits at domestic level. The following
chart shows two tendencies of dining habits in such a development:12Busy weekdays: Family members dine at different times at home or in restaurants, simple food is preferred
to save time and effort.



Relaxed week-ends/holidays: More elaborated food could be the choice, and family members are preparedto get involved in the food preparation process, at home or in restaurants (preferably “good” ones, and theones which could provide them with new experience in food habits).

Dining out and eating at home will not replace one or another. Both preferences would remain and in fact
they may become more related in future.
Cooking/Dining with others

Food : favourable
Different and facourable recipes
and soup etc.
Events: Gathering, Sharing,
Chat and TV etc.

Enhancefamily/social
relationship

Food : elaborated
Local and/or fine restaurants
Simple and/or elaborated dishes
Events: Gathering, Party,
Function, Chat and Discussion

Enhancesocial /business
relationship

Diningat homeDiningout
Routine,Fulfill hunger

Food : simple for convenience
Instant food (Cup Noodle)
Snacks (Biscuits, bread)
Cook simple (ready made dish etc.)
Interruptions:
Study, Reading, Phone
Computer, TV

Routine,Fulfill hunger

Food : simple for time-saving
Fast food (McDonald)
Local restaurant (Noodle shop)
Interruptions:
Study, Reading, Phone
Computer, TV

Cooking/Dining on one’s own

Fig. 10: Live-style pattern in Dining Habits (Source: PolyU for Project “Chopsticks”)

5.4

The Design Attributes
The research teams looked at the contexts of people, tasks and environments, and concluded that in theprocess of food stuff purchase, preparation, dining and cleaning, there were four aspects (attributes to design)
worth to pay attention to: (1) time saving and convenience; (2) health and nutrition; (3) human feelings
communication and (4) opportunity for exchange of culture. They were identified as the common issues in the
primary information stage and thus the foundation for the design explorations under this topic of research. The
chart (Diagram 11) from Tsinghua illustrated well the relationship between the contexts and the attributes.

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Fig. 11: Design Attributes as Guidelines for Explorations (Source: Tsinghua for Project “Chopsticks”)

The Tsinghua team gave an example based on the above. They called it the “Cook-bar” for loaded modern
Chinese.

Fig. 12: A one-stop self-service food shopping/preparation/dinning/servicing system for busy middle-classfamilies. Theme: From cleaning/preparing of food ingredients to cooking. (Source: Tsinghua for Project“Chopsticks”)

14There are two aims: Firstly, to create a new-style of “food” service, which attempts to solve the problem thatbusy middle-class have limited time and energy to go through time-consuming “food” process. At the same time,
the new service system encourages users to enjoy good food preparation/eating experience based on present
technologies. Secondly, it creates a new communication platform based on self-service space for food, which
would promote communication among people. There is also the hope to retain traditional Chinese food culture
spirit while developing new form of possibility for busy Chinese of nowadays.

Most families of middle class in Beijing enjoy Chinese traditional food, yet they have to abandon the interesting
experience of “traditional” food culture and simplify it into only “eating” in their busy life. More people today
are sentimentally attached to the taste of traditional Chinese food and cooking pleasure. “Cookbar” provides
them with such chance. This design is mainly for busy middle class families: Firstly, to create a new-style of“food” service, which allows quick access to the complicated “food” process. The new service system
encourages users to enjoy shopping, cooking and eating experience based on advanced digital-service system.
Secondly, it creates a platform, which promotes fun and communication between users. The design has great
difference from traditional restaurant. From shopping to sharing cooking and eating is the core part of the“experience” design. Preparing food and cleaning are services to be provided.

Fig. 13: The system enables busy people to enjoy food shopping/guided cooking/dining, while tedious work like
preparations and clean-ups are being serviced. (Source: Tsinghua for Project “Chopsticks”)

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Fig. 13b (cont’d): The system enables busy people to enjoy food shopping/guided cooking/dining, while tediouswork like preparations and clean-ups are being serviced. (Source: Tsinghua for Project “Chopsticks”)

6.

More Examples of the Design Explorations
There were 24 design explorations from the four research teams addressing the themes from recipe

preparation up to food waste treatment. Based on the user research methods, identification of implicit and yet
insightful particularities were detected and analyzed. The results have led to every project exercise bringing
cultural elements into the formulation of design possibilities and hence business opportunities.

All design explorations contributed to the well-being of users: fun, convenience and quality of living infood/culinary habits. In the projects, the methods of approaching problems were very much similar among thedifferent research teams in the four design schools. However, the Korean team was the only one who has beenable to conduct video ethnography in such a way that the family members in kitchens were video-recorded
24-hour to uncover natural behaviours in actual context. Such method was not feasible in the other cultures forthe obvious reason of privacy. The design explorations eventually suggested interesting difference in the teams’
preference of approach to design issues.

16

The Korean methods inclined to solve problems with information technology, in support with theuser-interaction being emphasized. This is well represented by the “Shoppy” shopping system proposal for
efficiency in people-system communication and convenience, its purposes are as follows:

Organizes all the process of shopping, from list-up to checkout and recording.



Offers tangible information and communication during shopping.

Scans the barcode of an item and gets the information.

Transfer data to other family members, if necessary.

Fig. 14: The big device is for the shopping cart, while the small portable version is for user. Theme: From menu
preparation to shopping. (Source: KAIST for Project “Chopsticks”)

When people shop in Korea, they normally would go to supermarket or discount shop. Recently, online
shopping has become easily accessible for every field of market, even food market. Today, there are service
providers, who provide ready-made menu or counseling about dietary menu. Usually, Korean housewife does all
the shopping. But shopping would be more complete and satisfactory if all the family members participated in
the shopping process of list-up, purchase, accounting, and record tallying. Housework needs to be shared withother family members to improve the relationship, even if members aren't at home. For list-up and purchase, it isimportant to get the list of shopping catalogue clearly. There is too much information in the shop. The shop
should offer authentic information, and comparison between different brands of the same products should beeasy to carry out. ‘SHOPPY’ proposes two products - Mobile Device and Cart Device in mart. Data such as
coupons and sale information are transferred to the mobile device at home. Before shopping, check the shopping
list and carrying the mobile device. In mart, mobile device scans the barcode. Then, detailed information isshown on the display and can be transferred to the mobile phone of family member. The detailed information
about shopping items is shown on the display of shopping cart device. Checkout is possible by passing the exit.
The purchasing information is read and automatically payment is made through the credit-card or bank account.
Also detailed payment information is recorded during the checkout.

17

Fig. 15: The whole system helps recipe planning, shopping, payment and inventory keeping.

18

The Japanese team tried to satisfy the user requirements through their philosophical judgment to enhancelife quality. The “Oven-theatre” represented one of the outcomes of their argument.

Fig. 16: Watching cooking is fun! Theme: From table-setting to Serving/storing and dining. (Source: Tsukuba
for Project “Chopsticks”)

Oven-theatre is a microwave oven that colours people’s eating experience. Technology can help to solve a
lot of tiring and troublesome working procedures in the kitchen such as cleaning, cooking, food storage andwaste disposal etc. Many kitchen technologies today are mainly focused on providing efficiency andconvenience to users, but cooking should be made fun too to people. The design thus aims to enhance family
relationship by maintaining the enjoyable spirit of cooking and dining through the application of humantechnology. Based on related information research, opportunity for all family members to get together to havedinner on weekdays is decreasing. On the contrary, such dinner gatherings on holidays have increased. Althoughfamily members may gather to dine, it is no indication of their happiness at mealtime. Such situations havebecome intensified recently. While survey indicated that many housewives deemed cooking as their hobbies andthat they are positive to work like table arrangement, the number of people who fall into this category iscomparatively small. It is necessary to find something that could make members of the family have fun while
having dinner together on weekends. “Theatre Oven” applies microwave technology. It could be used to heat the
food on dining table or people could take it with them everywhere. Heating the food on the table and at the sametime, family members can gather together to enjoy the food cooking process and the sharing of dishes.
Indirectly, in some way, the Oven is a tool to share members’ feelings. It also become can be an art object which
gives colours to the dining table and highlights the food’s flavours. It also appeals to kids because of its easy
application.

19

During the process of cooking, spotlight inside the oven ischanged variously like the food is being placed on the theatre.

Conventional oven keeps the
distance [relationship!]
between the one who ispreparing the food and theones who are waiting to dine.

We want to see the food is being cooked in the
microwave oven! I think it’s interesting!

Japanese eating habit haschanged a lot because of thefrozen food technology.
Families use frozen food andprecooked food are largely
increased in the recent 15
years.

Fig. 17: Cooking can be fun for all family members to share, instead of merely work for housewife.

20

The Chinese teams tend to be pragmatic. The Beijing group held the view that there is perhaps little needof high technology for solving design problems in their case. What may be more important would be thestrategic application and management of design and related techniques to tackle human issues/needs. The“Cookbar”, as has been described earlier (paragraph “5.4 The Design Attributes”, pp.14-16), is a one-stopself-service food shopping/preparation/dinning system that has well illustrated the point.

The Hong Kong Chinese team believed in the innovative application of appropriate and immediately
available technology to meet existing needs. The “dried seafood storage” that employs “Peltier” cooling andinduction charging, explained the argument.
.

Fig. 18: A storage system for expensive dried sea-foods, which family may be proud to show. Theme: Fromclean-up to storage of foods and foods waste disposal. (Source: PolyU for Project “Chopsticks”)

Dried seafood storage is a new storage system for expensive dry sea-foods. The upper echelon of Hong
Kong middle-class families consumes many dried sea-foods*, most of which are considered very fine food by
the locals. People usually purchase in bulk, at negotiated prices during the suitable seasons. Long term storage ofthe bought food stuff, which could be in terms of months/years, would be a problem. The preservation/storage isnormally the job of ordinary air-tight jars or the refrigerator. The former method requires the food contents to be
put under sunlight regularly to get rid of molds and excessive humidity. The latter keeps food too cold and tends
to dehydrate much water content, causing change of the food quality. There should be a controlled storage
environment for the better preservation of the dried sea-foods. Dry sea-foods should be kept in air-tightenvironment at a moderate temperature of 15-20 degree C, with 50-60% humidity. An air-tight container systemwith poor conductor (e.g. glass, single or double-sided walls) as wall materials. The “cool-dry” storage
environment is controlled by the “Peltier” electronic heat pump, electrically driven by the wireless DC“induction” charging. (Note the cross-section of the lid for cooling, in figure at middle of next page.)21

*Expensive dried sea-foods

Fish Maw

Abalones

Conpoys

Sea
Cucumbers

Shark Fins
Diagram indicates the heat dissipation and air flow after relocating the glass
container back to the stand.

Fig. 19: The technologies employed are exisitng versions, which are affordable by local SMEs.

22

7.

Conclusions and Suggestions
The exploration of Asian cultural issues in Design has contributed significantly to innovative ideas andrevolutionary concepts which may in turn lead to the emergence of products/systems that could be shared among
potential users of the many Asian cultures. The cross-cultural elements among the design outcomes are apparent
and it is suggested that a further comparison exercise would be beneficial to any future related study.

As a collaborative academic exercise, the project added value by structuring an environment for theparticipants to look in greater depth at their own culture in comparison to others’. The project allowed sharing ofvaried views/opinions from different cultures, thereby provoking and stimulating thoughts and awareness for the
topic of investigation. The complications in planning, management and control of the exercise were offset by theadded academic values. The project has proven that international collaboration of this scale is not only possible
but beneficial, in particular to helping to create a critical mass of academic interest for general Asian culturalissues in Design.

Another area of interest brought to attention by this study is the potential impact Asian culture and lifestyle
may have on future regional/global design applications. Exploring this topic further would be the next step after
the conclusion of this project.

23

REFERENCES & NOTES

1

LIU Guanzhong, 2003. In “Culture, Design & Lifestyle” Forum, Business of Design Week 2003. Hong Kong:HK Design Centre.
2

Liu developed the theory and methodology, which he termed “Affairology”.

3

HALL, Edward T., 1966. The Hidden Dimension. p. 188. (Original publication: Doubleday 1966). NY:

Anchor Books edition 1990.
4

LEE Kun-Pyo, 2003. “Understanding Cultural effects on Human Interactions with Design”. Business of

Design Week 2003. Hong Kong: HK Design Centre.
5

A term coined by Hall in his book: The Hidden Dimension (1966). See Note 2.

6

McKENZIE, Wark, 2003. Meanings of Culture. http://hsc.csu.edu.au/pta/scansw/culture.html.

7

O’HAGAN, Kieran, 2001. Cultural Competence in the Caring Professions: Towards Definition ofCulture and Cultural Identity. pp.27 – 43. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
8

HALL, Edward T., 1990. Silent Language. New York: Anchor Books.

9

The middle-class families, by observation and from data analysis, varied in terms of their dining preferences,

attitudes and habits. This was the result attributed from their previous cultural influences which primarily camefrom parents, peer groups, education and experiences. Based on such influences, different beliefs, behaviour andhabits were developed and all these formed special attitude in food preference for different families. Thus,
specific background and dining habit were shaped. The HK team divided the middle-class families into 5 groups:
A, B, C, D and E. According to the aspects of each group and in reference to the concept “Hierarchy of Needs”
argued by a group of sociologists and psychologists such as Abraham H. MASLOW. A pyramidal graph (Table2) was formulated to reflect characteristics about the families’ specific dining habits and preferences (which
covered shopping for food, preparing meals, dining as well as after-meal-cleaning and related activities, e.g.
storing of left-over food, disposal of food waste). Comparatively, families in Category “E” have less demands
and preferences of dining than those in “A”. But on the other hand, “A” had higher level of the 4Es than “B”.
The lower the levels in the “pyramid”, the more families match the criteria in the category. The 4Es: “Exposure”
that could be resulting from local/oversea experience, commercial/personal liaison contacts and activities suchas club-membership; “Experience” which could be from living, traveling and/or working; “Education” could beacademic and/or self-educated; “Esteem”, for example, could be attributed from the specialty in jobs.

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