Acculturation through Food Design: Playful Small-Talk Interactions in Shared Kitchens
Z. ZHANG (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
H.N.J. Schifferstein – Mentor (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
Z. Peng – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
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Abstract
This design project addresses the social anxiety of 'small talk'—a key manifestation of acculturative stress—experienced by Chinese international students in multicultural shared kitchens. Using a Double Diamond framework, the study employed mixed methods to define the core challenge as fostering connection during task-focused "parallel work."
An initial "content-driven" prototype, a TV app providing conversational topics, failed in usability testing, proving that demanding active attention creates cognitive burden rather than easing social pressure. This failure prompted a crucial pivot to an "atmosphere-driven" design philosophy. The final design, "Fruit & Veggie Fireworks," is an ambient installation that transforms cooking sounds into visual "seeds" and vocal interactions into blooming "fireworks." The evaluation confirmed its effectiveness in lowering the barrier to conversation and reframing shared silence from awkward to anticipatory.
The study’s primary contribution is the "atmosphere-driven" design strategy, which posits that for social challenges in "parallel work" contexts, the most effective intervention is not to directly stimulate conversation, but to first reshape the environment's ambient qualities to create fertile ground from which low-pressure interaction can naturally emerge.