Abstract

Individualized dining can be anxious and awkward experiences for people. Especially when it comes to the sharing style of some foods (e.g., hotpot, barbecue, etc.) In addition to the form of food, the perception of social judgment creates discomfort for the individual. This project aims to incorporate the 3D interior design to model a restaurant that has embedded interactive UX design in the physical environment so that solo guests can enjoy the comfort of dining alone.

A case in point, imagine yourself sitting in a crowded restaurant, a giant pot with hot soup boiling in front of you. Every other table around you has more than one person sitting by it; people are all eating with family or friends. Moreover, you saw the way that others look at you; you can feel the invisible social pressure in the air: why is this person alone in a hotpot restaurant? No one comes to eat this type of food alone. Even your waiter told you that you had enough food after you ordered three items because the food serving sizes are not for one. You start to feel a little embarrassed, but why should it be that way? You just want to eat some hotpot. That’s why a solo dining restaurant is needed.

In fact, solo living has become a global trend, whether people like it or not. Fourteen percent of adults choose to live alone in the United States. Americans eat more than half of their meals alone. Till 2017, China stands as the country with the most rapidly growing solo living population. In Japan, 23.3% of males remained single their entire lives, many by choice. Moreover, the four countries with the highest rate of people living alone are all from Europe. This evidence supports the need for people to have a wonderful place to eat by themselves.

The simple model of solo dining is the traditional high bar seat. This model does do not offer enough privacy to customers, and the distinct table format also outlines different dining statuses. In recent years, solo dining became more common, like the pop-up store EEN MAAL in Britain, which only serves table for one; single ramen booth in Korea and Japan, offer small booths for people to eat ramen by themselves. However, these formats still can’t achieve enough privacy, and servers are required.

Based on these findings, the project goal is to design a solo dining restaurant that offers a private dining room with abundant space; one side of the room installed with single side glass as the window or installation like aquariums, eliminating staring or scanning by others. The room will have clean and simple design style, which makes people feel comfortable but not pitiable. The ordering process will be accomplished by interactive interfaces embedded in the environment, such as in the dining table. And the since the interactions are applied to the space, the user can use them as a dashboard, which means it is not limited to one screen, instead the user can have multiple tasks performed at the same time (e.g., food ordering and user entertainment system at the same time.) Besides, the dishes will serve by a conveyor belt; no server is required. In addition to enjoying a great meal, the room also contains a full entertainment and working system for clients to customized their dining experiences.

The final deliverables of the project will incorporate 3D modeling for the restaurant structure and interior design. Besides, user interfaces for ordering and the entertaining system will be shown as UI/UX prototypes and interaction video. A final promotion video for the restaurant will also be exhibited as an overview of the project.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Restaurants--Design and construction; Single people--Services for; Chinese restaurants; Design--Human factors

Publication Date

12-20-2019

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Visual Communication Design (MFA)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Design (CAD)

Advisor

Mike Strobert

Advisor/Committee Member

Adam Smith

Advisor/Committee Member

Heidi Schlegel

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

Plan Codes

VISCOM-MFA

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