Page History

...

We are targeting MIT undergraduate students, all of whom eat. A major division exists in our user population between students who are on a meal plan and those who are not. Each of these two groups have their own subgroups. For those on a meal plan, there are students who are on the MIT House Dining plan (where a certain number of meals are provided every day in certain dorms), and there are those who are on the meal plan of some living group (like a fraternity, sorority, or independent living group). Among the students who are not on a meal plan, there are those students who cook regularly and those who eat out regularly.

Users in General

General Statistics:

• Age: 17 - 23
• Gender: roughly 45% Female, 55% Male
• Literate, and technologically adept**
  • Good typing skills
  **
  • Experienced with using a web browser
• Generally solitary** Some not willing to meet and/or form dining groups with strangers**
• May pset in a study group and sometimes eat with them**
• Eating habits vary per living group
• Very frequently multi-task.

Users on a Meal Plan
General Notes:

• Eating Habits **
  • May share at least some meals with large numbers of people
  • Might have some limited choice in what they eat

Student in FSILG Notes:

• Eating Habits**
  • Shares meals with large groups of friends
  **
  • Eats at the same location for every meal-plan prepared meal
• Usually has some say in what food is prepared**  
  • Usually only 1 menu per meal though
  **
  • May not be able to find out the menu before a meal
• Usually has access to communal food in order to cook with on occasion
• Usually has access to nice cooking environment (commercial grade kitchen, lots of pots/pans, etc.)
• Persona:**
  • Name: Andrew
  **
  • Age: 20 (Sophomore)
  **
  • Course 9
  **
  • Gets dinner 6 nights a week and lunch 6 days a week (if he goes back to his house)
  • Has to cook on one night of the week as part of a cooking team
  • Sometimes cooks on the weekends
  • Travel time is about 20 mins from campus
  • Likes watching movies
  • Uses Facebook a lot
  • Checks email a few times a day
  • Knows how to use a computer, but doesn’t know (or care) anything about how it works
  • Lives at the house and has his own fridge in his room*** his personal , though personal fridge is usually relatively empty

Student on MIT Dining Plan Notes:

• Eating Habits**
  • Eats in a large dining hall with other students
  **
  • May eat in a small group in this larger crowd
• Has very little say in what food is served**
  • However, usually can choose from a variety of options among the food served (i.e. several menus available)
  **
  • Can find the menu in advance on the MIT Dining website
• Exceptions to the above exist: some students on the required MIT Dining Plan don’t eat at the dining halls all the time, choosing instead to cook for themselves
• Persona:**
  • Name: Betty
  **
  • Age: 20 (Junior)
  **
  • Course 7
  **
  • Lives in McCormick

• • Doesn’t mind the new mandatory meal plan***
    • Really doesn’t like cooking
  • Generally stays in her own dorm for meals and eats with other people on her floor
  • Occasionally goes to another dorm if a lot of her friends are going
  • Has a personal fridge which is usually stuffed with leftovers
  • Athletic and really active in IM sports
  • Doesn’t do varsity sports because she prefers just playing for fun with friends
  • Relatively outgoing
  • Very computer savvy** {*}**
    • Knows enough programming to hack small odds and ends on the side
    {*}
    • Checks Facebook and Twitter with her phone a few times a day
    ***
    • Checks e-mail every 8 mins or so

Users Not on a Meal Plan
General notes:

...

• Can more carefully monitor what they eat (and how much they spend on it)
• Seem to generally be willing to splurge every once in a while to get higher quality ingredients
• Often motivated to cook because it’s much cheaper than going out or buying in to the MIT meal plan
• Eats either alone or with small groups of friends/neighbors
• Goes to cooking websites for recipes, etc.** (usually have just one that they really like)
• Persona:** Name: Christina** Age: 18 (Freshman)** Wants to be course 6.3** Cooks for herself because she’s pescetarian (vegetarian + fish)** Really enjoys cooking with/for groups of people*** Tries to organize meals usually about once a week
  • Has easy access to a basic kitchen on her floor
  • Doesn’t have her own fridge because there’s plenty of space in the communal fridge/freezer
  • Keeps a drawer well stocked with spices and seasonings
  • Goes grocery shopping twice a month
  • Really likes card games, and plays with people on her floor regularly for study breaks
  • Knows how to use a computer efficiently (including web browser), but doesn’t know anything about programming yet
  • Checks email once a day

...

• Have a huge say in what they eat, but less of a say in what ingredients go into what they eat.
• Don’t always know nutritional information about food consumed** Might not care
• Spend more on food than people who cook all the time** It’s usually more expensive to eat out
• Goes out once in a while with small groups of friends
• Orders food through websites like CampusFood.com, etc.
• Persona:** Name: Dave** Age: 21 (Senior)** Course 8** Goes out to eat at Pour House on Saturdays with a group of other course 8 seniors** Orders food every 2 or 3 days, and saves the leftovers for the days in between*** Generally orders large quantities of food, like a large pizza or a large dish of pasta or chinese food
  • Has a personal fridge to store the food in
  • Always looking for a good deal on food, and uses online coupons*** Also uses sites like BuyWithMe or Groupon for discounts
  • Really into console gaming
  • Plays a lot of Halo with a group of friends in his dorm
  • Uses computer a lot; checks e-mail constantly
  • Can type quickly
  • Checks facebook maybe once a month. Doesn’t know what Twitter is. Never goes on Youtube

...

• Specify a new food log entry
• Enter information pertaining to the food eaten, such as:** Type of meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, other)** Date** What food items were eaten*** User can optionally choose this from the list of food in possession
  • Optionally for each food item:** {*}Amount of item eaten{*}** Food group that item belongs to*** Calories
    • Cost
• Submit information
• As an alternative to the above, if a user is a member of a Group (see section IV below), user can simply import a Group food entry to own food log** User can further edit this entry once it is imported (e.g. to delete items he or she did not actually eat, or to add items)

...

• Specify data range for statistics
• Specify the type of analytics desired. Can sort by trends in:** Proportions of different food groups** Food costs** Calorie consumption

Possible errors:

• User specified impossible date range (going backwards in time)
• User has no food history, and thus no statistics to display

...

• Specify a new food log entry
• Enter information pertaining to the food eaten, such as:** Type of meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, other)** Date** What food items were eaten*** User can optionally choose this from the list of food in possession
  • Optionally for each food item:** {*}Amount of item eaten{*}** Food group that item belongs to*** Calories
    • Cost
• Submit information

Possible errors:

...