26 Apr 2007 2023H

Conveyor-belt sushi user experience learnings

From trivia about kaiten sushi in the US

So, this blog is called “everything is design,” right? Then you shouldn’t be surprised to hear there’s a few user experience learnings from the kaitenzushi experience described earlier below.

As we were leaving, I noticed E picked up a laminated menu sized card and was staring hard at it. As it turned out, it talked about design decisions in laying out the restaurant and the systems that make it run. Since I had my camera, I snapped a picture of the card. Since it’s small and not easy to read, I’ll just write out the copy here.

Why does the lane move clockwise?
You may have noticed that all of the sushi at a Kaiten Sushi restaurant is moving in a clockwise direction. According to statistics, a majority of people a [sic] dominant right eye. People who have dominant right eyes find it easier to watch something moving from right to left. This is why you will usually find that the sushi is moving in a clockwise direction. It is also easier for right-handed people to take a sushi plate moving from right to left.

[Commentary: This is a user goal and it should be in the personas. If personas really describe edge cases, would you design this thing to be moving left to right and design it so it favors left-handed users? Likely not. Obviously, design's challenge is to make it easy to use something without favoring either left or right handed users, or left/right eye dominant users.]

Why does the same sushi come out successively?
Sometimes, it is difficult for people to decide which sushi they want to eat. If we mix the sushi up, it is hard for them to distinguish which one they want to eat. Therefore, we put three of the same sushi in a row. This makes it easier for our customers to examine and carefully choose which sushi they really want to eat.

[Commentary: Rule of Seven applies as well. Human short term memory tends to keep 7±2 items in the noggin at any given time, so, particularly with unfamiliar cultural items like sushi where the terms and goods are foreign and people are still getting used to the experience, this tends to make it easier to "learn" the order of the list, which is a part of the usability criteria. The portions, which come in twos and threes, tend towards the small, so if you have four people, you'll need at least two, which is also interesting. I won't go into the symbology of numbers in East Asian culture, since I think the economics drives this show.]

How fast does the conveyor move?
If the conveyor moves too slow, it can get frustrating waiting for the sushi you want to eat. If the conveyor is moving too fast, it is difficult to decide which sushi you want and still have time to take it. We have found that the best speed is approximately 10 centimeters per second [Ed.: a little less than 4 in. a second, or .224 miles/hr]. This allows our customers ample time to decide which sushi they really want and still have time to take it.

[Commentary: I love kaizen. And there are those even within our space who believe that metrics and analytics aren't important to the work we do, or applicable beyond the web. Newsflash: these techniques came from outside web work into the web work. We didn't reinvent the wheel. ]

Why do people tend to eat more?
Originally humans had to hunt for their food. Studies have shown that we have a habit to chase objects with our eyes. When following food, our eye sight stimulates our appetite. Therefore, when people eat at a “Kaiten Sushi” restaurant, they tend to eat a little more than they would at a traditional sushi restaurant.

[Commentary: Okay. I don't know if the evidence to establish the causal link is strong enough to support this assertion. And the sushi is smaller than at say, places like Tampopo on Lincoln Ave near Bryn Mawr, which is probably my favorite sushi restaurant in Chicago, or the local takeout from Dempster Fish in Morton Grove, another fantastic Korean sushi place). Moving on . . . ]

“Kaiten Sushi” is cheaper and simple. The average meal time is approximately 15 to 30 minutes. People eat steadily for about 30 minutes until their blood sugar level rises and their stomach tells them that they are full.

[Commentary: I love kaizen. All true. Interesting how the biology of eating comes into play here. The average meal time metric is pretty important actually, since it factors into the pricing model. Operationally, you have these costs which can be quite variable, fish being what it is, so you want to minimize food costs and figure out the amount of time that people take on average to eat so you can max profit. Figure out what is important to measure and use it to max out your effectiveness.]

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6 responses to "Conveyor-belt sushi user experience learnings"

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27 Apr 2007 0116H

Todd writes:

Sometimes, it is difficult for people to decide which sushi they want to eat. If we mix the sushi up, it is hard for them to distinguish which one they want to eat
This seems to fit in with research into the variety of choices. In a nutshell, people tend to predict that a greater number of choices will make them happier. Yet, in studies they tend to be happier with their decision when forced to choose among fewer.
By providing multiple identical items within their periphery, they are confronted with fewer immediate alternatives. So, their tradeoff analysis is quicker and easier, probably leading to increased satisfaction. Unless they chose the fugu on a bad night.

27 Apr 2007 0758H

Gino writes:

Yes.

Consumers are drawn to displays of plenty, but happier (“more satisfied”) when they have fewer choices when they are trying to pick the best thing. That’s the important qualifier. With kaitenzushi — lots of choices, small multiples, smallish portions — you can try all the things that look interesting without incurring a penalty. Except on a bad fugu night, yes.

Also, I was just thinking about how when you eat at a high-end cuisine restaurant the portions aren’t large either, but the service is longer, and yet you feel full at the end of the meal. Perhaps there’s something to this idea that if you draw out the service with a slow belt and regularly delivered small portions, you won’t leave feeling hungry.

27 Apr 2007 0854H

Todd writes:

I think there’s something else to the “less food, yet as full” concept. I would agree that staggered delivery of small items is one factor that results in feeling full. It’s like the concept of eating small snacks throughout the day, rather than a 1 ginormous meal at dinner.

The other is that small plate haute cuisine is often eaten slower, with more attention paid to savoring the food. There’s some research that I remember from college that indicates more mastication tends to result in a greater “fullness”.

27 Apr 2007 0908H

Gino writes:

And yet, buffets afford the indiscriminate scarfing down of food! It is a puzzlement.

I was told in Catholic grade school that mastication would lead to blindness.

27 Apr 2007 1402H

K writes:

One of the WNYC shows (maybe Brian Lehrer?) a couple of weeks ago had on these people that had done some hunger study and they concluded that the stomache has three settings. Starving. Could eat. And full. Seriously. And they did this thing where they served all you can eat wings. They bused one section constantly and not so much another. The section that was bused? Ate more. So maybe people eat more since there isn’t food in front of them to remind them how much they’ve already eaten?

27 Apr 2007 1816H

Gino writes:

That is interesting. I’ve noticed that at buffets, that they take away plates. But I generally try to keep the same plate as before and just pile bones and shells on someone else’s. . .

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