Comments on: Conveyor-belt sushi user experience learnings

By: Gino

Gino — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:16:45 +0000

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. . .

By: K

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 20:02:45 +0000

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?

By: Gino

Gino — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:08:55 +0000

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.

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:54:10 +0000

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”.

By: Gino

Gino — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:58:21 +0000

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.

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 07:16:48 +0000

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.