about

At meals, we typically do one of two things.

We either were taught to finish our plates and not waste food, or we learn its ok to overload our larger than normal sized plates and toss away leftovers. Previous generations had a standard 9”dinner plate. Modern dinner plates are anywhere from 10-14+ inches. 

There are two outcomes from this, we either consume too much or throw away too much. According to the environmental protection agency in the USA, a family of four throws away an equivalent of $1600 a year on unused produce. It is estimated Americans throw away more than 50 million tonnes of food annually, contributing to green house gases since organic waste is the second largest component in land fills.

The progress plate sections off a quarter of the plate where users are encouraged to either leave the area empty, or fill the area but learn to leave food behind. 

Why not learn how to place less food on our plates in the first place?

PROCESS

What initially started as a senior thesis project focusing on the Obesity issue, eventually manifested into Progress Ware, a cup and plate designed to help steer users to eat up to 25% less per meal.

6 months were spent researching and another 6 spent analyzing data and prototyping various solutions. Obesity is a huge multifaceted issue that does not have one nice neat solution.  At the end of the day, the best approach was the simplest one, to remake a familiar object people can easily use.

Progress Ware is designed for daily use by acting as a catalyst for a bigger change by helping people accustom to consuming less first.

PSYCHOLOGY + EDUCATION

Obesity arose from a combination of problems, there is no easy solution. I did notice two recurring prominent themes, psychology & education. My goal was to design with these two themes in mind. 

Psychology:  The attitude and mentality makes a world of difference between those who overcome obesity and those who do not.

Education: Not knowing the serving size, nutritional value, what is the difference is between junk/fast food and "real" food is a main factor that prevents people from making the right dietary choices.