Presentation at 3rd Workshop for Multimedia for Cooking and Eating Activities at ACM International Conference on Multimedia, Dana Point, California Dec 2011.

1. What cooks need from multimedia
and textually enhanced recipes
Lucy Buykx, Helen Petrie
Human Computer Interaction Research Group,
Dept of Computer Science, University of York

2. Background

Earlier systems to help cooks have different
goals
To help novice cooks (Ju et al 2001)
 To reduce errors (Tran et al 2005)
 To increase efficiency (Hamada et al 2005)



To increase confidence (Mennicken et al 2010)
Share a similar approach to recipe
Transform text into short steps
 Enhance with multimedia


3. This study

Tests



Control format vs short steps
Ingredient measures in steps
Measures

Time taken to complete recipe (efficiency)

Post recipe rating (experience)

Post recipe feedback (problems,
preferences)

4. Study design

3 recipes


Lemongrass & lime chicken burgers


Spicy bean and tomato dip
Key lime pie
3 conditions

Control (as published)

Simple step-by-step

Edited step-by-step

5. Participants

24 cooks

18-25 years

equal male/female

92% (22) cook more than 4 days a week

37% (9) use a recipe once in 2 weeks

6. Protocol

Brief & kitchen explore

Complete participant profile

Cook recipes x 3



Cook recipe
Complete post-recipe questionnaire
Debrief, pack & take home food

7. Recipe text conditions
Control
Simple
step-by-step
Edited
step-by-step

8. Control condition

9. Transformation: ControlSimple
Control
1.
2.
3.
4.
Simple
step-bystep
Edited
step-bystep
a) Identify tasks within steps
b) Split out into steps
c) Renumber steps
Soak the black beans…
Heat the oil in a saucepan set over high heat and add the red pepper and
onion. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for about 8 minutes. Add the
cumin, garlic and chilli and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the beans,
tomatoes, vinegar and passata and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and
simmer rapidly for 10 minutes, until almost all the liquid has evaporated and the
tomatoes start to look mushy.
Preheat the grill…
Transfer the bean mixture…

10. Transformation: ControlSimple
Control
1.
2.
3.
4.
Simple
step-bystep
Edited
step-bystep
a) Identify tasks within steps
b) Split out into steps
c) Renumber steps
Soak the black beans…
Heat the oil in a saucepan set over high heat || and add the red pepper and
onion. || Reduce the heat to low, || cover and cook for about 8 minutes. || Add
the cumin, garlic and chilli || and cook for a further 2 minutes. || Add the beans,
tomatoes, vinegar and passata ||and bring to the boil. || Reduce the heat|| and
simmer rapidly for 10 minutes, until almost all the liquid has evaporated and the
tomatoes start to look mushy.
Preheat the grill…
Transfer the bean mixture…

11. Simple step-by-step condition

12. Transformation: SimpleEdited
Control
Simple
step-bystep
Edited
step-bystep
a) Identify tasks within ingredients
b) Move tasks to steps in method section
c) Add ingredient measures to steps
1/2 small red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
125 ml passata

13. Transformation: SimpleEdited
Control
Simple
step-bystep
Edited
step-bystep
a) Identify tasks within ingredients
b) Move tasks to steps in method section
c) Add ingredient measures to steps
1/2 small red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
125 ml passata

14. Edited step-by-step condition
Control
Simple
step-bystep
Edited
step-bystep
1/2 small red pepper
1 small red onion
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 garlic clove
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small red chilli
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
125 ml passata
1.
2.
3.
4.
Deseed and thinly slice ½ small red pepper
Thinly slice 1 small red onion
Finely chop 1 garlic clove
Chop 2 tomatoes….

15. Edited step-by-step condition

16. Results

Time taken to complete recipe

Post recipe ratings

Post recipe feedback

17. Time taken to complete

Key lime pie recipe

No significant
difference in mean time
to complete recipe

Variation in cooks
higher than between
conditions

Efficiency measures
not appropriate for
domestic cooks

18. Post recipe rating
Were the instructions clear?

19. Post recipe rating
Were the instructions easy to follow?

20. Post recipe feedback

Free form comments in addition to scores

61 comments from 20 cooks

Sorted into categories

Dense steps cause frustration (10 comments)

Ingredient measures not in step (7 comments)

Queries about technique (15 comments)

Queries about interim or end state (6 comments)

Want visuals (6 comments)

21. Post recipe feedback:
dense steps
About recipes in control condition:
“The text was difficult to read as it was one solid
block. Had to reread a number of times to feel
confident in what I was doing.” (Cook 11)
“The second step could have been broken down in
two steps because when read on the ipad, the vast
amount of text cluttered the screen and made it
seem more complex than it actually was.” (Cook 23)
“Some bits had lots of text in one massive paragraph
- means that you have to read through it a number
of times to find the bit you need.” (Cook 4)

22. Post recipe feedback:
ingredient measures
About recipes in control & simple step-by-step
condition:
“it is better to include the quantity of ingredients
required in the instructions on iPad” (cook 1)
“One issue I found was that I kept having to refer
back to the first page, on which the ingredients
were listed, and it was a bit annoying” (cook
15)
“Quite a lot of annoyance with flipping back and
forth between pages, back to see amounts
needed and forward to see what to do next”
(cook 7)

23. Post recipe feedback:
state query
“It would be nice to get information on the
consistency and maybe texture of the food
in the making, depending on the step you
are at.” (cook 21)
“crushed garlic to me implies a crushed clove,
and in a burger, minced is more
appropriate” (cook 18)
“recipe didn’t mention whether or not to
remove coriander stalks” (cook 24)

24. Post recipe feedback:
technique query

“not very clear about the way to chop the
tomatoes” (cook 3)

“slightly ambiguous statements like ‘mix
well’ although common in recipes not quite
clear” (cook 4)

“the onion needed to be grated but I wasn’t
sure which side of the grater to use” (cook 12)

25. Post recipe feedback:
want visuals
“I’d have really liked a photograph (possibly
at key stages) to know what I should be
aiming for” (cook 11)
“I think if there are some pictures to illustrate
what it looks like in important steps will be
fantastic” (cook 22)
“I believe that when consulting recipes people
are very visual and like to know what their
food is going to look like in the end so they
can make comparisons and such” (cook 23)

26. In summary

Different recipe conditions did not effect
time or score

But comments show different experience
 Smaller
steps useful
 Ingredient
 Photos
measures preferred
desired
 Technique
& ingredient states benefit from
extra info

Support for recipe enhancement

27. Questions

Lucy Buykx buykx@cs.york.ac.uk

Helen Petrie petrie@cs.york.ac.uk