"The struggle is a part of the experience": Engaging Discontents in the Design of Family Meal Technologies

TL;DR

This paper explores the social and emotional complexities of family meals, highlighting tensions and discontents to inform more nuanced design of family meal technologies.

Contribution

It introduces the concepts of generative and systemic discontents to challenge existing design approaches for family meal technologies.

Findings

Family meals involve complex social and emotional dynamics.

Discontents can be generative for new design ideas.

Design should address systemic family tensions.

Abstract

Meals are a central (and messy) part of family life. Previous design framings for mealtime technologies have focused on supporting dietary needs or social and celebratory interactions at the dinner table; however, family meals involve the coordination of many activities and complicated family dynamics. In this paper, we report on findings from interviews and design sessions with 18 families from the Midwestern United States (including both partners/parents and children) to uncover important family differences and tensions that arise around domestic meal experiences. Drawing on feminist theory, we unpack the work of feeding a family as a form of care, drawing attention to the social and emotional complexity of family meals. Critically situating our data within current design narratives, we propose the sensitizing concepts of generative and systemic discontents as a productive way towards troubling the design space of family-food interaction to contend with the struggles that are a part of everyday family meal experiences.