A descriptive design for a smart kitchen management application (SKM)

Abstract

This research aimed to design a mobile application for smart kitchen management (SKM) for reducing the number of purchased kitchen items/ingredients derived from ignorant and unorganised behaviour. The UML (Unified Modeling Language) and Z schemata were used in a design process to represent discourses associated with the system. The logical arguments defined in the SKM state schema and operation schema enforce essential rules regarding how the SKM should be designed. The SKM was also experimented with 180 participants, who were required to answer the questionnaire comprising question items adapted from USE Questionnaire for measuring four usability dimensions of the SKM (i.e., usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning, and satisfaction). The experimental results showed that the application could function properly and had potential to address the number of unnecessary purchases of kitchen items/ingredients and also prioritised the importance of such items/ingredients. The participants were satisfied with the application and perceived that the application was easy to use and useful for kitchen management allowing them to prepare a list of ‘to be purchased’ items/ingredients more efficiently.