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Kitchen remodeling seems to be the hot topic at usability conferences (and it has been for a few years). Every sample project I’ve worked on in conference tutorials has had something to do with a kitchen redesign and its technologies. I’m thrilled, of course, I THRIVE on soon having my own dream kitchen.

It finally struck me as odd last week during a tutorial at the UPA conference that everyone is focussed on technologies that make “the list” (shopping list) easier. We all moan about keeping and managing “the list” and desire the fridge that tracks your foods via RFID’s. We all crave the technology that creates our list based on recipe selections. But, wait…why are we so obessesed with “the list”?

Instantaneously it dawned on me that what I really want is a 180 from “the list” technology. I want an “unlist” technology. After all, how does “the list” technology help our lives when it adds administrative work to our chores? The technology gives us “the list”, and now requires we labor in order to comply with our end of the interaction. You must pick out all the items from “the list”, or you may not be having the 5-course dinner you’ve planned for friends. And, “the list” only drives you to buy tons of stuff…what happens when you’re left with tons of LEFTOVER stuff? Egads.

I want a technology that manages “the stuff” for me. I want to fill my Simon Delivers cart with all the veggies, cheeses, olives, pesto sauce, anchovies, pita, tahini, etc. that I crave. Pile it in; I know its feasible to eat a jar of tahini before it goes bad, and that I like it enough to eat it semi-frequently. “The list” is imbued with administrative work…chores, tasks, management and other hair-pulling time-wasters. Additionally, there are potential economic losses if you don’t keep up your administrative work. How many times have we thrown away food because we can’t keep up? We come home from our labor and become slaves of our bodily needs and culinary desires.

Please, let’s change our focus! No more brainstorming for aiding “the list”. DITCH THE LIST! We need a technology that knows what we have (based on our Simon Delivers invoices, perhaps), and spits out the recipes based on what’s in stock (in our own pantries!) When I actually use a suggested recipe, I give it a tick in the system. Within time, the system gets to know me and my tastes and preferences, and the suggestions continue and grow. Perhaps within even a bit more time, the system recognizes what delicacies I’ve lacked and makes some suggestions for new cheeses, or organic waffles.

“Recipe”, to me, is loosely defined. Recipes perhaps provide foundations, a la “Cooking Without a Book” (as ironic as it is, its my favorite cookbook.) I want to spend my time creatively, focussing on preferable herb/spice balances, diverse cooking methods and temperatures, etc. I really REALLY want to get rid of the time spent on food management.

I’ve gone back and forth about whether this technology should be driven by my preferred grocer or independently. My gut always returns to the independent vendor…I don’t want my food styles to be driven by what my grocer selects to stock. It should probably be a Web-based software application, since it can a continuously-changing database based on foods that go on and come off the market. It must be in touch with the real world of groceries. It must also be in touch with my region and the foods that are in harvest at the moment, facilitating a microbiotic diet.

Otherwise, in the meantime, if any of you know a service that can do this for me, please send along the URL.