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I think it looks fantastic but I'm not sure it's not a bit style over substance. What you really need is the critical path mapped out rather than multiple task

I think it looks fantastic but I'm not sure it's not a bit style over substance. What you really need is the critical path mapped out rather than multiple tasks in parallel. People generally cook doing one thing at a time - prep this, chop this, add to pan, now chop this so on and so forth. For a nervous cook I can see this being slightly confusing, or at least a non-optimal presentation of the information. For an experienced cook it's just noise. I think you're onto something laying things out visually, I'm just not sure that this is the way it will work best.

swalberg 16y ago
I'm going to go out on a limb and say this app doesn't target experienced cooks. I classify myself as one of those and would agree, a lot of this is (beautiful) noise. Some recipes won't translate well either. But for people who are not at all adventurous in the kitchen, I think this is a great way to get them into cooking more than just hamburgers and frozen pizza. Consider a recipe like chicken cacciatore. It's easy to make, but involves several parts. Experienced cooks recognize the patterns; prepare sauce while you get the chicken started, then braise. But look at the recipes out there and it's a mess. A flow diagram is a great way to getting someone to say "this is something I can do".
- Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
  I agree that it's not for experienced cooks but I think an inexperienced cook wants what to do step by step where this sets things out in parallel. If you start down one arrow with this you're going to find yourself getting to a point where you're expected to have done a bunch of other things. It's a good overview of the whole process but I'm not sure it helps the person going "what do I do next?" Maybe there could be two views - the flow chart which is the overview as many people want to know where they're heading before they start out and how it all links up, and a step by step which guides people through it in the order they'd do things? I'm not saying I don't like the idea, I just think it needs a bit of work.
  - jasonlotito 16y ago
    Have to agree with this thread. Interesting idea, still needs actual work. Inexperienced cooks will be all over the place. Experienced cooks will be frustrated with the limitations. As an experience cook myself, I'm frustrated just by looking at the screenshots.

swalberg 16y ago

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this app doesn't target experienced cooks. I classify myself as one of those and would agree, a lot of this is (beautiful) noise. Some recipes won't translate well either. But for people who are not at all adventurous in the kitchen, I think this is a great way to get them into cooking more than just hamburgers and frozen pizza. Consider a recipe like chicken cacciatore. It's easy to make, but involves several parts. Experienced cooks recognize the patterns; prepare sauce while you get the chicken started, then braise. But look at the recipes out there and it's a mess. A flow diagram is a great way to getting someone to say "this is something I can do".

Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
I agree that it's not for experienced cooks but I think an inexperienced cook wants what to do step by step where this sets things out in parallel. If you start down one arrow with this you're going to find yourself getting to a point where you're expected to have done a bunch of other things. It's a good overview of the whole process but I'm not sure it helps the person going "what do I do next?" Maybe there could be two views - the flow chart which is the overview as many people want to know where they're heading before they start out and how it all links up, and a step by step which guides people through it in the order they'd do things? I'm not saying I don't like the idea, I just think it needs a bit of work.
- jasonlotito 16y ago
  Have to agree with this thread. Interesting idea, still needs actual work. Inexperienced cooks will be all over the place. Experienced cooks will be frustrated with the limitations. As an experience cook myself, I'm frustrated just by looking at the screenshots.