Comments on: General Mills and Post: Poor Mathematicians? http://www.willykjellstrom.com/general-mills-and-post-are-poor-mathematicians/ Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:13:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: kjellwr4 http://www.willykjellstrom.com/general-mills-and-post-are-poor-mathematicians/comment-page-1/#comment-241 kjellwr4 Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:29:10 +0000 http://edfoc.us/?p=639#comment-241 Ah... Leave it to a usability expert to think of something that is a wonderful rationale for the current packaging dimensions! Never thought of the need to grip it with one hand. Good point- I rarely (if ever) pour my cereal with two hands. That being said, is the convenience of the one-handed pour reason enough for the economic/ecological changes of minimizing surface area so that the box is more cube-like? I guess I am working from the assumption that people have two hands which isn't necessarily the correct perspective. Furthermore, all cereal boxes have an inner, flexible plastic packaging that can be gripped with one hand... Thanks for the comment. Ah… Leave it to a usability expert to think of something that is a wonderful rationale for the current packaging dimensions! Never thought of the need to grip it with one hand. Good point- I rarely (if ever) pour my cereal with two hands.

That being said, is the convenience of the one-handed pour reason enough for the economic/ecological changes of minimizing surface area so that the box is more cube-like? I guess I am working from the assumption that people have two hands which isn’t necessarily the correct perspective. Furthermore, all cereal boxes have an inner, flexible plastic packaging that can be gripped with one hand…

Thanks for the comment.

]]> By: ER http://www.willykjellstrom.com/general-mills-and-post-are-poor-mathematicians/comment-page-1/#comment-240 ER Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:48:10 +0000 http://edfoc.us/?p=639#comment-240 ??? Ergonomics... is a 5 inch box too large for the average hand to grip... prior to everything being "supersized"? Check out Dr. Math's formula http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/56486.html And the grip sizes of the tennis players... it also seems like other packages no matter how tall or wide accommodate hand grip size to some level... just a thought! 8) http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/archive/index.php/t-100088.html ??? Ergonomics… is a 5 inch box too large for the average hand to grip… prior to everything being “supersized”?
Check out Dr. Math’s formula
http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/56486.html
And the grip sizes of the tennis players… it also seems like other packages no matter how tall or wide accommodate hand grip size to some level… just a thought! 8)
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/archive/index.php/t-100088.html

]]> By: Dan on Dan: Storytelling « Willy Kjellstrom: Portfolio & Blog http://www.willykjellstrom.com/general-mills-and-post-are-poor-mathematicians/comment-page-1/#comment-148 Dan on Dan: Storytelling « Willy Kjellstrom: Portfolio & Blog Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:23:16 +0000 http://edfoc.us/?p=639#comment-148 [...] down point for teachers, including me.  I struggled to come up with the proper question for the cereal box challenge which I did not include in the original post: What is the most cost-effective design for cereal [...] [...] down point for teachers, including me.  I struggled to come up with the proper question for the cereal box challenge which I did not include in the original post: What is the most cost-effective design for cereal [...]

]]> By: Jenn http://www.willykjellstrom.com/general-mills-and-post-are-poor-mathematicians/comment-page-1/#comment-94 Jenn Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:44:07 +0000 http://edfoc.us/?p=639#comment-94 I figured they made the boxes that way bc it gives them the largest visable surface area on the shelf in which to promote their cereal. Its all about advertising- that's why they spend so much on developing characters like Tony the Tiger and the Trix rabbit- and they spend the money to print them in color. I think it will be easier to convince some of the Kashi crowd cereal producers to change their box than the sugary cereal crowd. Great math skills lesson! I figured they made the boxes that way bc it gives them the largest visable surface area on the shelf in which to promote their cereal. Its all about advertising- that’s why they spend so much on developing characters like Tony the Tiger and the Trix rabbit- and they spend the money to print them in color. I think it will be easier to convince some of the Kashi crowd cereal producers to change their box than the sugary cereal crowd.
Great math skills lesson!

]]> By: Katie http://www.willykjellstrom.com/general-mills-and-post-are-poor-mathematicians/comment-page-1/#comment-93 Katie Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:12:05 +0000 http://edfoc.us/?p=639#comment-93 I think this is grand. I hope that someone from the cereal companies reads this and makes a change. I would buy cubes just because they were different. They would also make great stacking boxes for the boys. Then again they could be reused for more of an ecological benefit. I think this is grand. I hope that someone from the cereal companies reads this and makes a change. I would buy cubes just because they were different. They would also make great stacking boxes for the boys. Then again they could be reused for more of an ecological benefit.

]]> By: Willy http://www.willykjellstrom.com/general-mills-and-post-are-poor-mathematicians/comment-page-1/#comment-92 Willy Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:19:17 +0000 http://edfoc.us/?p=639#comment-92 Yes! I like it- another hidden math problem dealing with surface area and volume. How would you design a cereal box that maintains the current volume but maximizes the number of units in a specific shelf space? If you added some fictitious tables that contain information about the size of the forward-facing side of a cereal box and number of sales (because I imagine that plays into the current design), then that would add another dimension. Yes! I like it- another hidden math problem dealing with surface area and volume. How would you design a cereal box that maintains the current volume but maximizes the number of units in a specific shelf space? If you added some fictitious tables that contain information about the size of the forward-facing side of a cereal box and number of sales (because I imagine that plays into the current design), then that would add another dimension.

]]> By: Laura Deisley http://www.willykjellstrom.com/general-mills-and-post-are-poor-mathematicians/comment-page-1/#comment-91 Laura Deisley Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:56:46 +0000 http://edfoc.us/?p=639#comment-91 Fabulous on many levels. One could take the question a step further, beyond the design implications of the Golden Mean.If you are a product manager, trying to get your product stocked in a grocery store where there is limited shelf space (and you've got to pay for shelf space), what is the optimal package that maximizes the number of units you can stock in that space? What are all of the considerations? Again, fabulous interdisciplinary lesson that is ripe for middle school. (Hmmm...) Fabulous on many levels. One could take the question a step further, beyond the design implications of the Golden Mean.If you are a product manager, trying to get your product stocked in a grocery store where there is limited shelf space (and you’ve got to pay for shelf space), what is the optimal package that maximizes the number of units you can stock in that space?

What are all of the considerations? Again, fabulous interdisciplinary lesson that is ripe for middle school. (Hmmm…)

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