Overview

For our university studio, we explored the topic of food as a love language in Chinese immigrant families, looking into the connection between food and emotional resilience and how this intricate relationship influences the emotional development of their children.

Prepping for the setup

Role

User researcher, project manager

Timeline

6 weeks (April - May 2024)

🔄 Our Process

👩🏻‍💻 Desktop Research

We started with desktop research by conducting literature reviews to understand the role of food in Asian immigrant backgrounds and how it shapes cultural heritage, familial bonds, and the expression of love and care. The key findings from our research includes:

• ⚓️ Food as a cultural anchor

  Food is more than just sustenance;  In the conversation surrounding emotional resilience and generational trauma, food can function as a conduit for passing down traditions, stories, and a sense of belonging.

• 🧠 Emotional resilience

  In Chinese immigrant families, food-related trauma can be linked to cultural practices. Emotional resilience, shaped by family relationships and traditions, helps children adapt to new environments and cope with stressors.

• ❤️ Cultural variations in love languages within parent-child relationships

  In Chinese immigrant families, a love language is expressed through cultural practices such as sharing traditional food, preserving cultural identity, and nurturing intergenerational bonds. This reflects how love and emotional resilience are deeply connected to cultural heritage, family dynamics, and the navigation of generational trauma.

From our research, the shared themes we uncovered in Chinese immigrant families was the role of ‘food beyond sustenance’ and ‘food as a meeting place’. From here, we shaped our research objectives:

• To under cover the food related generational trauma Chinese immigrant families face and its effects on their children.

• How do these practices influence the emotional well-being of their children by examining the effects of generational trauma.

• How are different immigrant families expressing their love languages to their children?

Research boards exploring food, love and care in immigrant families

🎤 User Interviews

Ideation board for interview questions

🍲 Pop-Up Engagement: Flavours of the Past

Team

Ivy Kwan + 2 team members

Achievement

Highest mark in final assignment

We interviewed 9 participants of Chinese background, aged 10 to 60 and spanning two generations, to gather diverse perspectives on the role of food in their upbringing. The interview questions were carefully developed to ensure we collected insights that could inform and shape the design of our pop-up engagement.

Public pop-up engagement inviting the public to reflect on food, love and cultural connection.

To engage more diverse voices, we designed a pop-up activity in Chatswood, a neighbourhood with a strong Chinese community presence. Our pop-up concept, Flavours of the Past, centred on showcasing a range of Chinese dishes on a poster board with prompts and questions that invited participants to share their personal stories. We included prompts like:

• ⭐️ What’s something you wish you could say to your family?

• 💜 How is love expressed in your family?

• 🥢 What dish reminds you of home?

Over 40 people participated in our pop-up through sticky notes, drawings and reflections.

This method allowed for public engagement and storytelling, delving into the unique experiences of different immigrant families. We specifically designed activities that were easy to understand and accessible, yet engaging enough to encourage thoughtful reflection, sharing, and observation.

Participants engaged in the installation as they observed and contributed their stories.

😊 A glimpse of what was written on our collection of sticky notes:

“Thank you for always making yummy food!”

“I see your work and I’m thankful”

“My mum cooks me my favourite dishes”

📝 Follow-Up Interviews

Of the participants who left sticky notes at the installation, we conducted follow-up interviews with 17 to uncover deeper, personal stories behind their responses. Some of the responses we received included:

“My fondest childhood memory would be Chinese New Year’s dinner with the whole family. Because we’re all busy so that’s when we get to see everyone altogether.”

“I've found that especially since me and my siblings have grown up and our routines have changed and we do different things. The only time that we're all together is at dinner time. So I feel it's really important to have a consistent structure.”

🗂 Thematic Analysis

By conducting follow-up interviews, we were able to triangulate insights from the initial interviews, sticky notes, and later conversations, gaining a more nuanced understanding of these lived experiences.

To synthesise the qualitative data collected from interviews, sticky notes, and observations, we employed thematic analysis. This method allowed us to systematically identify patterns and recurring themes across participants’ experiences, providing a structured way to interpret their stories and reflections. By categorising and comparing insights, thematic analysis helped reveal the connections between cultural practices, family dynamics, and emotional resilience. We followed a collaborative process:

Step 1: Codes

First, each team member independently coded the interviews and extracted meaningful phrases. These formed our initial codes, which were then organised into 34 groups.

Breakdown of codes from interview transcripts

Grouping codes into sub-themes to identify significant broader patterns

🍜 Importance of Family Meals

Participants highlight how dining as a family, whether this be in silence or conversation, strengthens their bonds and creates lasting memories. The act of sharing meals, whether traditional dishes or special recipes passed down through generations, serves as a profound expression of love and care.

- “Just the idea of family and togetherness stems a lot from food”

💡 Reflections

As a second-generation Asian Australian, this project was both meaningful and enjoyable. It taught me the power of storytelling and the importance of thoughtful prompts in translating personal experiences into valuable insights. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to others’ stories; while each experience was unique, I often found myself relating to them. Growing up in a Chinese immigrant household, I experienced firsthand the role of food as a symbol of togetherness, cultural heritage, and familial bonds.

Throughout the project, we spoke to many people across different generations, languages, and cultural backgrounds and a common gesture was the act of preparation and silence. These moments carry deep meaning, care, respect, and connection in ways beyond verbal communication. I came to understand that silence and routine are not empty spaces, but powerful cultural expressions that shape relationships and convey love. This has influenced how I view storytelling, reminding me to attend not only to words, but also to the gestures, pauses, and rituals that hold unspoken significance.

🖇 Links

• Final Research Paper

• Group Report

• Thematic Analysis