<story><title>Nutella &apos;Hired&apos; an Algorithm to Design New Jars. And It Was a Sell-Out Success</title><url>https://www.inc.com/betsy-mikel/can-robots-do-the-job-of-designers-nutella-gives-it-a-whirl.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>moftz</author><text>I was hoping the algorithm was to design a new shape of a jar rather than the label of the jar. There are tons of variables and constraints to consider for the jar shape. You want something easy for people to scoop out the product and to get all of it without wasting anything (or maybe an acceptable amount of waste so they go buy a new jar sooner but don&amp;#x27;t feel like they waste money). Also lid shape and size, easy to open and close but as minimal as possible. How efficient can you pack the jars in a box while keeping the box weight under whatever the standard person should carry without needing help. And also how easy it is to actually make the injection molded jar, too complex a design would cause too many jar rejects. And also just overall look, does the jar look like a jar? Human designers usually have a general idea of what a container should look like before adjusting the design to be cost efficient but if you give a computer program just a list of constraints and tell it to go wild, I&amp;#x27;m sure you would get some innovative designs that most people wouldn&amp;#x27;t think of.&lt;p&gt;Think back to when condiments started coming in the upside down squeeze bottles. No company immediately went from the glass ketchup bottle to the upside down squeeze bottle overnight so it was a long process of interim designs until someone realized what the ideal shape and features the current ketchup bottle should have. Sometimes the most common design practice isn&amp;#x27;t necessarily the best or cheapest. Bottled water used to be made of very thick plastic with large caps that were sometimes not able to be recycled. The designs have changed to more thinner, ergonomic shapes with better usage of materials both as a cost cutting effort and a green effort. It would be interesting to see genetic algorithms used for things like packaging design in the future.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>malandrew</author><text>Me too. The nutella jar is such an awkward and messy shape to get nutella out off, especially as it gets emptier and emptier. I would prefer it in a regular wide-mouth jar if that were available.&lt;p&gt;Even better, give me nutella in caulk gun form. No wastage, accuracy in application to your toast and you just need to wipe the nozzle to keep it clean. No knife or spoon to clean either. There are tons of condiments I would prefer in caulk gun form. For jams and jellies, there would be no excess air that result in spoilage from when bacteria and fungi get in the jar. Thicker jams with fruit chunks can just use a larger nozzle.</text></comment>
<story><title>Nutella &apos;Hired&apos; an Algorithm to Design New Jars. And It Was a Sell-Out Success</title><url>https://www.inc.com/betsy-mikel/can-robots-do-the-job-of-designers-nutella-gives-it-a-whirl.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>moftz</author><text>I was hoping the algorithm was to design a new shape of a jar rather than the label of the jar. There are tons of variables and constraints to consider for the jar shape. You want something easy for people to scoop out the product and to get all of it without wasting anything (or maybe an acceptable amount of waste so they go buy a new jar sooner but don&amp;#x27;t feel like they waste money). Also lid shape and size, easy to open and close but as minimal as possible. How efficient can you pack the jars in a box while keeping the box weight under whatever the standard person should carry without needing help. And also how easy it is to actually make the injection molded jar, too complex a design would cause too many jar rejects. And also just overall look, does the jar look like a jar? Human designers usually have a general idea of what a container should look like before adjusting the design to be cost efficient but if you give a computer program just a list of constraints and tell it to go wild, I&amp;#x27;m sure you would get some innovative designs that most people wouldn&amp;#x27;t think of.&lt;p&gt;Think back to when condiments started coming in the upside down squeeze bottles. No company immediately went from the glass ketchup bottle to the upside down squeeze bottle overnight so it was a long process of interim designs until someone realized what the ideal shape and features the current ketchup bottle should have. Sometimes the most common design practice isn&amp;#x27;t necessarily the best or cheapest. Bottled water used to be made of very thick plastic with large caps that were sometimes not able to be recycled. The designs have changed to more thinner, ergonomic shapes with better usage of materials both as a cost cutting effort and a green effort. It would be interesting to see genetic algorithms used for things like packaging design in the future.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>princeb</author><text>the nutella jar is rather iconic. it&amp;#x27;s like the contour bottle or the happy meal box. there are probably efficiency reasons to change it, but i don&amp;#x27;t know if they will.</text></comment>