The course in Multilayering at UID is a graphic design course that asks us to present several fields of information that change over time in one space. The product or system to be considered was of our choice and it was suggested that it not be interactive.

I chose to look beyond the screen and think about a grocery store receipt. I decided to not look too far out into a future where paper receipts become obsolete, but some technical assumptions were made nonetheless: better printing methods than those typically used today (color, high resolution, and fast printing). Techniques in use today (sorting of bought items into categories) were also considered.

Monospaced type remained even after having considered type with variable-character width.

A condensed receipt option was also shown to encourage more responsible use of paper. A 2D code readable by a mobile phone or desktop computer contains all the details.

My underlying goal was to surface information not typically expected of a receipt, without letting that information take center stage and possibly become an indictment. I wanted the receipt to perform its typical duty above all: show what was bought and how much was spent.

The hope is that the other layers of information (total caloric content and caloric content from fat, shown as blue bars behind product names) would trigger curiosity and start to reveal a buyer's consumption habits. That knowledge may, over time, alter those habits in a positive way.

A system that allows for this additional information to be shown (and with an appropriate technical infrastructure to support it), could highlight different types of nutritional facts. A regular shopper at a grocery store may be a discount-card holder, and that card could have an editable preference setting for the type of information that should be printed on the receipt that is most useful for that person: sugar content for diabetics, or calcium intake for those at risk for osteoporosis. Taking the idea out of the health realm, the carbon footprint of a product could also be highlighted, given that information already exists for the products in the store.

While the business viability of this idea was not a required consideration for the course, this service could be a differentiator for a grocery store chain just as it could be an open standard embraced by more than one.

It could also be a health ministry mandate (as experiment) to encourage healthier diets.