Is it right to use a float numbers instead of text in design

Question

We have a design that indicate the user about the measurement of food ingredients

For example:

• 1.5 cup
• 0.5 cup

Is it right to use it as above or replace it with

• 1 cup and half
• A half of cup

Answer 1

I would prefer to see it as a fraction, e.g. 1 1/2 cups or as a decimal number (1.5 cup, your first proposal).

Chefkoch (a German website about cooking) uses fractions for whole pieces and decimal numbers for weights or volumes.

Answer 2

This will partly depend how you expect your recipes to be used. Are we talking about a recipe book? An app? A smart speaker skill?

In general I would probably avoid decimals -- when you're in the heat of the kitchen, the decimal point/period/comma is relatively easy to miss (especially if it has a speck of flour or a splash of sauce covering it up!), which could easily ruin your recipe. For this reason, it's fairly uncommon to see decimals in recipe books, at least the ones I have.

On the other hand, numbers are still easier to read at a glance than wordy sentences, so I kind of agree with @Nash that fractions might be the best option. Even if the small numerator/denominator are harder to read from a distance, it's immediately obvious at a glance that the required measurement is "one whole number plus a bit extra".