Revamping Yakitori NYC's Ordering Experience
Yakitori NYC is a fictional name representing a real restaurant in NYC. Their reservation entails a phone booking and requirement to order food before arrival. The process strains both the restaurant and customers and highlights a need for improvement. I embarked on a 4-week solo project as a UX Researcher and UX/UI Designer to address the operational challenges of the restaurant.
Objective
My goal in this project was to address Yakitori NYC's reservation inefficiencies through a responsive website. By simplifying the booking and food selection process, I aimed to enhance customer satisfaction and ease the operational burden for both parties. The objective was clear: optimize efficiency and streamline ordering interactions of Yakitori NYC.
Initiating the Research
I compiled a list of objectives to guide my research, aiming to understand various perspectives involved in restaurant reservations, including both staff and customers.
Understand the current reservation process.
Identify customer goals and pain points.
Explore how groups gather orders.
Determine customers' needs for successful online ordering.
Identify the business requirements for reservations.
Assess user preferences for devices and viewing minimum spending requirements.
Immersing in the Problem
I engaged with the restaurant through phone calls to experience the reservation process firsthand. I identified four roles involved and created a swimlane diagram to illustrate their tasks.
Interviews
3 individuals were interviewed on their dining experiences, aiming to uncover additional challenges faced when dining in large groups.
Key Insights
Users need to track personal and group orders.
Visibility of remaining spending helps planning.
Groups must easily meet spending requirements.
Access to restaurant information is crucial for coordination.
Defining the Data
Customer Needs
Menu
Spending requirements
Reminders
Order summary
Total cost
Restaurant Needs
Preorder list
Organizer contact
Date, time, and party size
Credit card
Focusing on a Dining Situation
Pseudo personas were created to concentrate on specific customer scenarios. The "Collaborators" persona was chosen for the project because the scenario was most present in user research.
Ideation
Aiming to minimize reliance on intermediaries, I redesigned the reservation process using a new swimlane diagram.
Taskflows
Design and Prototyping
Structure
A sitemap of the original Yakitori NYC website was created for me to analyze user page navigation.
Based on the research data, before users select a restaurant, they need to know the style of cuisine and menu that is offered. I worked on a sitemap redesign that aimed to prioritize user needs based on research data.
Responsive Homepage Design
The purpose of my homepage is designed to communicate the type of dining experience Yakitori NYC can offer to visitors. That way they can decide if the restaurant is worth visiting.
Direct navigation to menu, reservations, online order, and contacts
Gallery photos to give users sense of restaurant’s atmosphere and food
Essential restaurant information
Online Reservation Features
Users can select party size, date, and time, and view available tables.
Online Ordering Features
Enables tracking of orders, collaboration, subtotal, total, and meeting minimum spending.
Drawing Inspiration from Other Applications
I looked at apps such as Splitwise, Grubhub, Toast, and Gloria Foods for ideas on responsive design and to solve these design problems:
How to organize and display group spending
How to review orders
How to browse menu and pricing
Sketches
Test Objectives and Findings
3 participants were recruited for testing. These were the following objectives used to measure success:
Assess ease of use in adding food and creating reservations.
Determine user preferences for viewing group orders.
Evaluate comprehension of restaurant offerings from the homepage.
Compare ease of use with the original website.
Assess the effectiveness of the preorder design.
100%
Found the online reservation page faster than original website.
100%
Rated the prototype at least 4 out of 5 in helpfulness in conveying what food is being served.
100%
Users found the prototype easy for booking reservations online.
100%
Found there was enough information to determine if they would dine at the restaurant or not.
100%
Users found the prototype helpful with keeping track of group spending requirement.
Key Insights
During reservation booking, users need buttons and tabs to not share the same name. That way they can book a reservation without any confusion and stress.
Because the original website’s reservation form was labeled under “Contact Us”, users were hesitant to approach the page because they associate that label with filing complaints.
Because a restaurant reservation is a time sensitive event, users need a deadline reminder when filling out their order form.
Although users felt that viewing a group order list to be most helpful when collaborating with their friends, users still want access to a personalized order list breakdown per person.
Users need to be able to find essential restaurant information with the least amount of clicks. That way they can quickly retrieve and forward that information faster and plan their next visit without hassle.
Conclusion and Reflection
When I began this project, I did not expect how in-depth the research would become. The different roles and tasks involved in the reservation process made me realize this was a multi facet issue. This challenged me to be understand requirements of different groups. During the interviews, participants were also vocal about their dining frustrations and openly shared stories. Overall, I enjoyed this project and it ignited my passion for food-related design.
Next Steps
Expand order screens to accommodate other dining personas.
Explore additional features to aid in agreeing on reservation times.
Conduct usability tests for tablet and desktop screens.