Little Tree Restaurant
A mobile app that allows users to order food in advance and schedule the time to pick it up later.Overview
Little Tree Restaurant is a Thai restaurant located in the suburbs of a metropolitan area. They provide a mobile app that allows customers to order food in advance and schedule a pick-up time later. The restaurant's target audience is busy people who seek flexible and convenient ways to order food.Role
I designed the User Experience and User Interface for this project during my Google UX Design course. From interviews to wireframing, prototyping, usability studies, accessibility, and iterative design.Duration
March to June 2023 (10 weeks)Problem
There are long waiting times for food during peak hours.
At lunchtime, many people waste time waiting in long queues at restaurants, especially office workers who have a busy life and a time limit to have lunch.Solution
Allow users to easily pre-order for food and schedule their pick-up time.
Competitive analysis and the gap
No competitors provide the option to schedule a pick-up time for food orders.
I analysed four popular restaurants in Thailand and discovered that none offer a set time for food pick-up feature on their applications. This is where I come in to fill the gap.
User interviews
I interviewed and created empathy maps to grasp the needs of the users I was designing for. From interviewing 5 people who order food weekly through applications, it's clear they desire the ability to place orders and schedule pick-up times later.Persona
Design
I started with paper wireframes to sketch out my ideas before transitioning to digital wireframes.
I've designed 5 different versions of each page, cherry-picked the best features for users, and blended them into the final version.
Testing and improvements
I conducted two rounds of usability studies
Findings from the first study helped guide the designs from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups needed refining.
I listened to user feedback and made 2 major improvements.
Final design
The final product
I designed a user experience by designing a native mobile app.
Design with Adobe XD
The design system
Visit the prototype here.
What I learned
Results
- My initial design for the Little Tree Restaurant app successfully tackles user pain points, four of five users are very satisfied with the app. It's proven to make their lives easier and save time, especially during rush hour orders
- Creating the Little Tree Restaurant app taught me everything – from understanding the problem, talking to users, designing the interface, testing, and refining it. It was a journey from idea to delivery to the next process.
Takeaways
- Putting the user's problem first saves time and gets to the solution faster. Skip worrying too much about the UI in the beginning and focus on what the user needs.
- I initially chose text and background colours that made it hard to read, but I've since corrected this by following the WCAG guidelines to improve the app's accessibility.
Next steps
The project ended after the second round of testing. If this were to continue, I'd explore creating a user-friendly login system and personalising food information for tailored meal suggestions or avoiding options based on individual preferences.