Sally's Snacks Menu App

Sally's Snacks

Menu App

Sally's Snacks is a snack shop located by the beach, aimed at drawing in and retaining customers. The target audience typically ranges from 19 to 35 years old. Sally's Snacks' objective is to provide a simple and convenient way for anyone to order food.

Project Duration:

January 2023

Project overview

The problem:

Our objective is to develop a product that bridges the accessibility gap, boosts market competitiveness, enhances customer satisfaction, and increases sales. Our menu will incorporate accessibility features that enable users to comprehend their orders completely, motivating them to place more orders with greater confidence.

The goal:

Create a user-friendly menu application for Sally's Snacks that enables customers to effortlessly order their preferred or latest items from the shop's menu.

My role:

Lead UX designer, UX researcher, Visuals, Interactions

My responsibilities:

Conducting user research, paper and digital wire-framing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs

User Research

To better understand the needs of the users I'm designing for, I developed empathy maps. Through this process, I identified a primary user group of people who order takeout or dine-in at least once a week. This group revealed that users often have difficulty finding restaurants that cater to their specific dietary needs, offer translation services, and provide accessibility features. These insights inspired me to create a more inclusive and user-friendly dining experience for everyone.

Problem statement:

Cary is a working professional who needs an easy way to see and understand the menu with her vision impairments because she will not be able to see what options that cater to her diet otherwise.

Problem statement:

Kevin is a college student

who needs a easy way to understand the menu

because it will allow him to try new things and enjoy new cultures.

Design

Wireframing

Paper wireframes

In an effort to address various pain points and prioritize accessibility, I focused on designing a solution that addressed multiple user needs. By incorporating a star feature in the digital wireframe, I was able to highlight specific elements that would make the user experience more seamless and efficient. Some of the key pain points that I addressed include difficulty in finding specific dietary options, lack of translation services, and issues with accessibility. Through the creation of this solution, I hope to provide users with a more inclusive and accessible ordering experience.

Digital wireframes

I prioritized accessibility by including features that would benefit all potential users. Additionally, I incorporated larger text to improve readability for all users. The addition of a notes section aims to facilitate easy communication between users and the restaurant, allowing for any specific needs or requests to be easily communicated.

I also incorporated a description section that serves as a warning for customers with dietary restrictions. Additionally, I included user-friendly features such as easy navigation and the ability to back out of pages seamlessly to ensure a smooth and pleasant user journey. My aim was to create an inclusive and accessible design that caters to all users' needs.

Low fidelity prototype

The low-fidelity prototype for Sally’s Snacks was tested and viewed by: This link

The main user flow is as follows: menu page → order page → enter details page → order details page.

After creating the low fidelity prototype, I conducted usability testing with several potential users to gather feedback on the design. The main user flow, from the menu page to the order details page, was tested thoroughly to ensure a smooth user journey. During testing, some users suggested adding more visual cues to indicate where they were in the ordering process. Based on their feedback, I made adjustments to the design and updated the prototype accordingly.

Usability studies

Insights and themes that were found in the participant’s sessions were organized on an affinity board.

The unmoderated usability studies found that:

Round 1

Users want a clear identifier and indicator after conducting actions
Users want more ways to clearly navigate
Users want more double check features and tweaking options

Round 2

Users would rather have a drop down than a button for some cases
Users wanted the button to be clearer and more emphasized
Users wanted a time and date confirmation

Mockups & changes

Changes

After conducting the first usability study, I discovered that the earlier designs lacked customization options for the dish and clear identifiers for each dish with its description. To address this feedback, I added features that enabled users to customize their dishes and clearly identify them. This led to an improved user experience as users were able to customize their orders to their preference, and easily identify the dishes they wanted to order.

Following the second usability study, I discovered that users found the customization and description page frustrating. To enhance the user flow, I made several changes such as highlighting the item name, increasing button visibility, and adding a drop-down menu to provide users with more options. These changes were implemented to address the issues identified during the testing phase and ensure a smoother user experience.

Mockups

High-fidelity prototype

The final high-fidelity prototype effectively addressed user needs for accessibility, customization, and a seamless user flow. With features like clear identifiers, customizable options, and improved navigation, the prototype was designed to provide a user-friendly experience for all. Overall, the final product reflected a thorough understanding of user needs and preferences, resulting in a successful design.

View Sally’s Snacks’ high-fidelity prototype here: link

Accessibility considerations

Provided access to users who are vision impaired by adding alt text to images for screen readers, adding a text to speech button, and adding an adjustable text function
Added a translation feature of the most common world languages
Used various icons to help make navigation easier

Takeaways

Impact:

The menu app has a significant impact on user satisfaction, making them feel heard and valued. The app's accessibility features have received positive feedback, creating a welcoming environment for everyone. Peer feedback has praised the use of icons to enhance navigation, making it easier for users to find what they need. The menu app has successfully addressed user pain points and improved the overall user experience.

One quote from peer feedback:
“I love the accessibility features that the app offers! It really feels like this place is welcoming for anyone and everyone!”

What I learned:

During the design process of Sally’s Snack menu app, I realized the criticality of incorporating accessibility features to create a more inclusive user experience. Furthermore, I discovered the significance of conducting multiple rounds of usability studies to identify and resolve any issues or concerns that users might face. This iterative approach allowed me to fine-tune the app and deliver a seamless and user-friendly interface.

Next steps:

Conduct another round of user research to determine if there are any groups that we may have left out.
Conduct another round of usability studies to determine if any pain points still remain and if previous pain points have been thoroughly addressed.
Conduct further research with accessibility technologies and those who use them.

Thank you for your time reviewing my work on the Sally’s Snack app! If you would like to see more or get in touch please contact me at:

Email: connieliu000@gmail.com

Website: https://connieliu000.wixsite.com/connie-liu

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liu-connie/