Client
Miya Japanese Bistro
Project
Miya Japanese Bistro is a locally owned and run restaurant in Winona, Minnesota. Their welcoming service enhances the customer experience but hinders productivity. I worked with a small group of people to develop a service app to increase the restaurant's efficiency. We focused on user experience design to allow for improvement with service flow throughout the customer's experience while dining at the restaurant. After conducting research on service apps and an in person analysis on Miya's customers, we began developing a user-centered design for a service app that would enhance the restaurants’ service overall.
My role for this project was to gather and visualize data, develop UX wireframes, and collaborate on the functionality and UI of the app with another designer and developer. This project started in January and ended in June of 2022.
The Problem
The inefficiencies of service hinders the productivity of the employees and customer’s experience while dining at the restaurant.
The user goals include easier and more effective service through a physical and digital dining experience as well as enhanced menu filtering options. These goals achieve a better experience for the customers by allowing them to order and making requests on a service app and physically speaking to the waiter. The app also reduces human errors by having multiple check points to verify the order. Another way we enhanced the service is by adding additional information about each item on the app. This service app highlights the good forms of service that already exist and improve the areas that have been lacking.
Goals
We began solving this service issue by collecting data through observations of the service while dining at the restaurant, verbal data from the restaurant owners, and customer reviews. We spent significant time analyzing the data and discovering many root problems and limitations that caused the inefficiency. For example, the app needs to incorporate the existing billing system, online ordering app, and extensive menu selection. The problems we discovered from this data and different perspectives from my group allowed me to have a better understanding of how to design the wire-framing. While I highlighted the root problems, I also enhanced the good forms of service that the restaurant currently has. Another main focus of the UX service app is to bridge the gap between traditional restaurant service and a digital application. One problem we discovered is a long wait time to receive service caused by the imbalance of personal relationships with the waitress and customer service. The service app will help solve this problem by allowing an unlimited amount of customers to order at one time. This is an essential problem to focus on as it will reduce the time of ordering and increase the efficiency with the few workers.
Design Process
One of the challenges we faced while developing the app was with the user's login. While this is a common feature in most service apps, we also wanted to ensure that we were reducing the customer anxiety that is developed while being pressured to make a login. While working closely with another designer we developed a login that highlighted the hierarchy of information that allows customers to log in as a guest before making a member login. Requesting service like water is another challenge we discovered due to the few workers. This problem was solved by adding a service button after the customer placed their order, leading me to the next challenge we found being human error with ordering and cooking. This problem was solved with the service app by allowing customers to order their food by selecting who the order is for before adding the item to their cart. When they are ready to place their order, they can view the items in their cart and make edits to them before submitting their order. This is one way we verify the order is correct, but we also assign the first person to sign into the table as a “master” who places the order. After their order is placed, the waitress will receive it and verify it with the table before sending it to be cooked. The waitress's notifications on her iPad will also help improve the service by emphasizing who to help first and what kind of service they need.
Service button for service requests
Results
Although there were many problems and some limitations to work around, this app will help to improve the service and customer’s experience while dining at Miya Japanese Bistro. The solutions that we created to the root problems will provide significant success in their business overall. When this app is implemented into the restaurants’ service in the future we believe that there will be an increase in customers and profitability as they can help more customers in a productive way.