The future of restaurant customisation apps
An opportunity to make dining experiences more empowering & inclusive
During the pandemic, finding a QR Code (quick responsive code) on arrival at a restaurant has become somewhat the norm. We expectantly scan one in order to access a menu and dive into what we want to eat and drink. In many ways, it has made ordering easier. For 18 to 20-year-olds, it is how you order.
Success! QR Code scanned. But, what happens after you scan the code? How many of you have wrestled with a static PDF menu on your phone screens? How accessible have menus been for you and others?
Completing the Google UX Design Professional Certificate, I was faced with the prompt, ‘Design a customisation app for a restaurant in Japan’. This was an exciting challenge for me. I previously lived in Japan and immediately saw the need and opportunities for digitising hospitality, not only in Japan but on a global level.
So, I hastily set off to conduct user research.
During interviews, users in Japan explained to me that they wanted to be able to filter meals by dietary requirements, see pictures of what they were ordering and have language options. They explained the importance of ‘knowing what they were eating.’
Further secondary research shone a light on the difficulty that users with dietary requirements were faced with when dining with colleagues.
“When you say you’re a vegetarian, people are like ‘Errrr,’” Fujisawa says. “They have to find a restaurant with a vegetarian menu. … I was a secretary for five years and had to go to many dinner meetings with my boss. I wasn’t able to say (I was vegetarian) because that’s not supposed to happen. People wouldn’t want to take me to the restaurant.”
It was clear that a customisation app would not only give users more options when it came to tailoring and ordering food, but it would in fact empower them. Customers would no longer have to declare that they were vegan or dairy-free and feel like they were asking for others to go above and beyond. Instead, each customer would have the option to make the experience work for them.
I created Tabé a restaurant customisation app to address user pain points. The project highlighted the challenges and opportunities that the hospitality sector now has. It also raised a further question, how far are restaurants willing to go when it comes to ‘customisation’?
Going forward, I think Tabé would serve best as a progressive web app so that users wouldn’t have to download an app. Phone screens could soon become clunky, especially if you enjoy trying new restaurants.
Of course, digitising menus and restaurant experiences can raise issues around wifi and internet access. This, too, poses accessibility concerns that need to be considered.
Although I am certain the QR Code’s popularity will continue to grow and that it will remain a staple in our restaurant experiences, I am sure more establishments will be looking for ways to meet the needs of their customers and we’ll be seeing less of the static PDF. What do you think?
For further reading on QR Codes and proposals for the digitising of hospitality see:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55579480
https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/technology/how-coronavirus-reshaping-ordering-payment
