“Snack”
Mobile ordering from your beach chair.
Beach Snack Shop Mobile App
This project was prompted by my Google UX Certificate course. I chose to design a mobile app prototype for a hypothetical beach snack shop, which I aptly named “Snack”. Following the course instructions, I worked through each step of the research and design process, ultimately creating a low-fi prototype in Figma.
Creating user personas
The first key step of my design process was to identify who would be the target users of my mobile ordering app. As a Massachusetts native myself who enjoys going to the beach every Summer, I immediately thought of the types of beachgoers that would benefit from such an app. As you can see in my initial brainstorming, I realized that there are a lot of different personas I could work with. However, they all share one common goal: get food in a timely manner.
Persona #1: Taylor
Taylor is a 22-year old waitress from Marblehead, Massachusetts. She works nights at a popular restaurant in town, so she likes to spend her days off with her friends at the local beach. Being in the food service industry, Taylor understands the stresses that Snack employees face with a high volume of customers, but she also wishes there was a more streamlined process for ordering lunch.
User goals:
get food for her and her friends while having fun at the beach
view and order from the Snack menu without having to wait in long lines
User pain points:
waiting in long lines at the snack shop takes away from time relaxing on the beach
can be frustrating to bring wallet to the beach, would be easier to pay for food from mobile app
Persona #2: Charlene
Charlene is a 77-year old grandmother who loves bringing her young grandchildren to the beach, but wishes that she could order food in an easier way. Living in Marblehead, she enjoys the beach and likes to make a day trip out of it, which includes getting lunch. Charlene says that it becomes overwhelming when she tries to order food for her and the kids but has to wait in the long lines at rush hour.
User goals:
be able to order ahead for her and her grandkids to eat lunch
have a food ordering app that is accessible
User pain points:
waiting in long lines with the kids at the snack shop is a tiring experience, especially when its a hot Summer day
waiting for food after she orders at the window can be stressful as the kids get very hungry
User Journey Maps
After creating two main personas, I developed user journey maps following the path that Taylor and Charlene would take when ordering food at the beach. Each map shows the specific actions they take as well as the emotions accompanying them.
Interview Process
I conducted in-person interviews with eight participants between the ages of 18-78, asking them about their current experiences when they order food at the beach, and what they would like to see improved. Some quotes from interview participants are listed to the right.
“So many restaurants have mobile ordering as an option now, I’d like to see more beach snack shops offer that too.”
- Alex, 18
“Especially when it’s hot outside on a Summer day, no one wants to stand in long lines just to get an order of fries. I’d rather order from where I’m sitting.”
-Nick, 25
“I love going to the beach, and I think it would be nice if I could order lunch and have a set time to pick it up. That gives me more time to play with my grandkids!”
Elaine, 78
Creating Low-fi Prototype in Figma
Above is an image of the general flow of the Snack app wireframe. It contains the basic, essential screens of a mobile food order app, such as a Login page, Create Account, Menu, and of course Checkout. Additionally, I added a screen that allows users to select a specific time range of when they would like to pickup their orders. This would ideally give the user the flexibility to place an order before the typical lunch/dinner rush, which also gives Snack staff members a clearer picture of how many people are expecting service ahead of time.
Takeaways from first project
After following the UX Design process and creating the low-fidelity prototypes for Snack, my hypothetical beach snack shop, I wanted to reflect on the overall experience. Below are some key reflections I made and ways I would want to improve as a designer on future projects.
Interviews are very important, conduct even more to get a broader idea of the user experience.
It’s okay to create a design and not like it, get back up and try again with a fresh perspective.
Reach out and test my initial designs as I go, its good to get feedback in the early stages.