Ordering for Everyone
A self-service kiosk redesign that serves first-time explorers and returning regulars — without compromising either experience.
Client:
Academic project, DePaul HCI 440
Category:
Interaction Design · UX Research
My Role:
UX Researcher & Designer — field observation and contextual interviews, wireframing, consolidated prototype flow, usability testing
Self-service kiosks are becoming the default way to order at quick-service restaurants — but they're built for people who already know the menu. No descriptions, no starting points, and a line forming behind you. Our four-person team set out to design a kiosk that works for both the first-timer who wants to browse and the regular who wants out in under three minutes.
We started in the field: each team member observed and interviewed real kiosk users at four Chicago restaurants, from McDonald's to a Chinatown tea shop. The interviews consolidated into two personas with opposite needs — the Foodie Explorer and the Regular — and one design answer, shown in the flow below: a single experience that branches at login, giving new customers a discovery-oriented home screen with Top Recommendations and returning customers a "last order" shortcut, before both paths meet at a shared checkout.
Testing what we built.
A structured inspection and four usability tests turned assumptions into fixes.
The core flow held up — every usability test participant completed an order unassisted. But testing surfaced three real problems: the item detail page trapped users away from the menu, checkout was missing an expected tipping step, and the account creation prompt raised privacy concerns about what was being stored.
The before-and-afters below show the fixes: the detail page became an overlay so the menu stays visible underneath, a tipping step was added where participants expected it, and the account prompt was rewritten to say exactly what gets stored — just a phone number — and moved to the end of the flow so it never slows an order down.
My biggest lesson: designing for two user types doesn't mean averaging their needs into one generic interface. It means routing each person to what they need from the very first screen — and testing to confirm it actually works.
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