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Service designJun 20195 min readNo. 06
Running a waiter-less, cashier-less restaurant
Take the staff out of the front of house, and see what the operation behind the screen has to carry.
Words byAmit Chotia
Some tech-savvy restaurants want to serve food that's fresh, affordable and fast — with an unconventional twist: replace the waiter and the cashier with an everything-in-your-hand experience. What would that take?
The numbers made it worth asking. Booking a table still has a popularity index of 22 out of 100, against 41 for ordering online — but around 61% of our target audience dine out more than once a week, 60% read reviews before trying something new, and 80% find it hard to decide while browsing a huge menu.
Business needs
For the restaurant, the biggest lever is the time from order to delivery. Shorten it and satisfaction follows. Behind that: no wasted staff time, richer electronic menus, no pressure on the customer to order fast, electronic payments, fewer billing and ordering errors, an easier way to change the menu — and a system that works alongside the traditional way, not against it.
Approach
One less app nobody wants to download. We designed a quick web application the customer opens at the table — the table's unique ID becomes the single reference for both the customer and the restaurant.
What people told us
Hungry office workers want to browse lunch options quickly before logging in; they want as much customisation as asking a waiter — dietary restrictions included; and they want flexibility on when and where the food arrives.
Three challenges stood out: low glance-ability (the menu reads like a bible), no visual content that shows how a dish is prepared, and no personalisation — the one thing a good waiter always gave.
Iterations
Iteration one went back to users and was mapped to heuristics: does it match the real-world restaurant experience? Can I get back to my order after leaving the app (recognition rather than recall)? How do I know where my order is (visibility of system status)?
Iteration two answered those before we went to high fidelity.
*Originally published on Medium.*
Read the full piece
This note is a summary. The full essay — with the research, the sketches and the reasoning — lives on Medium at medium.com/@amitchotia9.
Physics taught me you don't get to call it right until it's proven. Most of what I write is me trying to show the working.
Service designJun 20195 min readNo. 06
Running a waiter-less, cashier-less restaurant
Take the staff out of the front of house, and see what the operation behind the screen has to carry.
Words byAmit Chotia
Some tech-savvy restaurants want to serve food that's fresh, affordable and fast — with an unconventional twist: replace the waiter and the cashier with an everything-in-your-hand experience. What would that take?
The numbers made it worth asking. Booking a table still has a popularity index of 22 out of 100, against 41 for ordering online — but around 61% of our target audience dine out more than once a week, 60% read reviews before trying something new, and 80% find it hard to decide while browsing a huge menu.
Business needs
For the restaurant, the biggest lever is the time from order to delivery. Shorten it and satisfaction follows. Behind that: no wasted staff time, richer electronic menus, no pressure on the customer to order fast, electronic payments, fewer billing and ordering errors, an easier way to change the menu — and a system that works alongside the traditional way, not against it.
Approach
One less app nobody wants to download. We designed a quick web application the customer opens at the table — the table's unique ID becomes the single reference for both the customer and the restaurant.
What people told us
Hungry office workers want to browse lunch options quickly before logging in; they want as much customisation as asking a waiter — dietary restrictions included; and they want flexibility on when and where the food arrives.
Three challenges stood out: low glance-ability (the menu reads like a bible), no visual content that shows how a dish is prepared, and no personalisation — the one thing a good waiter always gave.
Iterations
Iteration one went back to users and was mapped to heuristics: does it match the real-world restaurant experience? Can I get back to my order after leaving the app (recognition rather than recall)? How do I know where my order is (visibility of system status)?
Iteration two answered those before we went to high fidelity.
*Originally published on Medium.*
Read the full piece
This note is a summary. The full essay — with the research, the sketches and the reasoning — lives on Medium at medium.com/@amitchotia9.
Physics taught me you don't get to call it right until it's proven. Most of what I write is me trying to show the working.
Service designJun 20195 min readNo. 06
Running a waiter-less, cashier-less restaurant
Take the staff out of the front of house, and see what the operation behind the screen has to carry.
Words byAmit Chotia
Some tech-savvy restaurants want to serve food that's fresh, affordable and fast — with an unconventional twist: replace the waiter and the cashier with an everything-in-your-hand experience. What would that take?
The numbers made it worth asking. Booking a table still has a popularity index of 22 out of 100, against 41 for ordering online — but around 61% of our target audience dine out more than once a week, 60% read reviews before trying something new, and 80% find it hard to decide while browsing a huge menu.
Business needs
For the restaurant, the biggest lever is the time from order to delivery. Shorten it and satisfaction follows. Behind that: no wasted staff time, richer electronic menus, no pressure on the customer to order fast, electronic payments, fewer billing and ordering errors, an easier way to change the menu — and a system that works alongside the traditional way, not against it.
Approach
One less app nobody wants to download. We designed a quick web application the customer opens at the table — the table's unique ID becomes the single reference for both the customer and the restaurant.
What people told us
Hungry office workers want to browse lunch options quickly before logging in; they want as much customisation as asking a waiter — dietary restrictions included; and they want flexibility on when and where the food arrives.
Three challenges stood out: low glance-ability (the menu reads like a bible), no visual content that shows how a dish is prepared, and no personalisation — the one thing a good waiter always gave.
Iterations
Iteration one went back to users and was mapped to heuristics: does it match the real-world restaurant experience? Can I get back to my order after leaving the app (recognition rather than recall)? How do I know where my order is (visibility of system status)?
Iteration two answered those before we went to high fidelity.
*Originally published on Medium.*
Read the full piece
This note is a summary. The full essay — with the research, the sketches and the reasoning — lives on Medium at medium.com/@amitchotia9.
Physics taught me you don't get to call it right until it's proven. Most of what I write is me trying to show the working.
Contact…
Let's build the next best experience.
Gurgaon · IST
Hiring for design leadership, or a journey that needs someone to look at it from the other side? Write to me — I reply within a day.
Open toDesign leadership roles
Working from
Contact…
Let's build the next best experience.
Gurgaon · IST
Hiring for design leadership, or a journey that needs someone to look at it from the other side? Write to me — I reply within a day.
Open toDesign leadership roles
Working from
Contact…
Let's build the next best experience.
Gurgaon · IST
Hiring for design leadership, or a journey that needs someone to look at it from the other side? Write to me — I reply within a day.
Open toDesign leadership roles
Working from
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Write to meamitchotia9@gmail.com