Exploring two ordering screens on a tablet

2 screens and 5 questions

Daan owns a vegan restaurant in Amsterdam. Because of COVID-19, he decided to start using tablets – as they were easy to sanitize – to reduce  physical contact between customers and staff.

After Daan welcomed the panelists, he showed them 2 versions of the order screen (which they explored before the session individually). During the discussion that followed, Daan learned about how people order in a restaurant and what they need to order with a tablet.

The outcome?

• Everyone preferred the version which added each dish immediately to the basket. It reassured them that their meal order was complete.
• One version visualized how the order process worked. Older panelists loved this. As one said, "Although I am not digitally savvy, I still felt I could easily place my order, because of the explanation at the beginning."
• When selecting dishes, most wanted more information about the  ingredients. "A friend of mine has some severe allergies, normally we would ask the waiter about the ingredients. I don't know how we would do this now, " commented one person.

3 quick wins

• Add ingredients - this allows everyone to order without asking the waiter for more info. (Ideally, also allow diners to include a message to delete or replace certain ingredients in a dish.)
• Give order overview - Before submitting the order, show a screen with all dishes ordered.
• Message "you can always order more" - Let diners know (under the "SUBMIT" button) that they can always add something to the order even after it's gone to the kitchen.

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