Project: Brooklyn Eats

Product Overview

Brooklyn Eats is a mobile app that helps users search, research, and make reservations at local Brooklyn, NY restaurants.

Project Duration

April 2021 – May 2021

The Problem

Choosing and making reservations at popular local Brooklyn restaurants via phone can be very difficult and frustrating.

The Goal

With participating restaurants, a user can easily find a restaurant of one’s choosing and make reservation via the app. Thus removing frustrations of user getting busy phone signals and freeing restaurant workers from manning phones. RSVPs are easily confirmed and be accessed for user and restaurant.

My Role

Lead UX designer, UX researcher, and Visual Designer from concept to delivery.

Responsibilities

Researched problems and created flows and solutions from collected insights. UX wireframing to prototyping. Concept and creation of design.

User Research

Summary

I conducted an unmoderated usability study to see how useful this app would be. To my surprise, the group, all adults, found the app very useful. All have busy lives and find the convenience of RSVP on app very useful. Besides the usefulness, many found the story and the history of a restaurant very compelling.

User Pain Points

Busy Phones

Busy working adults found making RSVP via phone calls too frustrating. Many get busy signals.

Confirmations

RSVPs often get lost through communications.

Availability

Frustrated when arriving a restaurant, the waiting line is too long.

Research

Want more details about a restaurant’s offerings, history, and atmosphere.

Usability Study

Parameters

Study Type

Unmoderated usability study

Location

USA

Participants

5

Length

10 - 15 minutes

Findings

Intuitive

Found the flow very intuitive

Positive

All were positive about the usefulness of the app

Features

Wanted more of a search feature

Designs

Paper Wireframes

I wanted to quickly draw out how one would use the app to make a RSVP of a restaurant of their choosing in Brooklyn.

Digital Wireframes

Low-fidelity Prototype

Launch Low-fidelity Prototype

Mockups

High-fidelity Prototype

Launch High-fidelity Prototype

Accessibility Considerations

Thoughts of speech to text for searching

Visual contrast was considered in color choices for design

Videos of restaurants will have Closed Captioning options

Takeaways

Impact

This app will help users connect with restaurants in a more efficient and validating way. Just with a few simple steps, a user can choose a restaurant, make reservations and have a confirmation via the app. This will also help restaurants shift man power off of the phones to areas where is more needed.

What I learned

I learned is that users want to connect with their local places of dining. Also, they like to explore restaurants’ offerings. More feedback for more usefulness will be iterated in the future.