Case study

ReserveTable

Project Overview

The product

ReserveTable is an app that loves what can happen around the restaurant table, and is committed to empowering that experience. From helping restaurants of all sizes thrive, to enabling diners find and book the perfect table for every occasion, our story is one of human connection—among diners and restaurants, and between restaurants and their communities.

Project duration

January 2022 – April 2022

The goal

Design an app that helps restaurants of all sizes thrive, and enabling diners to find and book the perfect table for every occasion.

Responsibilities

UX designer, designing an app for ReserveTable from conception to delivery.

The problem

Busy workers and commuters lack time to go round checking for the prefect restaurant for their occasion.

My role

Conducting interviews, paper and digital wireframing, low and high-fidelity prototyping, conducting usability studies, accounting for accessibility, and iterating on designs.

User Research

Summary

I conducted interviews and created empathy maps to understand the users I am designing for and their needs.

A primary user group identified through research was a working adult who do not have time to go around checking for the perfect restaurant.

Research revealed that time was not the only factor limiting users from going around to check for the perfect restaurant. Other user problems included obligations, interests, and challenges that make it difficult to get around.

Painpoints

Online Presence:

Favorite restaurant has no online presence for  making reservation.

Menu List:

Unable to know the restaurant menu list ahead of the reservation.

Reservation Record:

After booking a reservation via a phone call, the record of the reservation is actually not received.

Accessibility:

Platforms for reserving tables are not equipped with assistive technologies

Persona

Problem statement

Big Skilz is a front end developer who needs to make reservations from his home because he is very busy and doesn’t have the time to go around checking out restaurants.

“Having an online reservation system and keeping accurate records of reservations would be cool”

Goals
‍
  • To be able to plan special and surprise dates from the comfort of his home
  • To keep accurate records of reservation

Frustrations
‍
   • Not been able to make a reservation online
   • Reservation not actually received

52 years
Master degree
Ado-Ekiti, NG
Married, lives with his wife alone.
Font-end developer

Big Skilz is a font-end developer with a busy and demanding schedule. He works from home and usually ends his day with meeting over meetings.

Big Skilz loves to surprise his wife with special treats on special occasion, but Skilz busy schedule won’t let him go around restaurants checking the environments and having a look at their menu.

Big Skilz would love to be able to see other peoples review on the restaurants, pictures and menu list of the restaurant. He would love to have the ability to customize and edit his reservations.

User Journey Map

Mapping Big Skilz user journey revealed how helpful it would be for users to have access to table reservation app.

ACTION

Find restaurant

Browse through list of restaurant

Selecting restaurant

Making reservation

Arrive on reservation day

TASK LIST

A. Search for restaurant online.
B. Select list of available results.

A. Browse through list based on reviews and thumbnails.
B. Randomly open a restaurant based on thumbnails.

A. Click on restaurant
B. Browse through the menu, pictures and reviews.
C. Confirm the location.
D. Go back and check another restaurant.

A. Locate phone number.
B. Call the restaurant.
C. Make reservation.

A. Drive to restaurant
B. Confirm reservation.
C. Request menu list.
D. Place order from menu list.

FEELING ADJECTIVE

Overwhelmed by the number of restaurant list.

Happy he will see something he likes from quick overview of thumbnails.

Frustrated about not been able to create a list of restaurants he likes while browsing through the list.

Glad that enough pictures are available.Concerned about proximity to his house.

Frustrated about having to search for the phone number.

Worried reservation confirmation is taking a lot of time.Glad the menu list is as seen online.

IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Create an app for booking restaurant reservation

Provide search filter.
Optimise app for screen reader tech. Allow to favorite restaurant to a list.

Show drive time from location to restaurant.Option to go next from item on favorite list .

Option for in app reservation.
Phone number in large text.
Reservation notification reminder.

Confirm reservation my scanning a barcode.
Notification that table is set and waiting

Paper Wireframes

Taking the time to draft iterations of each screen of the app on paper ensured that the elements that made it to digital wireframes would be well-suited to address users pain points.

Digital Wireframes

As the initial design phase continued, I made sure to base screen designs on feedback and findings from the user research.

Easy navigation was a key user need to address in the design in addition to equipping the app to work with assistive technologies.

Low-Fidelity Prototype

The low-fidelity prototype connected the primary user flow of reserving a table, so the prototype could be used in a usability study with users.

Usability study: Findings

I conducted two rounds of usability studies. Findings from the first study helped guide the design from wireframes to mockups. The second study used a high-fidelity prototype and revealed what aspects of the mockups need refining.

Round 1 Findings

•  Users want to make reservations quickly

•  Users are confused on where to click to edit their reservation

•  Users want to see the reward from the home page

Round 2 Findings

•  Confused on how to get started with reservation

•  Looking for a reserve button on the home screen

Mockups

Early designs allowed for some customization of the date and time, but after the usability studies, I added additional edit icon to make it obvious that the data is editable.

Before usability study

After usability study

The second usability study revealed frustration and confusion on how to get started with reservation. I added a reserve button on the home page, so this button would make it easier to get started.

Before usability study

After usability study

High-Fidelity Prototype

The final high-fidelity prototype presented cleaner user flow for making a reservation.

Takeaways

Impact:

The app makes users feel like ReserveTable really thinks about how to meet their needs.One quote from peer feedback:“The app made it so easy to reserve a table, I would definitely use this app”

What I learned:

While designing the ReserveTable app, I learned that the first ideas for the app are only the beginning of the process. Usability studies and peer feedback influenced each iteration of the app’s designs.

Thank you for your time reviewing my work on the ReserveTable app!
If you'd like to see more or get in  touch, my contact information is provided below.