The Fate Of Restaurant Menu’s
By: Tyler Burke
Tags: Menu, Restuarants, App Design, App Development, Menu Design

With the emergence of Coronavirus, our once normal way of life has now been uprooted. Everything and everyone has been affected and forced to adapt to a new “normal”. Particularly, Eating out at restaurants seems like a thing of the past. The way restaurants operate has completely changed to either lower capacity, outside dining, or takeout only. Many establishments have already switched over to using QR codes at dining tables for customers to scan menus using their phones. It gets rid of the person-to-person contact as well as cutting the wait time to receive a menu completely.

If you are anything like my family, we have a specific drawer where we keep restaurant menus for when we decided to order takeout. Having a mobile application that scans, saves, and calls in orders from a user’s favorite restaurant will be a convenient option that cuts out the need for a physical menu. Since more and more people are getting takeout due to the pandemic, it would be beneficial to have a place that stores all digital menus.

Look no further!

Menu Link is a mobile application that does all of that and more! Think of it as a hub for all of your favorite restaurants. It offers a place to store menus via scanning a QR code or by a simple search. It additionally connects to third-party delivery services such as Uber Eats and Grubhub. This allows users to conveniently have all their favorite menus in one place without worrying about unnecessary clutter.

So who needs this?

Through a series of interview questions, I conducted some need-finding to better understand the needs of users. I essentially had to develop the core reasons for why this application is a necessity. The market for ordering food online has skyrocketed, especially in our new “normal”. A majority of the interviewees found it would be beneficial to keep track of restaurant menus to help them make decisions when ordering takeout. They also found that digital menus were way more in tune with the current generation and found that physical menus are becoming dated.

So what kind of person would benefit from using Menu Link? I’ve created two personas that will help illustrate potential users.

The first would be an individual that has a fast-paced lifestyle, this limits the individual’s time to actually cook three meals a day. The only way for this person to maintain their lifestyle and still get meals is to eat out, specifically takeout orders. The user would primarily use the application to store menus and order takeout. Their goal would be to keep an organized record of their favorite go-to menus, so when they want to order takeout, they can quickly view a menu and order. Currently, the individual typically just searches menus online or has a drawer with physical menus at home. This application would clear the cluttered drawer and eliminate the time searching online.

The second would be a restaurant owner trying to keep their restaurants open as much as possible in order to stay afloat during this pandemic. The owner would primarily use this application to get a larger customer base that knows takeout orders are available. the application would advertise the establishment’s details, photos, and menu for people to search and find. It allows them to see analytics on a weekly to monthly basis. This application would give these struggling businesses an option to boost sales and get their name out.

Some high priority User Stories:

As a user, I can access the camera to scan QR codes. As a user, I can save and view a menu. As a user, I can search for a restaurant by name or use the map to find other local restaurants nearby. As a user, call in an order by phone or link a food delivery service to place an order. As a user, I can view analytics.

Wireframing

The next action was to plan out the application layouts to get a firm foundation and user experience without getting bogged down by the design features. The feedback on the wireframing was overall positive, highlighting how useful the app would be for people who often order takeout. Can view the first initial wireframe here.

Menu Link’s First Initial Wireframe

First Draft

Using the wireframes as the foundation, I then developed a high-fidelity prototype that the user can operate to better understand the features of the application. The first iteration of the screens was lacking in design and had some readability issues. For example, some of the iconographies were unusual to some and was later altered to express properly in the app.

First Draft Of The Designs. Gross!

Final Draft

The second draft took in the critiques and feedback from peers and I focused on readability and maintaining consistent design throughout all the screens. I added more states, buttons, and screens to better express the goals of the application.

You can view the final prototype here!

Final Draft Designs

Link to each screen in the Menu Link application.