UX Project: Ramen Tatsu-Ya app

We’re creating a new Ramen Tatsu-Ya app to help people make a reservation and pre-order their food and drinks.

The product

Project duration

February 2023 - April 2023

Project overview

Currently Ramen Tatsu-Ya does not offer reservations to their restaurants. A visit to Ramen Tatsu-a typically includes a long wait to get in.

The problem

Allow users to make reservations, check in, order and check out from the app; bypassing long wait times.

The goal

My role

Lead UX designer, UX researcher

User research, wireframing, prototyping, design

Responsibilities

User research

While conducting user research, it became apparent that the existing Ramen Tatsu-Ya app works well for what it is trying to achieve. 

However, the lack of a reservation system provides a great opportunity to provide a new aspect of service that will reward regular customers while making minimal impact on existing wait times.

Summary

User research: pain points

Wants favorite food, but can’t wait in line

Would really like to eat at Ramen Tatsu-Ya, but doesn’t have time or ability to wait in line for a long time. A reservation system can make this possible.

Making a reservation can be hard

Our app will make the process of making a reservation easy for users.

Ordering food can be challenging

Some food-ordering apps can be challenging to use. Our app will be simple and intuitive.

Not confident in ordering

Our app will leave users feeling confident in their ordering.

Persona: Lois

Lois is a busy executive with a family who needs a quick and easy way to make a reservation at Ramen Tatsu-Ya and order ahead so they can enjoy their favorite meal even though they don’t have time to wait in line.

Problem statement

Age: 33

Education: UCLA

Hometown: Tuscon, AZ

Family: Married, 2 children, 1 dog

Occupation: Marketing Executive

“I wish I could eat at Ramen Tatsu-Ya all the time, but I just don’t have time to wait in line.”

  • Be able to make a reservation with their favorite restaurant

  • Be able to order ahead so they can enjoy their favorite meal quickly and easily

Goals

  • Waiting in line takes too much time

  • Wants their favorite meal

Frustrations

Lois is very busy with their high-pressure job and their young family. She loves Ramen Tatsu-Ya and would love to enjoy it more often, but long lines prevent them from considering it. Lois would most like a way to make a reservation and order ahead quickly and easily.

The goal was to make the reservation process as simple and easy to use as possible.

Ideation

Starting the design

The location bar makes it very easy to see multiple locations.

Digital wireframes 

Quickly select the number of guests in the party

Easily sort through various locations

Starting the design

Easily view and select food items.

Easy access to bottom-docked menu button.

Digital wireframes 

Easy menu access

View and select menu items

The user starts on the Reservations screen. They confirm their reservation. Then place their order and pay ahead of time.

Low-fidelity prototype

Usability study: parameters

Study type:

Unmoderated usability study

Participants:

5 participants 

Location:

US, remote

Length:

30-60 minutes

Usability study: findings

Round 1 findings

Pop-up

The pop-up to inform the user was met with annoyance and confusion

Ordering

Some users were unsure their order was correct

Color

In general, most users would have liked more color and visual cues

Round 2 findings

Adding items

Some users were still unsure if an item was added to the cart

Location bar

Some users were confused how the location bar works

Color

Overall, users enjoyed the colors and visual cues

Refining the design

An emphasis was made to make the visual cues better.

Mockups

Before usability study

After usability study

Docking the menu button to the bottom provides the user with consistency.

Mockups

Before usability study

After usability study

Mockups

The user starts on the Reservations screen. They confirm their reservation. Then place their order and pay ahead of time.

High-fidelity prototype

Accessibility considerations

The colors were chosen with low-visibility users in mind. We included high-contrast colors and large buttons.

Tested using Assistive Technologies.

Check out page was designed so the user was confident the order was correct.

Going forward

Takeaways

Impact

This design and concept could be practically applied and increase customer satisfaction and sales. 


“I like how straight-forward it is. It feels like it walks you through it.”

What I learned:

In this project I learned the entire process of creating a wireframe and working prototype of an idea that could benefit the world. Pretty cool.

Next steps

There needs to be better feedback to the user when adding items to cart. Will explore a cart button with notification.

May need better feedback or better prototype to illustrate how location bar works.

Will explore expanding prototype to include more elaborate cart feature.

Let’s connect!

Thank you for checking out the Ramen Tatsu-Ya app! 

I look forward to any feedback you may have. 

Please feel free to contact me through one of the following:


Email: jason.r.nichols@gmail.com

Website: jason-nichols.com

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/jasonrnichols/