User Defined Design: designated diner Mobile App

New Product Development - A restaurant discovery tool driven by expert recommendations in the food industry. 

Tools: User Research, Sketching, Wireframing, User Flows, Interactive Prototyping, User Testing, Design analysis and iteration

Outlined here, is the process used to develop a new app that assists restaurant patrons in finding a place to dine as well as facilitate reservations.  The app will approach food finding by the people who know it best: Award winning chefs, industry professionals, business owners and food writers. To get started, a phase of discovery research was performed in order to gain an initial understanding of the problem space. Competitor analysis and user interviews conducted in a directed story-telling method were the primary investigation tools used during the discovery research design phase. As a result, insights of user routines and patterns began to surface and these defined the direction and scope for this application.

The Goals:

The user wants to simply find and select a restaurant under specific conditions and personal criteria that are endorsed and supported by trusted sources

My user wants to make a reservation quickly but have an opportunity to make requests for specific accommodations

Process:

The layout hierarchy in wireframe development is reflective of mental models revealed during user interviews. Here, key screens and flows developed through various levels of fidelity 

Sketch:

Digitize:

Interact:

User Testing and Design Response:

The users that participated in testing the interactive prototype appreciated the overall concept and expressed delight with the ease of destination discovery and customization options.  

However, the element of simplicity as defined in the user goals did not seem to be translated into the usability of the mobile app as intended.  The user expressed confusion in navigation and orientation within the application. In turn, the navigation and layout underwent design adjustments that focused on simplification and clarity.  Also, by thoughtfully controlling the information available to the user only when necessary brought clarity to tasks and supported meeting user goals. Below are navigation modifications made to the final prototype for the designate diner mobile app.