Coffee Shop App Research and Design

RIT Coffee Shop App

UX Research and UX/UI Design
Researched and designed an order-ahead and notification app for coffee shops on RIT’s campus to create a more accessible experience and aid students in their daily routine on campus
Technologies: Figma and Photoshop

Identifying the gap in current ordering

Coffee shops on RIT’s campus lack a consistent method of notifying customers their order is ready. Some call out the customer's name or assigned number, while others display the order status on a screen.

For the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, calling out a customer's name or order number is ineffective. This system also falls short for everyone when the store is loud and congested.

Originally this project aimed to streamline the pick up process to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction for the RIT community.

Examining users’ needs through contextual inquiry

A contextual inquiry consisting of a semi-structured interview and observation of their experience ordering or taking orders was conducted with

26 student customers
2 faculty customers
6 employees

Results of the contextual inquiry were consolidated using an affinity diagram to organize users’ needs.

From this research we determined a need for improved order notifications in store and a desire for an order ahead system. An app would be accessible solution that allows users to successfully achieve both these goals.

Developing user stories to direct design

Personas and their detailed stories helped our team clearly communicate about our users and direct our designs to better serve their needs

“As a NTID student, most of my classes are about a 15 minutes to walk from where I live. College Grind is closer to my classes, but sometimes I stop at Midnight Oil because I like their drinks better. I really love their caramel Macchiato iced coffee and bagels with extra cream cheese.

I only stop there if I have enough time because in the mornings the lines are really long. This app would allow me to easily order my drinks ahead of time so I can stop by, grab my drink and go rather than waiting. I hope I can pay with dining dollars or my debit card.

The app would make ordering my drink easier because I won’t have to communicate with the cashier, most of the cashiers do not know ASL. In case I get there before my drink is ready, I would really like the app to notify me when my order is ready. I hope the drinks are clearly labeled so I know which one is mine.”

— Maya, 21-year-old female

“As an undergraduate freshman I live on campus and I am still trying to adjust to my new schedule. I love to play video games and because of that I often am running late to classes and meetings.

I love breakfast sandwiches, but I am allergic to cheese so I need to customize my order. A breakfast sandwich and a cold brew after a long night and I’m good to go. Midnight Oil makes my favorite, but I don’t want to wait for them to be made. I love free stuff so a reward system would be great.”

— Jordan, 18-year-old-male