Reimagining a responsive virtual cafeteria that won Google as a client.
M Y R O L E
Leading the experience strategy and design
I led the menu experience strategy and design from launch of the digital ordering platform through to continued iteration, working with the product team, sales team, and our chefs. Based on their unique requirements and further discovery, I redesigned the user flow and UI.
T H E C H A L L E N G E
Our product needed to fit unique requirements
EAT Club utilizes tech-driven logistics to bring a superior food experience via virtual cafeterias to the workplace. As we approached the enterprise space, EAT Club was given an opportunity to trial with Google Sunnyvale.
High-end menu experience
Our typical customers wanted a fast casual experience with a price point of $11-$14. Google wanted a more expensive experience and the design needed to reflect that.
Chef forward menu
Instead of a large menu focused on pleasing a large amount of eaters across a broad spectrum, Google asked for an experience tailored to their lunch program. They wanted dishes that were farm-to-table and organic and for that to be portrayed on the menu.
Mix of ordering
Google required a mix of ordering on desktop and mobile app, and concierge style grab & go.
The original EAT Club menu didn't fit the high-end changes and chef-forward storytelling.
Timeline
S T A K E H O L D E R I N T E R V I E W S
There was cross collaboration between teams
I met with the kitchen’s R&D team to make sure that the menu experience complemented the overall food strategy. They were crafting a beautiful menu and had some clear ideas on how the menu should look. They wanted it to have a clean and elegant look with a clear story highlighting what the dish is, where it came from and what it contains.
U S E R R E S E A R C H
We explored pain points and competitive trends
We also worked collaboratively with the kitchen team to send surveys to the employees at Google Sunnyvale. The kitchen wanted to know things like cuisine preferences and specific dish types and we were looking at the eater behavior.
Popular Cuisine Types
One point of data I found particularly useful was the other restaurants that users often frequent.
T R E N D A N A L Y S I S
We used untraditional inspirations
Our stakeholders really wanted the look of the menu to draw inspiration from the experience of an in-person restaurant. Usual competitive analysis would draw from similar digital experiences but for this project we specifically included paper menus and more traditional dining as part of our basis of research.
D E S I G N
Initial wireframes were sketched and presented
We only had a few sprints until the trial so we were relying heavily on being able to use existing frameworks within our system. After prioritizing new design features that didn’t currently exist within our current menu, I sketched initial wireframes that focused on presenting story first and using familiar commercial food trends.
U I D E S I G N
A new story-first card
A regular EAT Club menu has about 30 items which a user needs to browse through. This new upscale menu was focused on quality over quantity with 10 - 12 highly curated items. Because each dish carried more value, we added the dish description to the main page, making it easier for users to view the select items.
I C O N D E S I G N
Organic and local icons
We knew that the user wanted dishes that were farm-to-table and organic and for that to be portrayed on the menu. I added organic and local icons to the existing icon system.
V I S U A L D E S I G N
The menu was ready for a new, elevated look
During this time I also worked with our art director to come up with a new style of photography that was a big part of the UI of a higher-end menu experience. We decided that we wanted a really clean, modern look and the team worked with our photographers on guidelines for a new style.
T E S T I N G
We made an informed decision
Once the mid-fidelity version had been created, there were differing opinions internally on which experience would achieve our objectives. Based on user testing and internal stakeholder feedback we landed on a final design.
O U T C O M E
Initial data pointed to a successful trial
Google was pleased with their lunch experience and we ended up winning the trial. Because of COVID-19 continued iterations, based on menu satisfaction surveys, daily ordering and review data, were paused.