Final Project: PROPOSAL

Project Title:

The Digital Menu

Team Members:

Aisha Qureshi

Required Skills:

Working alone, I am required to solely tackle all relevant responsibilities regarding this project. It is therefore vital that I thoroughly plan, prepare and manage the tasks, enabling me to play multiple roles. The roles include being an innovative problem solver, who designs an indispensable user interface. I must also exercise acute observational skills to scrutinize the design for sustainability, which translates into effortless user experience. I will need to be analytical, constantly producing, testing and revising prototypes in order to create the most efficient interface. Once the prototype and usability is perfected, I will need to then treat it with appealing and appropriate graphics.

Motivation:

The concept behind digital menus is to facilitate a thorough and efficient ordering process for restaurant customers. The digital menu will enable customers to browse through the menu easily, while giving them the option to view photographs of the meal, and it’s ingredients and nutrition facts.

The interface will also allow customers to order their meal directly from the menu, without having to deal with a waiter/waitress. The interface will however, provide the option for calling open a human waiter/waitress. This concept will also benefit the restaurant itself, as it will gain from the significant employment cuts. Another aspect of this concept that caters to the restaurant itself is the ability to update the menu without having to tape over or cross out items that are no longer served.

I understand that human interaction is a part of the restaurant experience, but some restaurants, where there is an open kitchen concept or where order are taken over the counter, already exclude the human factor. In such cases, the digital menu will only refine their service philosophy. Additionally, I expect restaurants in the near future to eliminate human mediation entirely, similar to many services today (ticketing counters, hotel desk clerks). Another concern may be the cost of implementing such technology on every table at the restaurant. This does not necessarily stand true, since technology only gets better and cheaper, and in the mean time, restaurants could resort to creating revenue by hosting advertisements when the devise in not in use.

Approach:

I will need to first allocate a specific restaurant, which I can base my study upon. The Hampton Chutney & Company is the ideal case study restaurant, located in SoHo, Manhattan. The area and restaurant attract a hip and modern audience, who are keen and willing to explore new, unique trends.

This quaint and chic restaurant serves South Indian cuisine over an open kitchen counter. The nature of the cuisine, coupled with the restaurant’s serene and inviting ambiance, encourages guests to eat in. Such an environment only increases the usefulness of digital menus.

I will need to study the current menu, examining its format and location within the restaurants, how guests interact with it, what information do guests look for, and whether further inquiry is needed. I would also need to survey how much, if any, help is needed from the staff during the ordering process, as well as, monitor the wait time in the ordering line. Additionally, I would also need to consider the restaurant’s needs and requirements from the menu.

Once I thoroughly research the restaurant and their menus, the guests and their experiences, can I evaluate the information to incorporate it into an effective interface, and design the interactive prototype.

Scope:

At the end of the term, I shall deliver a prototype of a digital menu that is not only customized for the case study restaurant, but will also fulfill the general needs for many other restaurants. The prototype will consist of the menu pages, and the sequence of pages that are required to access the other options the interface offers.

Resources:

I need conducted behavior studies of guests and evaluated the requirements of the restaurants, in order to translate them into a significant and effective interface. Once I have gained a better understanding of the interface, shall I be able to develop a prototype and present a plan for required equipment and materials.

Result of ATM Usability Test

“Please withdraw $20.00 for your checking account, and $20.00 from your saving account. Try accomplishing both withdrawals within the same transaction”. This was the task given to the user.

The user approached the ATM interface admitting he is never certain what direction the card is inserted into the machine. This is a common issue amongst users, which is why I designed the slot with a black strip on its bottom right, indicating the direction the magnetic strip on the card must be in upon insertion.  

 The image below explains how the use of a black block beneath the slot can suggest the direction the card needs to be inserted.

However, this subtle indication is not sufficient as the user’s uncertainty continued. This is an aspect I need to readdress when revising the interface. A way to make it clearer is in the use of illustrations or icons. Perhaps then, I may also make icons for the remaining slots; the cash and receipt slot, remaining consistent with the designs.

The screenshots are designed such that the user is able to track back through their path during their transaction. As the user progresses through their withdrawal activity, a menu along the side tracks their path from the ‘main menu’, to ‘accounts’, to ‘amount’. This side bar does not only track the user’s progression, but also act as shortcuts to previous menus.

It is this side menu that I intended the user to take advantage of when giving the instructions. However, since it is not a common feature in ATM interfaces, the user did not expect a side menu and was unsure of its function. I intend to keep this side menu as it allows the user to move back a step, or jump back to a step, while keeping track of the process. Although, perhaps the menu and the buttons composing it need clarification, making the menu distinct from the main page-activity.

Anther confusion cause by the side menu was due to its graphic treatment. When in the Main Menu, the ‘Main menu’ button would still be present, even though it is indicated that it is inactive, likewise, when in the Accounts Menu, the inactive ‘Accounts’ button would be present. Causing confusion, it was suggested that I completely eliminate the button when in that menu.

The screenshot below reveals this issue.

The wording of the ‘End transaction’ and ‘Restart transaction’ buttons created further misunderstanding, as they were not true to their functionality. I would need to revise these buttons.

The process itself is not much different from that of the original ATM - long and tedious. I need to rethink the screenshots and try eliminating, or combining some in order to quicken the process.

Another aspect I need to reconsider is the combination of the touch screen and physical keypad. It would make for a more consistent interface design if the keypad were fused within the screen. However, after much research of the existing ATMs featuring touch screens do have physical keypads. If this is a decision based upon technical difficulties, then it may be overcome and ultimately should not reflect upon the design, which is why I shall incorporate the two interfaces in the next revision.

The incorporation of both physical and touch screen display may also be a security decision. The dial pad is located such that when a user is interacting with the ATM, he/she blocks it from the view of people around them. However, adding another security feature that is more inimitable than a four/six-digit pass code, and something that only the user can provide - a fingerprint, may strengthen the security. An onscreen finger print reader may allay the need of a dial pad, however it would not eradicate it. I intend to include both activation methods, incorporating both onscreen.

Another feature I would like to include when improving the design is the option of withdrawing denominations other than $20. I think this would benefit the functionality of the ATM greatly.

When revising the interface, I intend to improve the design taking into consideration all that I have learned from the usability test.

Results of Task Analysis

ATMs allow easy access to the user’s money through the use of a credit or debit card, and PIN (personal identification number) code, while avoiding the inconvenience of long bank lines and the scrutiny of curious bank clerks. ATMs are everywhere: banks, government buildings, stores, restaurants, gas stations and delis. The fact that they are found in a multitude of quick-stop locations is convenient for users, who often need cash unexpectedly. On the other hand, even though ATMs are aimed at making life and banking easier, they are not very user-friendly and need to enhance the customer experience.

When a user does approach an ATM, he/she must go through a series of steps in order to withdraw money, and the whole process may quickly become tedious. The user must first input their PIN before proceeding to answer the various questions that result in the desired action; make cash withdrawals, view their account balance or to transfer funds from one account to another. However, the questions and its sequence differ from machine to machine, which slows the user, as he/she does not always know what to expect. Also, the layout of each page varies, forcing the user to use additional time surveying.

When redesigning the interface of an ATM, the first of my considerations, which actually should be intuitive, is consistency in design. An organized layout that creates a template for the rest of the screen shots will create the consistency, which users will easily comprehend. I intend to employ a consistent grid plan for the placements of buttons and information, according to users’ expectations.

A common frustration with the ATM interface is the inability to backtrack through a process. If a user needs to move back to a previous step, he/she usually will need to cancel and restart their entire transaction. I intend to design an interface that does only fulfill a ‘back’ option, but also jump back several steps. These steps shall appear in a side bar that will be clearly separated from the main activity onscreen, outlining the pathway of the process, while also allowing the option to move back to that step to modify their transaction.

For additional comprehensiveness, the language used throughout the process will be clear and concise. Furthermore, the number of interactions will be limited to one per screen. This creates for a smoother interaction flow, and thus quicker transaction.

Also, I intend that the design feature a touch screen, eliminating the physical buttons that run along the screen. Living with the today’s technology, a touch screen is intuitive and expected by users.

After conducting a persona study and task analysis, many faults of the interface design became obvious. Learning from this study, the features mentioned above intend to improve user interface and interaction flow while increasing preferences usage, reducing transaction time and increasing customer satisfaction.