PROJECTOVERVIEW
Theproduct:
SNAXisanewappdesignedtohelpmoviegoersseamlessly ordertheatersnacksonline,sotheycanspendlesstime preppingandmoretimeenjoyingtheirmovieexperience.
Projectduration:
ThisprojectwasinitiatedonDecember2022 andfinalizedonApril2023.
PROJECTOVERVIEW
Theproblem:
Moviegoersencountermanypainpointswhenit comestotheirviewingexperience.Acommonone ishavingtowaitinline,asitcouldleadtoone possiblymissingapartofthemovie.Forthesame reason,mostviewersdislikehavingtogetupfrom theirseats,whetherit’stoordermoresnacksor visittherestroom.
Thegoal:
Thegoalofthisprojectistodesignanappthat wouldhelpalleviatethesepainpoints,so moviegoerscanseamlesslyenjoytheirviewing experience.
PROJECTOVERVIEW
Myrole:
AspartofGoogle’sUXDesignclass,Ifulfilled manyrolesinordertodesignSNAX–Iserved asLeadUXdesigner,aswellasUX Researcher.
Responsibilities:
MyresponsibilitiesasUXDesigner& Researcherincluded(butwerenotlimitedto)
UserResearch,Wireframing,UIDesign,and Prototyping.
USERRESEARCH: SUMMARY
In order to better understand my potential users, I conducted interviews and created empathy maps in order to better understand to how design for their needs. The demographic that stood out were young working adults who were looking for a smoother snack ordering experience. This user group confirmed a few initial assumptions about moviegoers, but also revealed other pain points that creating an app could potentially alleviate.
USERRESEARCH:PAINPOINTS
WaitinginLine
Waitinginlineisoftena sourceofstressastheycan beunpredictablylongand canleadtoonemissingpart ofthemovie.
GettingUp
Leavingone’sseatisan undesirablesituationfor manyusersasagain,itwould entailmissingapartofthe movie.However,assnacking isavitalpartofthe moviegoingexperience, somewouldstillmakethe choiceofleavingoneseatto queueupatthesnackbar.
GroupOrdering
Inmanycases,thosewhovisit cinemasasagroupwilloften assignonepersontoorder snacksforeveryone–this presentsmanypainpoints suchastrackingwhoordered whatandhowmuchisowed. Thismakeswaitinginlineor gettingupfromone’sseatan evenbiggerpainpoint.
Cashless
Whileaminorpainpoint,itis worthtonotethatsome usersmaynotalwayshave cashon-hand.Havingtolook foranATMorevenborrow cashaddsfrictiontothe moviegoingexperience.
PERSONA: JENIFFER
Problemstatement:
Jenifferisabusyprofessionalwho needsacashlessandhassle-free waytoordersnacksbecauseshe doesn’talwayshavetimetoprep forhermovie.
PERSONA: JOSH
Problemstatement:
Joshisafrequentmoviegoerwho needseasierwaystoordersnacks forhimselfandhisgroupbecause lininguptakestime.
USERJOURNEYMAP
MappingJosh’suserjourneyrevealedhowhelpfulitwouldbeto haveaccesstoadedicatedsnack-orderingappforthetheater.
PAPER WIREFRAMES
Takingthetimetosketchiterations ofeachscreenensuredthatany elementsthatmadeittothedigital wireframeswerebest-suitedto addressuserpainpoints.
Fromhomescreentocheckout,the prioritywastokeeptheprocessas simpleandstraightforwardas possible.Previousauditswere conductedonexistingappsinthe marketinordertoimplementbest designpractices,suchas FoodPandaandGrab.
Severaldraftsoftheuserflowweredraftedandselectedtobeusedfordigitalwireframes.
DIGITALWIREFRAMES
Sincethemainuserflowstartedatthe menu,theintentwastokeepitas simpleaspossible.
Perhaps you already know what you want. Search for it here!
Visualclutterwaskeptataminimum andfamiliarnavigationalelementswere implementedsuchasthesearchbar andinfinitescroll.
This section is intended for repeat users of this app. Items that were previously ordered would appear here for repeat orders.
Userswhomoreorlessknowwhatthey wanttoorderwouldusethesearchbar, otherwisetheycouldscrollandperuse thedifferentcategories.
Not sure what to snack on? Perhaps the bestsellers are a good place to start.
Care to look around? Scroll until you find something enticing.
DIGITALWIREFRAMES
Aspreviouslystated,waitinginlineisa prominentsourceofstressforacouplereasons:
No need to get up! Have your snacks delivered to your seat.
1)Duetotheunpredictablenatureoflines,one couldpotentiallymissapartoftheirmovie.
2)Thesimpleactofwaitingitselfisan undesirableaction.
Skip the lines and have your ordered prepped for pickup!
Cashless payment options implemented for users who cannot be bothered to have cash at hand.
3)Havingtogetupfromone’sseatjusttoorder snacksalsomeansmissingthemovie.
Toaddressthis,Igavetheusertheoptionto eitherhavetheirorderpreparedforpickupor haveitdeliveredtotheirseat.
DIGITALWIREFRAMES
Itwasdiscoveredduringmyinterviews thatsomegroupswillassignapersonto orderforthewholegroup. Thispresentsawholegroupofpain pointssuchashavingtorememberall theitemsandhavingtotrackwho orderedwhat.
Share this link with your friends to add their orders to your cart!
Timer helps notify everyone in the group to place their orders promptly to save time.
If the user is ready to checkout before the timer ends, they may click End Timer to proceed.
Toaddressthis,Iintroducedagroup orderingfunctionthatcouldbeaccessed fromthemainmenuorthecart.
Users can also opt to share the link through existing messaging apps.
LOW-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
Oncethewireframeswerecreated,theywere connectedtocreatealow-fidelityprototype. Thiswouldlaterbeusedinausabilitytestinorder toseehowfeasibletheappwasandtoidentifyany opportunitiesorproblemsinthedesign.
Link
toLow-FidelityPrototype
USABILITYSTUDY:FINDINGS
Write a short introduction to the usability studies you conducted and your findings.
Round 1 findings
Users wanted a simpler menu 1
Round 2 findings
Users wanted group ordering to be more intuitive 2
3
Users preferred to communicate directly rather than rely on the timer when doing a group order
Certain texts were too small to read 1
2
Placement of certain CTA buttons were confusing
Some elements such as checkboxes were hard to see 3
MOCKUPS
Earlierdesignsallowedforautomatedsuggestions basedontheuser’ssearchhistoryandpastactivity. However,userspreferredamoredirectaccessto themenuwhichwasreflectedinthefinaldesign. Whilethesearchbarwasretained,acategory sectionwasimplementedtoallowausertoperuse therangeofthemenu
Ialsorevisedthedesignsothatperformingagroup orderwassignificantlymoreintuitive.
Afterusabilitystudy
Beforeusabilitystudy
MOCKUPS
Thesecondusabilityrevealedseveralflawsin theUIdesignascertainelementswereeither hardtoseeortheirplacementswereconfusing.
Beforeusabilitystudy
Checkboxesanddividerswererevisedtohave morecontrast.Certainbodiesoftextwerealso madetobebiggerforincreasedlegibility.
Afterusabilitystudy
MOCKUPS
Additionally,thetimerwasremovedaltogetheras userspreferredtocommunicatedirectlyinorder toproceedwithagrouporder.Theremovalofthe timeralsomeantdecreasedvisualclutter.
Beforeusabilitystudy
CTAbuttonwasalsomovedtothebottomtobe moreconsistentwiththedesign. Newcopieswerealsoimplementedsothatthe stepsofagrouporderweremadeclear.Thiswas importantbecausegrouporderingisrelativelya newfunctioninfoodorderingapps.
Afterusabilitystudy
KEYMOCKUPS
HIGH-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
Thefinalhigh-fidelityprototypepresentedcleaner userflowsforcompletingindividualandgroup orders.Itmettheneedforapickupor deliver-to-seatoption,aswellascashless paymentmethods.Navigatingthemenuand customizingitemsweremadeasintuitiveas possible.
LinktoHigh-FidelityPrototype
ACCESSIBILITYCONSIDERATIONS
Labelediconstomake navigationmucheasier.
Copieswerealsowritten inordertohelpusers understandthenext stepsinthemainuser flow.
Madean“accessibility” sectionavailablewhere userscanenable accessibilityoptionssuch asalttextanddarkmode.
Usedlarge,detailed photographstousers betterunderstandthe designs.
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TAKEAWAYS
Impact:
Usersdidnothavemuchtroublefiguringouthowto usetheappasSNAX’sdesignsharedveryfamiliaruser flowswithexistingfood-orderingapps. Onequotefrompeerfeedback:
“UsingSNAXwasn’tchallengingatallbecausetheuser flowwasverysimilartootherfood-orderingappsI currentlyuse.Sotheentrypointwasn’tintimidatingto me.“
WhatIlearned:
ThisprojecthasbeenthemostfunI’vehadinalong time.There’ssomethinginvigoratingaboutlearningan entirelynewskillafterspendingyearsinaprofession youthoughtyouwoulddofortherestofyourlife.
LotsofthingsaboutUXsurprisedme,buttheone learningthatstoodoutthemostisthatyourfirstideas foranapparegoingtobewildlydifferentfromthefinal product.You’regoingtodiscoverthingsaboutpeople youneverwouldhaveimaginedandtheywillgreatly influencehowyoudesignyourproductintheend.
NEXTSTEPS
Conductanotherroundof usabilitystudiestovalidate whetherthepainpointsusers experiencedhavebeen effectivelyaddressed.
Conductmoreuserresearch todetermineanynewareas ofneed.
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LET’SCONNECT!
ThankyoufortakingthetimetolookatmyworkontheSNAXapp.
Ifyou’dliketoseemoreorgetintouch,mycontactinformationisprovidedbelow.
E-mail:kevinrcalderon@gmail.com LinkedIn:ClickHere
