Overview
Timeline
2023
Team
The BoB Team
Discipline
Product Design
Different from all other menus
In 2023, we discovered several inefficiencies throughout the restaurant's service experiences.
This is a full case-study of my thoughts and processes recorded as it progressed.
I was part of a restaurant strategy & design that lead to increase in profit margin [+28%] and a huge decrease in menu selection time [-77%].
Easier, faster, and better
Our goal was to help customers find that one dish to enjoy again.
We focused on information hierarchy, repetition, and exposures to make our menu more memorable.
"Customer Favorites" Page
"Staff Recommendation" Page
"Full Menu" Page
In need of a foundation
Our goal was simple: make The BoB profitable. However, it wasn't as simple as it sounded for a new team without any experience in business. Competitions are fierce, rivals are copying menus, and we are clueless.
Our high level goals were to:
1. Solution to low conversion.
2. Stand out from competitors.
3. Increase revenue.
Strategizing and Designing
I led the strategy and design of The BoB, creating a new interaction with the customers with our menu.
This project:
1. Define and tackle the market.
2. Impose a specified identity.
3. Systemize workflows for higher efficiency.
A plan for execution
Initially, we planned to gather information after prioritizing problems. We needed to execute it fast.
1
Collecting Information
We had zero information of the current market or our position. We have to know who we are selling for.
2
Defining Our Position
If we are starting from a position, we can also end up in a certain position. We need a direction.
3
Ideating Solutions
Ideas are infinite, but solutions are limited. We want to find the just right balance.
4
Testing Solutions
Time was not ideal. We want to execute agile with the right metrics.
5
Iterate for good
Perfection isn't our goal. We set small goals for faster iterations.
6
Develop and ship
Gathering everything together for the final deliverable.
Underdog with a strong potential
The K-food culture in U-district was more fierce than how it looked. We had 7 K-food competitors within 5 mile radius while we positioned as the highest priced among all.
We self-recorded the data to breakdown our initial discoveries.
Our returning customers consisted of 57% retention rate while new customers only consisted of 14% within one-week time frame.
Do customers usually take this long to decide their dish?
We spotted 4 absolute problems from our research session. We observed and recorded our customer behaviors for 7 days.
What improvements can we make?
1. New customer's took ~18 minutes to decide.
2. Total variation of 64 menu items were confusing.
3. Workers took ~3 minutes to assist customers.
4. 57% of our customers were new customers.
There's always something more deeper into the core
"Decision is made when information is clearly laid on the table."
From the signals we discovered on our initial insight session, we knew it wasn't the real problem. We wanted to really understand the core problem we are not seeing.
| Signal | Metrics | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Low New Customer Conversion | Ordered Dish / Retention rate / Order time | Order time influenced in retention rate from ordered dish |
| Long Ordering Time | Order Time / Ordered Dish / Customer Satisfaction | Long order time on ordered dish lowered customer satisfaction |
| Diversified Dish Sales | Ordered Dish / Profit-margin / Order Frequency | Diversified orders decreased profit-margin without specified order frequency |
| Long Preparation Time | Order Diversity By Time / Laborer Count / Prep Time | Diverse number of orders during busy hours influenced prep time |
Lack of system,
communication,
and consistency
We organized 4 specific data metric sets to discover new ideas by focusing on the possibilities for margin growth.
| Learnings | Interpretation | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Long order time caused decision fatigue | Decision fatigue lead to safest option, an unspecialized menu | Optimize menu viewing easier |
| Unspecialized menu order lead to dissatisfaction | Specialized menus were uninformed to customers | Expose specialized dishes better |
| Returning customers ordered less than 3 options | Customers don't need options, they need decisions | Reduce menu quantity and increase quality |
| Diverse orders created mistakes | Lacking kitchen system for specialized dishes | Systemize preparation for specialized dishes |
How might we reduce decision fatigue and increase our exposure of identity?
We brainstormed several ideas. However, after carefully observing the customer experience, we noticed one thing in particular. All collected data lead to one single option, the menu.
New Menu
Employee Training
Business Modeling
Focusing on improving customer experience using clarity
Acheiving this goal seemed like a far story. I developed several wireframes to test new menu ideas.
With a clear goal in mind, we focused on the idea of information sorting and recognition. We created a metric table to compare the differences.
| Initial Data | Type | Collected Data | Impact Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~18 min. of order time | Customer Experience | x | -50% in order time |
| 23% BiBimbob order rate | Customer Experience | x | +15% in order rate |
| Korean restaurant identity | Client Need | x | BiBimBoB restaurant |
| ~5% Profit margin | Client Need | x | ~15% Profit Margin |
| ~15 min. prep time | Kitchen System | x | -25% in prep time |
| 64 Menu Items | Kitchen System | x | Optimized Number |
Better way to scan and remember
To design a menu that improves information viewing experience better, I researched visual rules and cognitive recognition for easier menu experience.
Decluttering with better recognition to information
We utilized visual alignment, hierarchy, and consistency to focus on easing the readability of the menu.
'Just by tweaking the orders of information, changed the overall impression and experience of deciding our dish.'
The most natural way of using repeated exposure theory
Because we already discovered the most asked question from the customers, we focused on communicating recommendations to customers.
'We utilized the idea of double diamond design thinking patterns into the menu for convergent to divergent and back to converging.'
Prioritizing to spark imagination
Imaginating an expectation of satisfaction is how we truly help customers make the right decision. We re-written the description for all menus to increase conversion on dishes that have received the attention of the customers.
'We allowed new information to really catch the attention of everyone, sparking curiosity.'
We sell BiBimBoBs
Now, we have people walking in hearing about our specialty dish, BiBimBoB.
| Initial Data | Impact Data | Target Goal | Reached Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| ~18 min. of Order Time | Avg. 4 min. of Order Time | -50% in Order Time | -77% in Order Time |
| 23% BiBimbob Order Rate | 56% BiBimBoB Order Rate | +15% in order rate | +33% in order rate |
| Korean restaurant | Best BiBimBoB | Narrowing Down | Best Dolsot BiBimBoB |
| ~5% Profit Margin | + 33% Profit Margin | +15% Profit Margin | +28% Profit Margin |
| ~15 min. prep time | ~5 min. prep time | -25% | -66% |
| 64 Menu Items | 27 Menu Items | -50% | -57% |
Mistakes,
Failures,
and Learnings
This wasn't a cookie cutter experience for my journey with The BoB. I wanted to include this section to record my reflections upon the challenges I faced.
Humans are the most important factor in the design process
Even if I had a built trust with the client, it was difficult to overcome the lacking confidence and knowledge, a.k.a. mental fatigue.
I read psychology books to encourage my client to make decisions instead of doubting his abilities. We constantly talked about the ideas, encouraging new-ness, and helped each other generate goals for the restaurant.
I learned that our client needed an ally who can support his thoughts and make confident choices. Sometimes, solutions are different from specialized skills.
Design is about building ethical business solutions
Upon taking classes with UX concepts, I thought design was about making better experiences for the users.
However, we tried to add different menus, hire different people, or even change the way we interact with customers.
Everything failed. We learned that whatever we do, requires business to improve. UX was a concept to truly open our eyes to understand our customer problems for improving the business.