FoodReel: Mobile App Design
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Problem
Ordering snacks and movie tickets at theaters can often be overwhelming and confusing.
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Solution
FoodReel is a one-stop solution for easily ordering movie tickets and snacks so users can focus on having fun at the movies.
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Responsibilities
Lead UX Researcher/Designer
Conducted user research and case studies. Developed wireframes, low-fidelity and high fidelity prototypes.
Make your movie.
FoodReel is an app that gives moviegoers a simple, fast, and intuitive option for mobile snack and ticket ordering so they can skip the line and enjoy their movie. With a unified user interface design and location based recommendations, it has never been easier to take a trip to the movies.
Understanding the User
In order to improve the overall user experience, it was important to establish empathy maps, user personas, and user journeys. This helped identify our key demographic of users, namely moviegoers than go to the movies 2-3 times a month.
The research conducted did, in fact, support our assumptions that moviegoers want a more intuitive method of ordering their snacks and tickets. This research also showcased the fact that users want granular control over individual items in their order.
Starting the Design
When drafting the initial wireframes, I wanted to create an experience that immediately greets users with a simple interface with options for re-ordering or starting a new order.
Digital Wireframes
For the initial homepage design, it was important to keep a simple layout that didn’t overwhelm the user as per user feedback.
Based on user feedback, it was also crucial to effectively and clearly communicate each component of the user’s order as well as provide them with clear actionable buttons to edit and/or move forward in the process.
Usability Studies
For FoodReel, two usability studies were conducted. The first round was mainly focused on improving the overall experience of the low-fidelity prototypes and implementing those improvements in the high-fidelity mockups. The second round focused on testing the effectiveness of the high-fidelity prototype and mockups.
Refining the Design
After conducting the first usability study, it was important to give the user a dedicated page for their orders as well as the option to cancel if they wished.
After getting user feedback, it was apparent that when a user chose to look at a movie’s “Showtimes,” they were locked onto a path of creating a FoodReel order where they had to choose a food after the showtime. This was remedied by adding food as a secondary opt-in option if the user chose to look at a movie’s showtimes first.
Accessibility Considerations
Takeaways
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“The home page is very organized. I like the layout, especially the fact that I can see past orders in theaters I’ve been to. It was very easy to reach the checkout screen and complete the order.”
FoodReel makes it easy for users to make their orders so they can focus on having fun at the movies.
After conducting two rounds of user research and developing FoodReel from paper wireframes to a high-fidelity prototype, I learned the value of user feedback and how the experience of conducting research is an important collaborative effort to make a product experience better for everyone.
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Next Steps
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Conduct another usability study specifically focused on whether the newly implemented order page and customization options address all user pain points.
Implement even more accessibility features such as a light mode and additional languages to include even more users.
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