Theater Bites

My Role: UX Designer

Date: July 2023

Duration: 4 Weeks

Prompt

Design a mobile snack ordering app for a movie theater.

Problem:

Users spend too much time waiting in line to order and receive their food and drinks.

Goal:

Reduce wait times for users and deliver a seamless experience to increase overall customer experience and snack sales.

Research

Competitive Audit

I compared different movie theater food apps to learn what they do well and how they can be improved before starting my design process.

Summary

During my research, it was evident that users want a seamless snack ordering experience. Customization and pick-up/delivery time options are important to them. A user-friendly interface and efficient navigation are also crucial. Enhancing these areas will encourage users to order snacks through our app instead of at the theater.

For the user to be enticed to utilize the app, it was imperative that they experienced a smooth and effortless ordering process.

Fast Navigation

1

User Interviews

In order for the user to receive the same order they would be able to ask for in front of a cashier, I needed my designs to include full customization of all the items in their basket.

Customization

2

To make my app accessible to all and also simple to understand I evaluated contrast, text size, and language throughout my design process.

Readability

3 Define

Get to the movies early enough to watch the previews with his partner
Find budget friendly snacks while at the movies

Elliot

Age: 27

Occupation: Med Student

Location: Milwaukee, WI

Family: In a relationship

“My partner and I always miss the new movie previews because it takes too long to get our snacks and drinks”

Often miss the previews while in line for snacks
Difficult to read all menu items and prices while in a hurry

Elliot and his partner enjoy going to the movies as a cheap date while in medical school. They usually skip the snack line because it's too long, and they like watching the previews. Elliot wants to have snacks and drinks on their date nights without the bother of waiting in line.

Goals:

Personas

Frustrations:

Jade

Age: 34

Occupation: Nurse

Location: St Paul, MN

Family: Single mom with three Children

“Having three young children running around is difficult to handle while having to carry all of their drinks and snacks for them too”

Get snacks and drinks for the whole family delivered
Avoid long lines

Has trouble carrying all of her kids drinks into the theater

Waiting in line with 3 excited children is hectic

Jade is a busy single mom, who enjoys watching new movies with her young children. She finds going to the movies stressful because she has to carry everything with her children, and some of her children are too young to leave unattended. She wants to make the movies a special experience, but finds it difficult to organize snacks and drinks without getting to the theater extra early.

Goals:

Frustrations:

User Journey

I created user journey map for my persona, which helped me understand every step a user might take when ordering food at the theater. This showed me the potential benefits of an app and the necessary features to include.

Ideation

I quickly sketched paper wireframes to explore design options, and marked important elements with stars for my final layout.

Usability Study

After creating initial mockups and a prototype, I conducted two rounds of usability studies with five different users to better understand how a user might interact with the product, and what could be improved upon.

Findings

Round 1

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Visibility to cart
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User should be able to click through modifications in any order

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Icons should also work as buttons
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Need for a navigation bar
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Round 2

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Cluttered home screen
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Larger buttons needed
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Simplified dark/light screen switch
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Mockups

I applied the learnings from both usability studies to my mockups to refine my designs.

Before Usability Study 1

After Usability Study 2

The user wanted to take less steps to navigate to desired screens. I added a navigation bar at the bottom of the screen to allow users to switch between screens quickly.

Before Usability Study 2