☕️ The Grove
At The Grove Café, MMU, customers and staff often felt stressed by long queues at a single till. To make things smoother, I introduced table ordering, real-time order tracking, and a shared café status screen. The design had measurable impact with 87% of users saying real-time tracking reduced anxiety while waiting.
Problem
Customers didn’t know when or where their food would be ready, while staff were constantly interrupted with questions. This slowed service, caused stress, and made the café experience less enjoyable. With this in mind, my problem statement was: How might we give customers more visibility over their orders while reducing interruptions for staff?
Research & Insights
Over two hours of on-site observation at the café revealed that:
Customers often waited around the counter, asking for updates.
Staff were juggling questions while preparing orders.
To complement these insights, I conducted five interviews with both male and female participants aged 21 to 34. From these conversations I found that:
Customers want predictability and clear updates.
Staff need ways to manage orders efficiently without constant interruptions.
Proposed Service Blueprint
This service blueprint illustrates how the redesigned café experience should function, mapping both customer and staff interactions. It highlights the smoother ordering flow, real-time updates, and clear responsibilities for staff, ensuring that the café operates efficiently while customers stay informed and engaged.
Proposed Enhancements
Using service blueprinting and journey mapping, I identified breakdowns in communication and workflow between staff and customers. The goal was to keep customers informed and reduce staff interruptions. I proposed:
QR code ordering at tables to minimise queues.
A status screen with live updates like “Preparing” or “Ready to Collect.”
In-app order tracking with estimated wait times.
A streamlined collection area to cut congestion.
A small waiting game to make the experience more engaging.
These enhancements aim to create a smoother, more efficient café experience for both customers and staff.
Final Concept
The redesign created a smoother, clearer ordering experience:
Customers order from their phone at the table or for takeaway.
Orders are tracked in real time, with updates in the app and on the café screen.
Staff have fewer interruptions and can focus on preparing food.
Crowding at the counter is reduced with a dedicated collection point.
Validating the Impact
A survey of café users showed strong support for the design:
Lessons Learned
This project taught me a lot about service design and balancing the needs of both customers and staff. By using research, mapping journeys, and prototyping, I found hidden pain points and created a solution that makes ordering faster, clearer, and less stressful for everyone.