Week 10 Exercise - Restaurant Dining Experience

What is the existing experience? From different stakeholder P.O.V.?

Experience from a customer's view

• Customers walk in, are greeted and are given a seat
• They are given a menu
• Customers read the menu and decide on what to order
• Waiter/waitress comes and asks the customers if they are ready to order
• Customers order what they want, then wait for some time until their food is served

Experience from a waiter/waitress view

• Greet customers, give menus to customers, find them a table that is not taken
• Take orders from customers
• Give orders to the chefs
• Serve food to customers
• Pick up dirty dishes/clean tables
• Fulfil the requests of customers at any time

 What external/internal factors impact on the experience?

• How many customers there are on a given day
• How many waiters/waitresses are working on a given day

What aspects of the existing experience could be enhanced/augmented/supported with technology?

An aspect that could be changed is the way that customers order their food. Instead of reading through the paper menu, customers can browse through a digital menu and then submit their order when they are ready. The order is sent to the chefs which they can see on a screen back in the kitchen.

How would introducing technology in to this context change the experience?

• Customers can take their time to browse the menu and submit their order when ready.
• It makes it easier for customers to customise their order. They can change the items and quantities, specify any special requirements, etc any time BEFORE they submit it.
• There's less hassle for waiters because it saves them going around everywhere to take customers' orders.
• Orders are sent immediately to the kitchen.
• Order can be tracked - e.g. how much time is remaining until food is served. This is a good thing for customers to know about.

What experience scenarios might you test with the technology?

On a busy day, get customers to try the digital menu. By using the interface, we will know how user-friendly it is. Additionally, we will see how efficient it is that waiters do not have to go around taking people's orders.