I have been a great fan of these fast food industry products from a very young age. I have not thought much about the experience when I was young, but the food mattered the most. But now, after becoming a UX designer, I started to see the experience that they give to the users, and I was really amazed to see the UX principles that they have really followed to give a good experience to the users.
Users want to have a good experience, be it ordering food or waiting for food. One amazing thing I discovered was how persistent the fast food industry is in giving its users a better user experience. There are some principles of UX that they follow in their workflow. Let's see some of them.
Visibility of System Status
Visibility of the system status is a heuristic principle where the design must inform the users what is happening in the product through feedback or a response while the process is going on. This allows the user to know what state the procedure is in without asking the process owner again and again.
For example, you have booked an appointment at a hospital and are waiting to visit the doctor. In most of the hospitals in India, what we see is that we go there and inform the reception that we have arrived; they will note our names and tell us to wait until they call our name. This is the time when all of us lose our patience. We will go to the reception and ask how many more are in front of us so that we can go in. This is why we need visibility of the system status. If you think there is a possible solution for this, you can leave a comment below.
In a digital scenario, when we order food from twiggy or any of these food delivery apps, once we order, the screen informs us how long it will take to deliver, and, to an extent, a map view of where the delivery executive is will also be shown. This helps us to patiently wait because we know the visibility of the status.
KFC — Visibility of the system status
So, in connection with this, what I experienced at KFC was amazing. When I went to a KFC in Chennai and ordered food, the KFC staff turned back to get my order. Once he turned back, the back of the shirt mentioned, “Waiting for your order? I’m on it.” This is a really nice way to inform the user that the order is in progress and the person who took your order is on it.
McDonald's—Visibility of the system status
Even McDonald’s fast food chain is excellent at showing visibility to its users. When you visit the facility and order food from McDonald’s, they will give you a receipt with an order number. This order number will be visible on a big screen, which informs the user what all orders are getting prepared for and which orders are ready to be served. Showing the status of the order, which allows the users to patiently wait for the order and collect it.
More than one way to do a task
The most important task that you are intending to do in an application can be done in multiple ways. That means the user can reach the particular action in multiple ways.
If you see this aspect on this home page, the book appointment CTA is repeated around four times on the same screen. The reason to do this is because that is the primary CTA button, and you want the users to click through it wherever they are on the website.
McDonald’s main action is to order food. So if you go to a McDonald’s store, there are multiple ways for a user to order food.
1. Order through the Counter
This is the most conventional way a user can order food at the counter. One can wait to see the digital menu and order the food over the counter.
2. Order through Kiosk
The second option is to do the same ordering at the McDonald’s kiosk, which is present in the store. Even you can scan the offer QR codes thorough the Kiosk, do the payments and wait for the order.
3. Order through mobile, pickup or dine-in
The third option to order is through the mobile app, where you can dine in, pick up, or even do a drive-through.
Thereby giving a good user experience, one important reason is that users can think of multiple ways of ordering food rather than going for the conventional way of standing in the queue.
Conclusion
So, the things you see around will help you understand UX simpler and more effectively. This will allow you to learn from user experiences and also practice them efficiently. To summarize, give the users visibility as to where they are in a product and also give them multiple ways to click on the primary call-to-action item.
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