In this case study, you will see
Problem statement
Design process:
User research:
Questionnaire /user interview
Persona
Journey map
App flow chart
Wireframe
UI design: Prototype
What I learn from the design process
Project type: 4 weeks student project
Does the following scenario sound familiar?
You intended to go to a coffee shop to do some work, you got into your car, drove there, and was lucky to find parking. When you entered the coffee shop you realized there weren't any seats available. How frustrating!? This situation happens often especially in coffee shops with nice ambiance.
"How might we improve the connection between customers and coffee shops to enhance overall customer experience?"
Proposed Solution
CoSpot is an app that allows users to book a seat in participating coffee shops. Users pay a small fee to be able to reserve seat(s) based on their preferences, for example, availability of a power outlet or printer.
Note: This app requires both customers and shops to sign up, however, this case study only covers the customer side.
Design Process
User Interview
The design process started from user interviews. I interviewed six people, they are classmates or friends, aged 25 to 39, including male and female. The interview questions included:
What’s your occupation?
Have you ever gone to a coffee to work there
Why did you choose a coffee shop to work?
What did you like/dislike about it?
Would you be willing to pay a fee to reserve a seat? If yes, how much?
Feedback received:
Interview Responses
“ I sometimes go to a coffee shop to work because I have a 4-year-old kid at home. She would want me to play with her when I am home. I don’t mind paying a small fee go book seat if I can be more productive in that place. “
-User #2
“ I do not go to a coffee shop to do my work, it is not a place I can concentrate on my work ”
-User #3
“ As I only rent a room in my apartment, and my room is kind of small, I sometimes go to the near-by cafe to study. It frustrating me when there is no seat available when I arrived“
-User #5
“ I travel to other cities for business trips. I sometimes go to Starbucks after meetings to wrap up my work“
-User #6
Who are CoSpot target audiences?
There were a few people who would be willing to pay a small amount to book a seat in a coffee shop in advance.
Their demographics are:
In their mid 30s - 40s
Hold management positions in their job roles
Go on business trips frequently
The main reason the interviewees are willing to pay the extra fees is in order to save time, reduce uncertainty, and therefore experience less hassle. The target audiences for CoSpot are people who are less cost-sensitive, and more time conscious.
Persona
Based on the feedback I received from the interviews, I created the persona to show the target audience for CoSpot.
Ashley, is a cosmetic district manager who frequently goes on business trips throughout the western provinces for store visits. She is financially independent, single, no kids, and cares about lifestyle. Her motto is “quality over quantity.”
User pain points
&
How CoSpot can help
Here is Ashley's typical day when she is on a business trip. The retail stores are located in the city centre and malls with busy traffic. After Ashley arrives in certain cities, she heads to the stores directly in order to review the store performance and has meetings with store managers. After her meetings are finished, she just wants to go to a coffee shop and summarize her work of the day. She also needs a power outlet so her laptop battery doesn’t run low.
As she is in the city centre, it is possible there is no seats available when she arrives at the coffee shop and she would have to find another one. She does not want to go through all the hassle, so she uses the CoSpot app to find a coffee shop that meets her needs and books a seat easily. Now she can just go to the coffee shop and save time.
App flow and content
After understanding the users’s needs, I designed the features for the app. The goal is to find and book a seat based on users’ preferences. Users also have a choice to complete payment on the App so they do not have to worry about local currency when travelling abroad.
Wireframe
After determining what content to put on each section, I did the wireframe to plan the layout for each page. I was considering to present the shop list vertically or horizontally. Then I decided to make it vertically since its easier for an overall glance.
Visual elements
High fidelity prototype using Adobe XD
What I learnt
The reason I chose this idea was because I wished this app existed, however, it definitely needs more market research.
The initial concept requires iterations.
User interviews and user testing are critical to know about users' needs and preferences.
App problems addressed:
Target group is hard to expand
Replaceable by other reservation apps
Reservation may only be needed for popular coffee shops
There need to be incentives for coffee shops to sign up
Customers may book seats with coffee shops directly instead of using the app
What's next
After rethinking how to add business value to the app, another idea came to mind:
Collaborating with online event platforms, for example: Meet Up. There are plenty of event meetings in coffee shops. Instead of having the users RSVP, CoSpot could be linked to book a seat directly. It would help the event host get a more accurate count of the attendees and reduce the possibility of participant no-show.