INTRODUCTION
Based on my own experience and convenience, I decided to redesign the Macdonald's App to make it more user-friendly, so that users can have more convenience and still maintain a high-quality overall experience.
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Understand users’ pain points and focus on some of them.
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Understand different stakeholders’ interests through research.
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Integrate UX design with business objectives.
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Conduct usability research to test and get feedback.
GOALS:
PROBLEM:
Personally, I would give the current McDonald’s App (HK) a one-star, as many users cited that they are not satisfied with their app and demand a better one. Approximately 10% of users have the McDonald’s App (HK) on their phones and only 5% will use it.
USER JOURNEY:
The process of the user journey has to begin with getting to know users, and gathering existing research is a good start. So I have combined the findings of several interviews with users to gain their ‘touchpoints’ of the whole experience with the current app.
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Time consumption is far too much to even start, and there is no way to skip or do it later on;
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Location function occupies so much running space and time, it slows down the whole process;
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The payment instructions are not yet clear enough and the QR code is not available on hand, which falls below peak expectations.
USER
PAIN POINTS:
PROTOTYPE:
I created a conceptual model based on user pain points, hoping to address their issues and direct them to get what they want more quickly and easily. Based on the conceptual model, I first came up with a paper prototype and used it as the first version to do usability testing and get feedback to iterate on.
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The ‘View as a guest‘ option can increase engagement enormously, reducing the hassle for first-time users. Forcing users to register before completing the purchase leads to a decrease in conversion rates (estimated at 35% of abandonment rates) according to evidence.
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‘Order now’ and ‘Today’s coupon’ on the main page can catch the user’s attention immediately, which reduces the user’s mental burden.
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‘Pickup’ and ‘Delivery’ options are available only after the user has chosen and ordered, which not only reduces the burden for users (because they have to figure things out before ordering) but also reduces the errors (users can switch between the two options easily if they want to change their mind later on).
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I have removed the QR code scanning, as most users have asked, to make it more user-friendly.
USER TESTING:
I listed the following tasks for potential users, to find out what issues they may encounter and what can I improve.
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The consistency of choosing ‘View as a guest’
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The mental burden of the main page
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The smoothy switching between ‘Pickup’ and ‘Delivery’
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Complete the payment process
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Take a survey and give feedback
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2 out of 5 users reported that it was not clear when switching between ‘Pickup’ and ‘Delivery’ options, which left them wondering what they should do.
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1 out of 5 users had an issue with payment processing, where the user could not find the way she wanted and she was worried that the information’s privacy would be compromised.
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All users wanted to take a survey, but they said it would be better if they knew how that info would be used and protected.
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Some details need to be polished, to reflect every step that the user may encounter.
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Privacy issues are a major concern for users, and we have a responsibility to protect their privacy and use it ethically.
FINDINGS:
FINAL DESIGN:
I made the final prototype below based on feedback and several iterations, the whole idea is following the conceptual model I came up with earlier, and I also made several changes to adjust user habits and their mental model.
Main page:
Easy to choose from only two options, and Continue as a guest, provide an alternative option among sign in or register in the beginning.
Order:
Items are displayed with images and descriptions, which give users a holistic view of each available items.
Pick up:
With the Register and Sign-in options revealed now, follow a user’s mental model and give them options to choose at the right time.
Delivery:
Deduct extra mental distress and allow users to switch between Pickup and Delivery seemingly.
After order:
Give users a live update after order and survey option is available after the experience.
REFLECTION
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User journey can reveal true and unnoticeable frustrations and it allowed me to focus on users’ pain points all the time, to better meet their needs;
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User research can be done through different methods and levels, all of which depend on the project;
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Business objectives also need to be considered, to better drive business growth;
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Stepping forward is very important as I am a frequent MacDonald user, which helped me to understand other users’ confusion and thoughts;
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Change is the norm throughout the entire process, it helped me not to stick to my original ideas;
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UX design is about making users flow smoothly without making users to think and wonder what they should do.
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The redesign has never been an easy job for me to begin with as I don’t post myself as a designer who can spot errors easily and quickly, so I challenged myself and tried to step into the designer’s mind to look at this app deeply so that I can switch my mind to a different perspective. Based on research, I found this app had many usability issues, and it increased my confidence in redesigning it. It taught me that mindset is crucial to the design, any app has room for improvement, and that is why I have a role to play as UX designer.