Survey

We conducted a survey of 30+ potential users of the app, and tried to diversify our participants' demographics - age, occupation, education, residence, lifestyle, marital status, etc. All participants had prior experience ordering food online at least once. Our survey questions revolved both around the digital user experience as well as the business concept of the idea. Here are some key metrics from the survey (multiple choice questions are represented in a bar graph while single-choice questions are represented in a doughnut chart).

How old are you?

do you use the tracking feature for your deliveries?

During what times do you usually order food?

How frequently do you order food on a weekly basis?

Select more than one if it depends on the week

Which delivery app have you used in the past month?

How have you paid for your food delivery in the past?

What device have you used to order your food from?

If you've ever ordered directly some any restaurant, what were the reasons?

Key Insights from Interviews

• From the interviews, there were three food categories that were often ordered in frequency order: fast food (pizza, burgers, etc.), local food (shawerma, kebab, rice and stew), healthy foods (calorie limited meals, salads, etc.)
• Participants ordered food for multitude of reasons, the main ones being: a busy work schedule, friends/family gatherings of usually younger demographics, late night snacks, lunch breaks at work, and following a diet plan.
• The main challenges people faced during their food ordering experience was actually deciding on where to order, concerned with the food quality of trying new spots due to inaccurate reviews and tired of ordering the same item over and over. Another pain point was inaccurate ETA estimates, often resulting in a cold meal. Additionally, even basic customization is hard to achieve since you can only add it as a note on the delivery app, and is often ignored/missed by the restaurants.
• Most of the participants mentioned group orders during lunch breaks at work. The main pain point was deciding where to order from and then actually collecting everyone's individual orders -- often resulting one coworker to call/walk around and manually enter each one's preference, wasting time and energy.
• The participants were were split in having their decision making influenced by affordable pricing versus good quality. Customization was a close second. Some prioritized it and had struggled with it before, some hadn't thought about it but were very receptive to the idea when presented to them and claimed they would use such flexible feature.
• Those that did use customization were either picky eaters/had specific tastes, those that ordered in groups and wanted to share certain things together (i.e. sharing a pizza) and some just liked the customization concept. Sometimes, the customization was simple, such as removing a single ingredient or adding less sauce; even then they all struggled to achieve it easily and consistently.
• The way they customized the food was mostly through calling the restaurants directly, since the delivery apps didn't fully support it, or when they did, it was in a tiny notes field that was ignored/missed by the restaurant most of the time (perhaps due to bad UI on the restaurant side). Even with calling the restaurants, most didn't offer their own delivery and those who did, their busy atmosphere often resulted in the restaurant missing their request as well. A small segment struggled with calling the restaurants due to language barriers, busy lines, etc.
• The way they customized the food was mostly through calling the restaurants directly, since the delivery apps didn't fully support it, or when they did, it was in a tiny notes field that was ignored/missed by the restaurant most of the time (perhaps due to bad UI on the restaurant side). Even with calling the restaurants, most didn't offer their own delivery and those who did, their busy atmosphere often resulted in the restaurant missing their request as well. A small segment struggled with calling the restaurants due to language barriers, busy lines, etc.
• Vegans/Vegetarians often struggled with restaurants not offering specific marked sku's, which then resulted in them ordering from vegetarian-only restaurants, of which they grew tired of. Dietary restrictions, althought a small segment suffered from, was also something not available -- neither in the restaurant menu nor in the delivery app's filtering algorithm.
• Despite interest to add alternative payment options, users often paid in cash upon delivery. Some claimed it was a safeguard against wrong items being delivered and simply rejecting it, rather than having to ask for a refund from support (which was often not convenient and super helpful)
• People like to order from specialty restaurants, but that usually is either too expensive or problematic when multiple people with different tastes want to order. Instead, they opt for a wider menu variety, which often sacrifices quality. There is demand for a single POS to order different items, where the quality is gourmet and the price is not a huge premium.
• Users were receptive to scheduled deliveries, although it wasn't a huge pain point or a commonly used feature.
• Participants found the "Suprise Me" feature interesting, and worth a try. They emphasized that their initial experience would decide if they'll use the feature again. When asked what would turn them off, most mentioned that they were concerned to receive items with ingredients they don't like/hate. Therefore, an initial survey could solve this issue.
• Most participants loved the take out idea, but said they don't use it since the delivery apps don't offer it. Instead, they would have to call the restaurant to place an order, which was an inconvenience/hassle to them.

User Personas

Empathy Maps