SpeedyBites Mobile App

Product Experience

Problem Background  

In the traditional food truck dining experience, customers often face the challenge of long and unpredictable lines, leading to a time-consuming and inconvenient wait. This waiting process not only affects customer satisfaction but also poses operational challenges for food truck vendors. Recognizing this is an issue, the need for a solution becomes apparent.  ‍

Research Insights 

In our effort to improve the food truck experience, we conducted thorough user research, including interviews and surveys, to understand the expectations and challenges faced by regular food truck users.

The insights from our research revealed that 22.2% of surveyed individuals found their food truck waiting experience to be lengthy and frustrating, while 66.7% considered it a moderate wait time. Only 11.1% expressed satisfaction with the current state. This data clearly indicates the need to enhance the waiting experience within the food truck industry.

In addition, when we asked users about their openness to using a mobile app for joining a virtual waiting list and receiving real-time updates about their queue status, an impressive 77.8% responded positively. This statistic strongly supports the identified issue highlighted in the problem background.

User Pain Points

From the interviews conducted with both food truck users and owners, these are the pain points that were discovered. 

• Long Wait Times: Customers often had to endure long and unpredictable lines at food trucks, leading to frustration.
• Uncertainty: Lack of information about wait times and food availability made the dining experience uncerating, discouraging potential customers.
• Insufficient Communication: Food truck vendors faced challenges in efficiently communicating with customers.
• Limited Visibility: Customers had limited visibility into the location and availability of nearby food trucks, making it challenging to make informed decisions about where to dine.

The following chart serves as an illustration of the pain points mentioned above: 

Feedback

Key insights from user research revealed compelling challenges in the current food truck experience:

• The anticipation of a quick meal often turns into frustration due to misleading wait times.
• Lengthy waiting, particularly during peak lunch hours, becomes a significant time consuming issue.
• Users express the desire for a pre- wait assessment, wishing there was a way to know the expected duration before committing to the line.
• Lack of effective communication channels from food trucks results in inconvenience, with users having to check social media for updates on delays, menu changes and location.

Solution Explanation

In response to the challenges uncovered through user insights, our commitment to enhancing the mobile dining experience led us to prioritize key features that align with users’ goals and happiness.

Personalized Exploration: Users can utilize their location to receive curated recommendations, ensuring they discover the perfect nearby food trucks effortlessly.

Effortless Virtual Waitlists: Access information about wait times and join virtual queues with minimal effort and full transparency.

Real-Time Queue Updates: Stay in the loop with instant notifications on your place in line, fueled by real-time data, ensuring you are always well-informed.

Menu Exploration: Preview the food truck menu in advance, allowing you to be ready to order when it's your turn to head to the food truck.

By prioritizing personalization, transparency, and real-time updates, we aim to empower users to make the most of their mobile dining experience.

LoFi Wireframes

Prior to delving into low-fidelity wireframes, a meticulous examination of potential tasks and user flows was conducted. The objective was to identify a pivotal aspect that aligned with both user goals and the practical constraints of an MVP. Considering feasibility, time constraints, and user priorities, we honed in on the user's journey in joining a virtual waitlist as the primary focus.

This decision laid the foundation for the inception of low-fidelity wireframes, where the conceptualization of the app's interface began to take tangible form. By centering our efforts on this key user interaction, we ensured that our design process was not only guided by user goals but also strategically aligned with the project's scope and development timeline.

Lo- Fi Wireframes

Hi Fi Designs

From refining lo-fi wireframes and incorporating feedback, we transitioned into the dynamic world of high-fidelity design. Recognizing the importance of a smooth onboarding experience, we introduced additional screens while defining a vibrant brand identity with a lively bright red as our primary color. Our commitment to user-friendliness remained steadfast, as we maintained a minimalistic interface to ensure a compelling and straightforward interaction

Hi-fi Mockups

Hi-fi Onboarding Screens 

Hi-fi Confirmation + Notification Screens

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Hi-fi Home + Location + Explore Screens

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Iterative Design Learnings

Following prototype finalization, we executed a comprehensive usability test plan, using Maze for unmoderated tests with five users focusing on the virtual waitlist task. Results were exceptionally positive, with a 100% completion rate and users praising the straightforward experience. Future app usage received a 4 out of 5 rating, indicating strong endorsement. Users appreciated the visual design elements, simplicity in onboarding, and the flexibility of features, particularly the ability to easily remove themselves from the waitlist for enhanced control.

Implementation Details

Technical implementation

Where is it hosted? 

The Code resides on Github, it can be accessed on https://github.com/Co-Lab-You-Belong-in-Tech/waiting_list‍

The app is hosted on Zapp.run where it  can be assessed and tested on

What is your tech stack?‍

The application is built on the Flutter framework for the frontend, providing a cross-platform user interface. On the backend, we are leveraging Firebase to handle server-side logic, manage databases, and handle user authentication.

The Firebase is also in charge of storing and retrieving data 

Our development environment is supported by VSCode and Android Studio, ensuring a smooth coding experience for our team. We are also following industry best practices for version control using GitHub to track changes and collaborate effectively.

Overall, our tech stack is designed to provide a robust, scalable, and user-friendly experience for our food ordering waiting list application.

Technical challenges

What was the hardest part of development?

One of the most challenging aspects of developing our application was fine-tuning widgets and getting them to corporate, avoiding overflows. Another challenge was ensuring that the waiting list dynamically reflects changes in real-time, such as new orders, cancellations, and updates, which demanded meticulous attention to detail.

Implementing a robust and efficient real-time communication mechanism posed challenges in terms of optimizing data transfer, minimizing latency, and handling potential network issues. Coordinating the synchronization process seamlessly across various platforms and devices required extensive testing and debugging.

Does your app have any scaling issues?

As of the current development stage, our food ordering waiting list app is designed with scalability in mind. We have implemented measures such as Code Optimization, Caching, Database optimization, and others to handle potential growth in user base and data volume.

However, it's important to note that the true scalability of the application can be better assessed as we move through various testing phases and gather more real-world usage data. We are continuously monitoring the app's performance and are prepared to optimize and scale the infrastructure if needed.

Our development team is committed to addressing any potential scaling issues that may arise during the app's lifecycle. We aim to provide a seamless and reliable experience for users, and we will be proactive in implementing optimizations to accommodate increased demand or usage patterns.

What are some key takeaways?

Iterative Development:

By focusing on manageable chunks, we ensure each component gets the attention it needs, leading to a higher-quality final product.

This step-by-step approach allows us to adapt to changing needs and feedback as we go, resulting in a more user-friendly system.

Prioritization:

We systematically evaluate features based on their potential impact and strategic importance, allowing us to direct our limited resources towards those with the highest value. This ensures we achieve maximum efficiency and effectiveness in our development efforts.

‍Future Steps

As a result of the time constraints within the Co.Lab bootcamp program and the scope of our product, as well as our individual life commitments, looking ahead, it is worth noting that, at this juncture, there is no intention to continue with this project.