Egon Ordering is an online ordering system for Egon restaurants. Guests can order food and drinks inhouse, for delivery, or choose to do pick up themselves.
Role: UX-designer
Type of project: Internship at Egon restauranter as a part of my semester assignment at Noroff.
Duration: 5 weeks
Golden Egg Award for Oslo Campus, Noroff Fagskole
National Golden Egg Award Noroff Fagskole
Process
Background
Since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Egon has been using a provider for an online ordering system. Guests can order food and drinks from their own mobile phones instead of having to go to the bar. For a period of time now, the restaurant group has been wanting to create its own ordering system, as using an external provider has its challenges:
It was not possible to make major design changes to match the brand
Quite expensive
The restaurants experienced that the online ordering system communicated poorly with the POS system
This resulted in several orders not reaching the staff and, even worse; dissatisfied and frustrated guests.
The task
Creating a complete prototype of an online ordering system for Egon Restaurants and complete handover with developer
I started at Egon as a part-time waiter in 2014 and since then, I have worked my way up to several different leadership positions such as General Manager and Operations Manager for 9 restaurants in Eastern Norway. Over the past 10 years, I have gained extensive knowledge about the company's concept and values. This background allowed me to address the common challenges faced by both employees and guests in my design decisions for the Egon Ordering system.
My background at Egon
I began with a content audit of the current solution and continued with a small SWOT analysis of potential competitors. I documented my findings in a report along with annotations on current solutions and information architecture. I sketched some suggestions which I concluded the report with.
Content Audit & SWOT analysis
Usability testing
I chose to conduct 3 usability tests prior to my internship. The goal of the tests was to find out what guests liked about the current solution and what challenges they had. Observing guests in the restaurant had given me some indication of what they struggled with. The user tests confirmed my hypothesis.
This was my first project where I would work with a developer. It was therefore important for me to have him involved in the process from the beginning. This was a great way for me to gain greater insight before continuing the project.
Working together with a developer
Egon changes their menu every year on June 1st. This year, the color palette and fonts were also to be changed. It was therefore important that Egon Ordering was completed and implemented by then. To achieve this, all wireframes had to be delivered to the developer by week 4 of the internship.
Deadline
Challanges faced
This internship marked my first experience working closely with a developer. Effective communication and collaboration were crucial to ensure the design's successful implementation. I had to quickly adapt to this new dynamic, learning how to convey design specifications clearly and address any technical constraints or feedback from the developer.
First time collaboration with developer
Due to the project's limited timeframe, I was unable to conduct formal usability tests before handing over the design to the developer. Instead, I relied on informal feedback from colleagues, guests, friends, and family. While this provided valuable insights, a more comprehensive testing process would have been beneficial to identify and address potential usability issues more effectively.
Testing limitations
The project had a strict deadline, with the handover to the developer scheduled for the fourth week of the internship. This required efficient time management and prioritization of tasks. As the sole UX designer on this project, I had to stay self-motivated and manage my work independently.
Meeting tight deadlines
Wireframes
Takeaways
Results
After implementing Egon Ordering into the 47 restaurants in Norway, we have seen an increase in total orders made.
During the previous solution, the average orders made were about 25% of all sales. After implementation of Egon Ordering the new average is about 30%.
What I learned
Preparation and communication is key - I learned the importance of adaptability and effective communication.
To be self-driven - Managing the project independently taught me the value of self-motivation and time management.
Working with a developer - Including the developer early on gives a clearer understanding of the technical limitations, which might save you some time on doing rework later on.
Trine Nordhammer
Marketing manager, Egon restaurants
Vilde is creative, engaged, independent, and skilled in her field. With her expertise, we have developed an online store for Egon restaurants that has increased sales compared to the previous online store. She collaborates well and has been a very important resource in this project. We are more than happy to continue working with Vilde on future projects”
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