Case study of dineoutwith.us
Enhancing Booking and manage Experience Consistency: Partnering with dineoutwith.us, a Dining Reservation Platform in the American Market
Role
UX Researcher, UX Designer, UX Writer, UI Designer
Duration
6 weeks
Methodology
System exploration, User flow design, Design system implementation, UI design & prototype
Tools used
Figma, Skype, Jira, Google docs
Industry
A B2B & B2C in hospitality industry
Project overview
The project revolves around collaborating with dineoutwith.us, an innovative dining experience platform that specializes in in-restaurant dinner parties. The company has established a remarkable platform to support its unique concept, bringing people together to enjoy culinary adventures while aiding restaurant partners in optimizing party sizes. With a dynamic, globally distributed team and a mature codebase, dineoutwith.us is poised for growth and aims to refine its product architecture and user experience.
As a solo designer, my mission was clear: working with dineoutwith.us, this project isn’t just about improving design; it’s about collaborating closely with the Product Owner, Engineering Team, and Marketing Team to create something great.
Project Goals
Harmonizing Form and Function
The primary objective of this collaboration is to enhance the user experience and design consistency of dineoutwith.us’s platform. This involves fine-tuning the existing website design to improve user interaction and satisfaction. The project also includes creating a comprehensive style guide that ensures design consistency across different sections of the platform.
Challenges
Our journey was multi-dimensional:
Design Synergy
Balancing design improvements with the existing framework required a deft touch to ensure that enhancements seamlessly integrate.
Stakeholder Buy-In
Garnering support and agreement from stakeholders—the Product Owner, Engineering Team, and Marketing Team—was a nuanced endeavor, further complicated by the nuances of design frameworks.
Framework Expertise
Mastery over the Material Design System, coupled with Angular for the front-end, was critical to navigate the intricacies of the existing technology stack.
Approach
Crafting a Synchronized Strategy
The primary objective of this collaboration is to enhance the user experience and design consistency of dineoutwith.us’s platform. This involves fine-tuning the existing website design to improve user interaction and satisfaction. The project also includes creating a comprehensive style guide that ensures design consistency across different sections of the platform.
Stakeholder Alignment
Collaborative discussions were focused on bridging design and technology, showcasing how design enhancements aligned with dineoutwith.us’s strategic vision while complementing the existing technology stack.
Framework Exploration
In-depth exploration of the Material Design System and Angular framework facilitated a profound understanding of their intricate workings.
Design Evolution
Meticulous design enhancements were carried out with a keen eye on preserving the essence of Material Design System’s principles.
Stakeholder Feedback Loop
Iterative design iterations incorporated stakeholder feedback, ensuring that design changes harmonized seamlessly with the technology stack.
Style Guide Blueprint
Iterative design iterations incorporated stakeholder feedback, ensuring that design changes harmonized seamlessly with the technology stack.
Revamping the Promotion Page
Objective
In this project, we made big changes to the Promotion Page, a really important part of dineoutwith.us. This page is where admins set up and start promotions. The goal was to make it easier to use and also add a step where promotions get checked before they’re allowed, to make sure they fit with dineoutwith.us’s plans.
Key Improvements
User-Centric Design
The revamped Promotion Page was designed with a focus on user-centricity, making it more intuitive and efficient for administrators.
Hierarchical Approval Process
serves as a crucial security measure, particularly when dealing with promotions that involve financial transactions or discounts, essentially a form of currency within the platform. This added layer of security is vital for several reasons
Fraud Prevention
By requiring multiple levels of approval, you create a system of checks and balances that can help prevent fraudulent or unauthorized promotions. It ensures that only legitimate promotions are approved and deployed, safeguarding the platform’s financial integrity.
Risk Mitigation
The approval process helps mitigate the risk of unintended or unauthorized promotions that could result in financial losses or misuse of promotional funds. This is especially important when promotions involve discounts or incentives that impact revenue.
Quality Control
Beyond financial security, the hierarchical approval process also acts as a quality control mechanism. It ensures that promotions align with the company’s branding, messaging, and strategic goals, maintaining the platform’s reputation and user trust.
Audit Trail
The process creates an audit trail of who approved each promotion, enhancing accountability and transparency. In case of discrepancies or issues, it becomes easier to trace the source of the problem and take appropriate actions.
Compliance
In some industries or regions, there may be legal or regulatory requirements for promotions. The approval process can help ensure that promotions comply with these regulations, reducing legal risks.
Impact
The revamp of the Promotion Page not only streamlines administrative tasks but also contributes to the overall success of dineoutwith.us. It empowers administrators to create and manage promotions more effectively, and the introduction of the approval process ensures that promotions align with the company’s vision.
This milestone showcases how design enhancements and process improvements can work in harmony to create a more efficient and controlled environment within the platform.
Revamping the Partner Restaurant Bookings Page
Objective
One of the project’s major achievements was the enhancement of the Booking Page for potential diners. This page plays a vital role in allowing diners to make reservations at partner restaurants through dineoutwith.us. The objective was to make this process smoother, more user-friendly, and efficient, ultimately improving the overall experience for diners
Key Improvements
User-Friendly Design
The Booking Page underwent a user-friendly redesign. The aim was to create an interface that is easy to navigate and understand, ensuring that potential diners can effortlessly make reservations.
Streamlined Reservation Process
We streamlined the reservation process, making it quicker and more intuitive for diners to select their preferences, such as date, time, and party size.
Clearer Information
We made sure that all the necessary information about partner restaurants, including menus, location details, and available time slots, is presented clearly to diners.
Responsive Design
The Booking Page was designed to be responsive, ensuring that it works smoothly on various devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers.
Impact
The enhanced Booking Page for Diners significantly improves the user experience when it comes to making reservations through dineoutwith.us. It ensures that potential diners can quickly and effortlessly secure tables at partner restaurants, ultimately contributing to higher user satisfaction and engagement with the platform. This milestone aligns with the project’s overarching goal of enhancing the overall user experience while facilitating smoother interactions between diners and partner restaurants.
Documentation
The enhanced Booking Page for Diners significantly improves the user experience when it comes to making reservations through dineoutwith.us. It ensures that potential diners can quickly and effortlessly secure tables at partner restaurants, ultimately contributing to higher user satisfaction and engagement with the platform. This milestone aligns with the project’s overarching goal of enhancing the overall user experience while facilitating smoother interactions between diners and partner restaurants.
Key Learnings
Understanding the UX maturity of a team is a crucial factor in project planning and execution, especially for a designer
By considering the UX maturity of the team, a designer can approach projects with a more informed and adaptable mindset. This ensures that design direction is conveyed effectively, taking into account the team’s capabilities and readiness to embrace UX principles and practices.