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Timeline
12 weeks
Sept- Dec 2023
Role
UX Researcher, UX Designer
Methods
Competitor Analysis, User Interviews, Ethnography Visits
Solo
Goal
Improving the McDonald's mobile ordering experience
McDonalds is the top fast food restaurant in the world that makes food quick, convenient and affordable. The mobile ordering app makes receiving food quick, easy and convenient. By conducting research regarding the McDonald's online ordering experience, problems and opportunities for improvement have been found that will benefit the user and business.
Summary
Overview of Research Findings​​​​​​​
5 main problems were found throughout the mobile ordering process from the 3 research methods conducted
Competitive Analysis
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No visible help or accessibility options in the ordering process if users require assistance
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Inconsistency in McDonalds menu layout
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Purchase Path Issues
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Does not show estimated time of delivery once in checkout
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Limited error prevention
User Interviews
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Poor visibility of estimated delivery time
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Poor visibility of nutritional information
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Difficulties locating menu item
Ethnography Visits
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Poor organization and layout
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Limited order time information
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Difficulties locating information
Process
Mixed Research Methods
A total of 3 research methods were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of problems and opportunities of the market, product and the user.
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Phase 1: Competitive Analysis
Analysing the Competitors
A competitive analysis was created for the McDonalds mobile app, along with their top 2 competitors in the market under the following criteria: Business Heuristics, User Comparison, usability Heuristics and a SWOT Analysis
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VS
Understanding Business Goals
3 Main goals for the business are similar across all the platforms
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Key Findings
Problem #1
Problem #2
Problem #2
Problem #1
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Problem #3
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Problem #4
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Problem #5
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Problem #5
Problem #3
Purchase Path Issues
Defining Focus
One significant problem has been chosen to be further researched and tested from the competitive analysis.
In order to better comprehend the problem, the following steps will go deeper into the qualitative and exploratory research stage of gathering first-person accounts of experiences and opinions of users regarding their attitudes.
Phase 2: User Interviews
Understanding the Users
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By conducting user interviews, the aim is to reveal users' actions, emotions, and observations including its the apps strengths and pain points. By doing so, we aim to understand their requirements and gather their views on the online food ordering process.
Method Outcome & Benefits:
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Gaining insights into user and their needs
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Identifying constraints and frustrations of the design
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Prioritizing features
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Identify users typical workflow
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Unbiased feedback based on participants' behaviours, opinions, feelings, frustrations etc.
Research Questions
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What the ideal purchase path of an online food ordering app looks like?
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What do users expect to see within the purchase path?
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What environment or factors influence users when ordering?
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How should the new product be designed to meet users' needs?
Interview Logistics
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5 participants recruited through a screener
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3 in person and 2 remote
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Sessions ranged from approximately 30 mins to an hour
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Data stored confidentially on researchers cloud
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Included with warm up questions, main questions, task analysis and usability testing
Meet Jennifer
A user persona was created to assign a person from the target audience. This helps us keep in mind who we’re designing for
Jennifer's Journey
A journey map was created as a combination of all 5 participants' experiences during the usability testing. This allows us to determine where the pain points are in the ordering process
Key Interview Findings
Poor visibility of estimated delivery time
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Current delivery time is poorly located and visibly hard to find
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Most users expect to see this information at the last page
Poor visibility of nutritional information
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This information is not displayed where users expect
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Problematic for users with allergy or dietary restrictions
Difficulties locating menu item​​
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Lack of item visuals for certain menu screens
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Overwhelming layout of items, too many options at once
Phase 3: Ethnography Visits
Analysing the Physical Ordering Processes
By conducting an ethnography research, we are able to reveal users' actions, emotions, and behaviours on the physical food ordering process, linking back to the mobile app in the end.
These valuable insights will serve as a foundation for developing effective solutions that enhance the physical and online food ordering experience
Method Outcome & Benefits:
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Gain an Empathetic understanding of users context and environment
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Identify user’s unmet needs and goals
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Validate assumptions between user and business goals
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Able to observe users in without interring with their natural process
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What does the ideal McDonald’s ordering process look like?
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What do users expect to see when ordering in a physical environment?
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What environment or factors influence users when ordering?
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What insights can the physical ordering process provide to the digital experience?
Research Questions
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3 ordering methods at 2 different restaurants​
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Session lasted approximately 15 mins
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Agenda included an overview of session, ordering task, follow up questions and wrap up
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Observe participants and asked intercept questions throughout
Ethnography Logistics
Different Ordering Methods Journeys
Main Key Findings
Identifying Common Themes Between the Physical and Digital Experience
It’s revealed that both the mobile and physical ordering experiences have similar problems along the purchase path, however these can be improved
Poor organization and layout​​
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Physical
Line to take and receive order interferes with each other, causing confusion and blocked traffic​
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Digital
Layout of certain menu screens is overwhelming and causes confusion and frustration
Limited visibility order time information​
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Physical
Does not indicate time of order completion, only sequence​​
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​Digital
Current delivery time is poorly located and visibly difficult to find
Difficulties locating information
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Physical
Information regarding store location is not displayed where users first expect to see it​
Digital
Nutritional information is not displayed where users expect to see it
Note: Problem 3 can be eliminated as McDonald’s does not take displaying nutritional information as a priority, therefore leaving problem 1 and 2 to focus on
Recommendations
App Redesign
Improving Organization and Layout​​
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In the current state, each size of an item is displayed as an individual item, causing an overwhelming list of choices along with a lack of visuals. To solve these issues, I displayed each item once with a size selection, along with adding an image of the item beside the name.
Current State
Redesign
Redesign
Improving Visibility of Order Time
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The current state does not display the delivery time on the last review and pay screen, which is where most of us would go to look, as confirmed in the previous interviews. Instead, I have moved this important information under delivery details, where users can easily view it.
Current State
Redesign
Conclusion
Why does it Matter?
Value for the User
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Improved ordering experience
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Saves time and effort
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Limits confusion & frustration
Value for the Business
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Increase loyalty & user accusation
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Increase revenue
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Decrease costs
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Reflecting Back
Key Takeaways
I enjoyed working on this research project, incorporating mixed methods to uncover the main problem areas within McDonald's mobile purchase path. However, if I were to approach it again, here are the key takeaways I would consider:
Even major brands aren't perfect: At first, I was intimidated working with McDonald’s, given how established they are. However, once I pushed past that hesitation and focused my scope, I realized they aren’t flawless after all, and that’s where the real opportunities for improvement emerged.
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Understand what the business values: McDonald’s isn’t positioned as the healthiest food option, and their app reflects that. Initially, I focused on nutritional information as one of my problem areas, but I later realized that making this easily accessible isn’t one of their top priorities. This insight helped me shift my attention toward areas that better aligned with both user needs and the business goals.
Next Steps
This project can be further refined by conducting additional research and design methods if time wasn't a constraint. The next steps would include:
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Develop Hi-Fiedelity wireframes and mockups of the proposed sketches
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Conduct usability tests on the overall app and identify recommendations for further improvement
Thanks for reading
Check out my other work!
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