Reimagining the cafe studying experience by helping people secure study spots.
UX Designer
Case Study
Start-up
Lunjoe is a cafe reservation platform, allowing people to secure tables to work, study, or hang out.
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Many people, especially students, visit cafes to study or do work. However, it is often hard to secure tables, especially in college towns.
For example, Bolt is a very popular café in Providence, RI; however, it is always a challenge to secure a seat.
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There are no mainstream applications for reserving study spaces in cafés, although many restaurant reservation apps exist. I explored some popular apps to understand their key success factors and potential areas for improvement.
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To better understand the problem space, students and people working in cafes were interviewed to learn more about why they choose to work in cafes and their experience in securing tables.
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To narrow down the pain points identified from interviews, 18 people from busy cities and college towns were surveyed, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data regarding their experience in securing a table in cafes.
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Based on interview and survey results, we can see that a majority of people struggle with obtaining tables at cafes, especially during peak hours. It is also evident that if people were provided with a way to know if tables are available, they would be more willing to visit cafes to work.
The main pain points that kept coming up during user research.
1. Uncertainty when tables will open up.
2. Uncertainty if cafes have open tables.
3. Unable to find tables of their preference (eg. outlets).
4. Unable to get seats to fit everyone in a party.
Using knowlege gathered from research, user personas were creating to better empathize with potential users of the Lunjoe product.
Tabitha is a college junior who regulars a cafe near her dorm with her friends.
Cafes near her dorm often do not have enough seats available for all of her friends to work together.
She wants to be able to find cafes with enough tables to accommodate her and her friends and also be able to choose a table that meets her preferences.
Jason is a remote software developer living in a college town who enjoys working in cafes.
Sometimes, only after arriving at the cafe does he find that there are no seats available, forcing him to scramble to find another place to work.
He wants to find a cafe that is not too packed and be able to know if there are seats available before arrival.
How can we create a platform to help students and people who want work in cafes secure tables?
A user flow was created to help visualize the process of reserving a table.
Screen layouts were quickly sketched out to understand the best way to format each page.
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Testers were asked to navigate through the flow of booking a table, while vocalizing their thought process and feedback.
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1. Filters did not stand out enough and was easily missed.
2. Time buttons felt repetitive after initially selecting reservation time from filters.
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1.
Filters adjusted to occupy a more prominent space on the page.
2.
Image of selected table was added to help users pick a table of their preference.
3.
Users pick reservation time directly from filters. Additional time buttons replaced with a 'book' button to eliminate a click.
1. Users though the mini map was not useful as labels were not visible.
2. Enjoyed how the checkout process was quick.
1. Replaced the mini map with a picture of the reserved table, as it was found to be more helpful for locating it.
2. A progress bar was added to emphasize the quick checkout process.
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Header 1
Font: Lexend
Size: 24px
Weight: Bold
Header 2
Font: Lexend
Size: 20px
Weight: Bold
Body
Font: Lexend
Size: 18px
Weight: Regular
Field description
Font: Lexend
Size: 16px
Weight: Regular
Fed up with battling for cafe tables? Let Lunjoe help you make reservations, guaranteeing you a perfect spot to work.
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This project offered valuable learning experiences that I can apply to future projects.
1. Communication is key, especially when working on a small team.
Working on a startup project with a team of just 4 means that each person contribution is crucial to the project's success. Clear and open communication allows progress to move along and be tracked effectively.
2. When stuck on the best way to design a function, iterations are crucial.
At points during the project, my initial ideas did not always work out as expected, forcing me to go back to the drawing board. Quickly sketching out more frames helped me generate more ideas and view ideas from different perspectives.
Lunjo is currently in the process of being developed and launched. The working product will be tested in real-world environments to gather feedback and ensure the user experience is seamless and intuitive. Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to launch!
