HelloKitty World Theme Park
Design of a mobile Food Ordering feature for a theme park.
ROLE
Product Manager
UX Researcher
Visual UX Designer
Interaction UX Designer
DURATION
March 2023
through all of
June 2023
Problem
HelloKitty World currently has a mobile app for employees and attendees to use. The mobile app is lacking in many areas, but the one that I will be focusing on is designing a food ordering feature for the app.
I am wanting to find a solution to users spending unnecessary time waiting in line to order and then also spending time waiting on the food. In a modern world, there should be capabilities of online ordering for the food shops of HelloKitty World.
Solution
Implement an online ordering feature to the mobile app which would be the first step to implementing a solution to User A’s most urgent issue.
Implementing online ordering means that menus, items, prices and other details will be added to the mobile app for HelloKitty World’s snack shops. The solution to 1 user’s frustrations can be the solution for many other people’s frustrations as well.
Design Process
User Research
Personas &
Problem Statement
Big Picture & Close Up exercises
Site Map
Wireframes
Digital Wireframes
UI Kit
Usability Test
High-Fidelity Prototype
User Research
Before I know who I’m designing for, I need to do the research to find my ideal users.
Research is an essential part of my design process; like getting to know the users and their frustrations, needs, and wants. Not just what is obviously apparent, but also the things that they aren’t saying out loud. Getting the full scope helps me design and plan the creating of their solution.
Assumptions
All attendees are frustrated with standing in lines and waiting
Everyone who goes to the theme park knows about the mobile app
Attendees have a mobile phone
Employees want to eat at the theme park
Employees dont bring their own lunch
There would be enough man power if business does pick up on the “to-go/online ordering” front
Research Goals
Identify target audience
Find current frustrations from snack shop customers
Uncover people’s experience with current resources
If the park has the capacity to man the online orders/to-gos
Interview current snack shop employees
Methodologies
Secondary Research
(Competitive Analysis)Primary Research
(Unmoderated Usability Study)
User Personas
Based on my research, I recognized that there were 2 key user types that my product would appeal to. I decided to focus on Persona 1 since I am able to relate to them (through friends’ experiences) more than the other key user.
Persona 1: Gaige
Demographic
Age: 17 years old
Education: In High School
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Family: Lives with parents
Occupation: Seasonal Ride Attendant
Goals
Get hot food as quickly as possible
Be able to have time to mingle, eat & use restroom
Frustrations
It is mind boggling to me that in this day and age there isn’t an online ordering function for the snack shops in the theme park
Right now most of my lunch break is gone by the time I get my food since I spent all my time waiting in line to order and then waiting to get the food
Problem Statement
Gaige is a high school Senior who needs a way to order food ahead of time because he is tired of using his whole break standing in line waiting to order food and then also waiting for his food to get prepared.
Persona 2: Katniss
Demographic
Age: 31 years old
Education: Bachelor’s degree
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
Family: Wife and mother
Occupation: Book Editor
Goals
Maintaining healthy food options for her family
Being efficient with time while they are at the theme park
Katniss is a young mom who needs resources to help her be able to plan meals because she is trying to plan her day; from the time they arrive to the park to the time they leave the park.
Frustrations
There is no map on HelloKitty World’s mobile app so that I am able to plan my meals for the day while my family and I are at the park
Since Im trying to make the most of my time while we are at the park, all that time spent waiting in food lines can be spent elsewhere so easily
Problem Statement
Secondary Research
Competitive Analysis
I performed a Competitive Analysis on the market for Direct and Indirect competitors. The purpose for conducting the analysis was so that I could see the mobile ordering functions of other establishments, find their pros and cons, and to see what I could get inspiration from.
From the analysis I learned that:
A loyalty program is viewed as very favorable and is something that users look forward to using the app for
A little description along with an image of the food is standard and almost expected
People like options but not too many options (find perfect medium)
Create a positive experience with the ordering process so that tasks get completed
Ideation
With this being my first UX project, I found that utilizing the “Big Picture” & “Close Up” brainstorming exercises were super beneficial to help me really get into the minds of the user. The exercises also helped me picture and plan how I wanted my sitemap to look.
Big Picture of the user’s app use
Close Up of the user’s app use
Sitemap
After I get my initial ideas out of the way, my next step is drawing out my sitemap. Doing this helps me really visualize the user’s click flow and helps my future designing process by letting me know how many times I need to be able to click out from a page.
Design
Wireframes
My actual designing starts with hand drawn wireframes. I start with my main pages and then once I digitize, I start adding all the subsequent pages. Here you will see I’ve got the bare bones of how I think I want my product to look.
Digital Wireframes
When it came time to digitizing my wireframes, I wanted my vision for the product to really start shaping at this point. So instead of leaving it bare bones, I added some elements that would help others start visualizing as well. As you can see, some subsequent pages were added to the main pages. In this phase of the design you can really start seeing the User’s task from beginning to end.
UI Kit
The UI Kit is made up of elements used throughout the mobile and website design of my product. It is also a resource for designers to reference for any future design and collaboration efforts. It is an active document and will be updated when there is an iteration to the design. The Kit can be accessed here
Testing & Prototype
Usability Testing
After the digital wireframes, I went ahead and created my High-fidelity prototype. When I got done designing and prototyping, I reached out to 5 participants to test out my product, in an unmoderated usability test. I then had them fill out my usability study questionnaire afterwards. The questionnaire focuses on questions like; would an app like this save you time when it comes to ordering food? Was there anything confusing about the app while you were using it?
From the feedback I gathered form the usability test, I was able to come up with themes and then insights from those themes. Insights include participants wanting more convenience features like a save payment for next time. Or a favorites menu where they can store their favorite items, to easily and quickly add those to their cart for future orders.
High-Fidelity Prototype
After the usability testing and implementing the changes that I felt capable of, the High-Fidelity Prototype finally felt complete.
You can access the prototype here
Final Thoughts + Next Steps
Final Thoughts
Walking away from this project, I felt pretty proud of myself for it being my first UX Design. Are there things that I would change? Absolutely. But I kept almost 99.99% of the content and designs in it’s original form from when I started my UX journey. Its part of being authentic for me. I think it’s a great way to demonstrate where I started and then working along the timeline, others can see where I’m at now and the potential that I do have.
Next Steps
The next steps for this design would actually be some changes. There is just so much that I have learned since I originally designed this, that I think would benefit the design in so many ways. Changes like the use of illustrations vs. photography. HelloKitty is an illustration herself!! I missed a huge opportunity of keeping the cuteness and tone consistent.