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Project Context
Group ordering for Starbucks
Designed a group order feature for Starbucks that simplified splitting bills and customising orders
This project builds on my experience redesigning the user flow for a group order feature for a leading quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand. As I cannot share the project due to NDA restrictions, I recreated a similar feature for a comparable food chain to highlight my design approach, process, and outcomes. During my research, I recognised that Starbucks, a largest coffee chain, lacked a feature to facilitate convenient group ordering with customizations and bill splitting. I took the challenge to design a feature to enhance customer experience and drive higher-value group orders by enabling seamless group orders and fair bill splitting.
Info
Role
Product Designer
Skills
UX Research
Product Development Strategy
UI Design
Customer Journey
Duration
04 weeks
Overview
Problem
Group orders can be overwhelming as managing everyone's order preferences and splitting the bill can be confusing and time consuming.
Opportunity
An improved experience with a group order feature, would lead to increased user convenience and promote high-value sales.
Solution
Place a group order
Everyone can place an order under one name that is easier to pick up
Split bills conviniently
Avoid the hassle of splitting coffee bills with friends by choosing a flexible payment method
Track orders
Everyone can track the order before submission to post delivery
Initial Market Research
600+
people purchase coffee everyday at Starbucks
With Starbucks' innovative technology customers can enjoy their enjoy their coffee in the store, pick it from drive thru, or the counter
Ordering made easy with Starbucks app
Customers really enjoy the flexibility to order ahead and customise their coffee by using the Starbucks app. Customers can choose to pay using their cards, cash, reload their wallet or even use gift cards!
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But how is this different for a group of people ordering together?
Coordination challenges
One person ends up paying for everyone, not knowing respective shares on the spot in a fast paced environment
Special customisations
It is difficult to remember multiple customisations and tricky to break down such bills manually
Splitting bills across multiple payment methods
Cannot choose a flexible payment method when someone wants to partially pay with gift card and other with cash
This leads us to the question...
How might we simplify splitting bills and customising orders convenient for group orders?
User Research
On asking users who placed orders with a group, they said...
I conducted 10 user interviews, to understand current approaches when placing orders as a group and splitting bills later. Synthesis of user interviews revealed/ helped identify interesting make-shifts highlighting their pain points and needs.
My friends usually text me their order, but it’s difficult to switch between apps to place their order
I use my gift cards or reward points to order coffee, but I can’t do that when placing an order with friends
We take turns while paying for the order, but it gets difficult to track expenses when people have custom orders
User needs identified
Customise orders
Customers wanted to customise orders that cater to their dietary preferences, even when placing an order with a group of people
Flexible payment method
With the availability of multiple payment methods, customers wanted the flexibility of choosing a method that allowed them to earn benefits and rewards.
Split bills
As everyone’s bill share differs due to their order customisations, customers wanted a way to split the bill in the app
Comparative Research
I conducted competitor research to analyze market trends and industry best practices for group order features. The insights gained from this research played a crucial role in guiding the feature development process.
Name the group order
Steps to create a group
3
5
1
Set group member limit
Set spending limit for member
Choose who pays for the order
Deadline to place orders
Accept/ reject group order participation
Group members can edit group order restrictions
Track orders
Order added notifications
Popular features in other apps
Simple and fast order creation
Users can create and share a group order with their friends in just two steps
Convenient to customise orders
All participants can add their favourite meals to the order at their convenience
Flexibility of paying bills
Users can choose the payment method and also pay bills individually
Tracking orders
All participants of the group order can track the order and receive updates
Defining Use Cases for the Archetypes
I created use cases to showcase scenarios for using the group order feature and developed user flows for archetypes to address user pain points. These archetypes clarified user needs, ensuring my design aligned with target user expectations and provided a seamless, tailored experience.
Archetype 1 -
Order Creator
A group of friends visiting Starbucks
Scenario: Sam and his friends wish to have coffee on the way during their trip. Sarah, wants to use her gift card to pay for her coffee, but her card is not enough to pay for everyone’s order. Everyone wants to place one order to have it prepared in time.
Number of people: 4
Payment: Everyone pays for themselves
Pickup method: Drive thru or pickup from the counter
User flow
Create a group order
Share group
Everyone adds their orders
Everyone pays individually
Creator confirms order submission
Order placed
Archetype 2 -
Order Participant
Pickup coffee for team meeting
Scenario: Andrew, a team manager, is meeting 5 of his teammates for early meeting at their office. Since Starbucks is on the way to work for him, he decides to pickup coffee for them as a team bonding expense. He sends everyone a link to add their order.
Number of people: 6
Payment: Pay using corporate card
Pickup method: Drive thru pickup
User flow
Pays for the order
Order submitted & placed
Andrew gets a order submission notification
Everyone adds their order
Everyone joins the order
Andrew shares a group
Ideation
Design, Test,
Fail, Repeat!
By creating numerous prototypes, I ideated multiple ways to design this feature which would fit with Starbucks current user flow and provides a seamless user experience
Final concept
Step 1
Create a group & invite friends
Step 2
Add your favorite drink
Step 3
Pay & track your order
Addition of this feature lead to...
Quick collaboration for placing orders
Users can create a group in 2 steps and share with friends to add their orders
Pay individually to avoid splitting bills
Users can pay using preferred method for their individual share
Design system
Here are the components from Starbuck's current design system that were updated
Starbucks Design System
Components designed for the feature
Detailed walk through
Choose who you will pay for the order
The feature splits the bill based on individual orders and avoids the effort of doing complicated math and switching apps to split bills.
Additional note - For the convenience and logistics at the back end of the preparing order, the maximum guest limit is automatically set to 8.
Add favourite drinks
Everyone stays in control of their orders. Users can select their favourite orders from their recent orders or explore the menu option to customise their drinks at their comfort.
Pay bills individually
Whether you customise your order or add a snack with it, everyone pays for what they order. The app takes care of splitting the bill based on individual order and the user can choose their preferred payment method.
Pay bills individually
Whether you customise your order or add a snack with it, everyone pays for what they order. The app takes care of splitting the bill based on individual order and the user can choose their preferred payment method.
Track orders
Once the owner of the group submits the order, everyone can track the order individually and make sure they reach in time to collect the order.
Measuring Impact
A project does not always go as linearly as it was planned. Adopting quickly to the changes, turn arounds helps keep the quality of the project delivered in time
46%
Task completion rate
46%
Task completion rate
46%
Task completion rate
46%
Task completion rate
My friends usually text me their order, but it’s difficult to switch between apps to place their order
I use my gift cards or reward points to order coffee, but I can’t do that when placing an order with friends
We take turns while paying for the order, but it gets difficult to track expenses when people have custom orders
Learnings & Takeaways
Focused pain points
Narrowing down the user journey allowed me to see the pain points at a granualar level, and design to solve targeted issues
Users follow common patterns
Studying the competitors was high priority as they are highly likely to set user behaviour expectation
Design, test, repeat
Creating fast mockups of ideas allowed me to present my ideas and test them quickly with the users
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