Phase 4
In Phase 4, I furthered my design concept by imaging scenarios where the service would be used and how this new service could be integrated with existing restaurant service models. I also decided what topics would be added to the final playbook and how it would be packaged for the users.
COVID-19 continues to have a drastic effect on restaurants. Many restaurants are struggling to keep their doors open and are drowning in debt because of a lack of sales. Customers are scared for their safety and lack the confidence to eat out at restaurants. Government imposed restrictions limit the services that can be offered by restaurants and further customer’s fear. On top of everything, the effects of the pandemic have led to an economic slump with many people losing their jobs and not having extra money to spend at restaurants.
With this project, my goal is to increase customer confidence and encourage customers to safely return to eating in at restaurants. I plan to do this by providing a playbook of suggestions for restauranteurs, accessible through a website, to improve their customer dine-in experience during the COVID-19 reopening stages. The playbook will work alongside a customer communication toolkit to help spread the word about the positive changes made.
My playbook and customer communication package will be used by restaurateurs and managers to redesign their restaurants to be safer and increase customer confidence with the COVID-19 pandemic in mind. The improvements made following the playbook suggestions will impact both restaurant staff and people visiting the restaurant.
Here we see a restaurant closed because of the pandemic. The loss of income resulting from a combination of government-imposed shutdowns as well as reduced seating capacity when allowed to open and generally fewer customers results in this restaurant having to shut down, like almost 50% of other independent restaurants in the spring of last year.
This graphic highlights some of the changes made on the exterior of the restaurant following suggestions in the playbook and communicated with the help of the customer communication toolkit. Some of the suggested changes to increase safety and customer confidence include windows to see into the restaurant and separate automatic entry and exit doors. These changes are communicated to customers through the use of signage, window stickers, and social media. This communication element is important in order to be transparent and regain customer’s trust by showing what is being done to improve safety for both customers and staff.
Here is some of the ideation I did during this phase to come up with new spatial layouts for the interior of the restaurant. The type and arrangement of seating is very important not only for customers’ safety and confidence when sitting, but also directs flow and affects how servers serve the tables. I’ve been making sure to include suggestions for different shapes, styles, and sizes of restaurants in my playbook to make sure it's useful for a broad range of restaurants. This phase I also did lots of research into restaurant design to inform the suggestions I make in the playbook.
Here you can see restaurateurs' experience as they discover and implement suggestions from the Restaurant Design Playbook. They start out worried about the fate of their restaurant, but changes made after taking suggestions from the playbook and using the communication toolkit encourage customers to return and bring business back.
This is the customer’s experience map as they search for a safe restaurant to eat at during the pandemic. Once they see a social media post advertising safety measures being taken by a restaurant, they feel more confident going back. Upon arrival and throughout their visit, they see and appreciate changes made to the restaurant’s design and layout that greatly improve their feelings of safety and their confidence.
Here you can see how the experience maps of the restaurateur and the customer work together. Actions taken by the restaurateur directly affect the customer’s experience.
