Los Angeles, CA
Food services
Design Intern
Problem
Customers often encounter long wait times and uncertainty about truck locations. Traditional ordering methods lack efficiency and real-time tracking capabilities, leading to frustration and missed opportunities for both customers and vendors. This highlights the need for a solution that streamlines the milk tea ordering process, enables pre-ordering options, and provides food truck tracking.
Solution
In order to address the issue of long wait times, creating an app that allows customers to place orders before arriving at the Chilk truck will reduce the queue especially during high-traffic hours, such as around lunch or dinner time. Additionally, customers should be able to track the truck's location and navigate to the truck through the app to offer maximum convenience. While ordering on the Chilk app, customers should be able to customize their drinks to remove additional ordering time at the Chilk truck. Users can save their favorite drink options on the app as well, streamlining the ordering process further.
Process
Brainstorm
A quick brainstorm of every idea to address the problems with a lack of a Chilk app.
User Personas
Before creating a user flow of the app, I came up with two user personas that encapsulate the typical users of the Chilk app in order to decide the necessary features and functionality.
Emily Dang
College Student, 19
Emily is a sophomore studying Psychology at a local university. She's a vibrant and sociable individual who enjoys exploring new trends and hanging out with friends. Emily is always on the lookout for convenient ways to manage her busy schedule while indulging in her favorite activities, like trying out new boba flavors.
Challenges:
Limited Time: Too many responsibilities to wait for drinks
Budget Constraints: Student budget means she needs cost-effective drink options
Location Uncertainty: Struggles to find local food trucks
Goals:
Convenient Ordering: A hassle-free way to order her favorite drinks without waiting in long lines
Budget-Friendly Options: Affordable quality milk tea options
Social Connectivity: Ability to share milk tea options with friends and family
Liam Miller
Software Developer, 24
Liam is a driven software developer working for a tech startup in San Jose, California. He's passionate about coding and spends long hours at work, often requiring a quick pick-me-up to fuel his creativity. Milk tea has become his go-to choice for a refreshing break during long coding sessions.
Challenges:
Limited Break Time: No time to pick up a drink while working
Online ordering limitations: Drink customization is sometimes unavailable when purchasing online
Ineffective tech: Apps can be unintuitive or unpleasant to use
Goals:
Efficiency: Seeks a streamlined process that fits into schedule
Quality: Appreciates attention to detail and high-quality ingredients
Tech-Savvy Solutions: Drawn to apps that enhance user experience and provide innovative solutions
User Flow
Mapping out a user flow helped me understand the simplest path for the user to take as they navigate the Chilk app.
Wireframes
Rough sketches of some of the screens.
Final Screens
The final designs for each screen of the Chilk app.
Conclusion
Through creating the design of the Chilk app, I became much more familiar with Figma and learned the importance of user-centered design, intuitive navigation, and clear visual hierarchy. From starting off the design process from brainstorms and creating user flows to finally creating the app designs, I developed skills in balancing aesthetics with functionality in order to create engaging and visually appealing designs for users. I also became more familiar with the Chilk brand as a whole, which was helpful for portraying their company image onto this app and other design projects.