Making Dinner Bookings Effortless
Personal project, 2023-4
Background & problem
Fed up with the struggle of securing restaurant reservations, I set out to create an app that would simplify the process. While my partner delved into building the app, my focus was on the design and user experience.
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As a lover of dining out but often challenged by last-minute planning, I found myself navigating multiple booking sites and restaurant pages to secure weekend reservations. The struggle to coordinate with others, finalise a venue, and align schedules was particularly daunting, especially when planning for a group. Recognising these pain points, our goal was to simplify the booking process and enhance the overall dining experience.
Our solution
The RSTRNTS app emerged as a comprehensive aggregator, consolidating information on Sydney's top restaurants within a single platform. Unlike competitors like OpenTable or Resy, our app showcased all relevant restaurants, curated based on our own list of restaurants input into the app (using the Sydney Good Food Guide's prestigious hatted restaurant list). Users also had the option to request additional venues, subject to approval by the administrator to ensure alignment with RSTRNTS' brand.
Actual app screen in Production
Search experience
Favourites experience
Refining the MVP
We identified a number of problems to solve and potential features for the app. We collaborated to understand what should be part of the MVP. This was partly driven by the development time and complexity.
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We decided that searching and saving favourite restaurants would be the key features to build first and get right. Instead of building complex authentication, we utilised the Google social sign in for accessing the app. We agreed on a responsive web app, which would be easier for our users to adopt and removed the potential barriers o usage by introducing a native app.
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We opted for the Material Design system component library, to expedite development and decision making, deferring more extensive design and branding work for a later stage.
Crafting the concept
After agreeing on the MVP, I wanted to create a quick concept on what we'd discussed - a simple web app which could search for restaurants, show some availability, and facilitate favouriting.
I used Figma to mock up a web prototype (below video). I settled on a tab pattern for the navigation, but later we decided to implement a hamburger due to development simplicity and scalability. After creating the web concept, and discussing the ideas with the engineer, we decided it would be a better use of time to start designing details at the smallest breakpoint and see how it would scale for larger screen-sizes.
Concept idea - Figma web prototype
Designing restaurant cards
Looking at different 'favouriting' experiences (including Airbnb, The Iconic, and Uber Eats) I knew the heart icon was a popular choice. I iterated several versions to see what would fit best with our responsive website, ensuring that accessibility was considered when exploring the overlay across photographic imagery.
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Another consideration was how should the card expand to show the details. I explored the ellipsis, chevron and button patterns to see what felt most natural. Ideally this would be validated through usability testing!
Contextual research - favourite experiences
Design iteration - restaurant card pattern
Simple search pattern
Search would be a key feature of the app, and so needed to feel simple and effortless. I explored different layouts, working at the smallest breakpoint to arrive at the most logical and simple solution. I was mindful to ensure the vertical height didn't dominate the device screen.
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Initially I was unsure whether the radio button or tab would be the best option for switching between dinner or lunch bookings. My partner and I agreed the tab component in Material felt more tactile and more familiar for mobile users.
Design iteration - search exploration
Build iterations and rapid decision making
Collaborating closely with my partner, our open and trusting communication facilitated rapid development and design adjustments. Feedback flowed seamlessly through WhatsApp, enabling us to iterate swiftly.
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Below you can see a peek of some discussions on 'search' which facilitated several iterations to land on a viable and simple solution. Working this way allowed us to start lean and progress with agreement at each small step.
Communication via WhatsApp
We started the build with a basic layout and copy, then eventually added imagery and icons. Below you can see how the search build evolved from basic, to delightful.
Search build progression - 3 stages of release
Final build
Despite challenges in overcoming API restrictions, the app's search functionality successfully displayed restaurant availability for both lunch and dinner. By addressing the core customer problem, the app streamlined the reservation process, saving time and reducing stress for users seeking diverse dining experiences in one convenient app.
Final build
Future thinking: sets up & onboard
Due to resource constraints, the current MVP has no onboarding and relies on word of mouth and a simple UI to explain the premise of the app. However, I gave consideration to what an onboarding experience might look like for future iterations.
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My idea was to gather information up front to allow us to personalise and build favourites quickly, with the goal of showing value quickly and guiding our users through to a successful booking. I wire-framed my idea in Figma and created a prototype to share with my partner, demonstrating the flow.
Next steps
Our backlog contains a wealth of potential enhancements, including favourites, in-app messaging, calendar integration, personalised notifications, and features allowing restaurants to extend offers and create special packages.
As of September 2023, the RSTRNTS app has been temporarily parked to allocate resources to another project. However, we plan to revive and relaunch it in late-2024 with additional support, ensuring it meets its full potential in revolutionising the dining reservation experience.
We also plan to rename the app (I despise the name RSTRNTS!)