Pheela: how to avoid lines everywhere

As part of the Capstone Project from Interaction Design Specialization by UCSD/Coursera, I've created a mobile-web app called Pheela.

Eating out is a very common activity around the globe. While it may be a fantastic experience sometimes, going to trendy places usually leads to hours waiting in line to get a table. By previously having the knowledge of the waiting time would help a lot of people to avoid lines.

This storyboard shows the idea of adding names in an online waiting list

My first idea was to build an app in which trending places can be searched and show if they are crowded or not, with real time data. But providing this information with accuracy is very hard.

Another issue I’ve found in my app was at the review system. Users could write comments about possible lines and waitings. But I’ve decided to remove this section, because there were other features and it would be better to focus on only one task. Despite the importance of users’ reports, I think it wouldn’t be necessary to develop in a first version of my project.

So I’ve decided to enhance the main flow in my app. Instead of simply showing numbers, users could add their names to an online waiting list.

In addition to simply add a name to a list, users can tell their preferences

After developing the prototype, I did some tests with other people. I met two friends (a software engineer and a designer) who tested it and helped me to make some concrete changes, like the menu and the back button position.

They complained about the menu, because links are hidden. If an user wanted to go to a section in the app, he/she would have to tap 2 times. Then I’ve replaced with tabs.

I’ve also changed the back’s button position. These buttons were in the bottom of the pages and they had to scroll down to tap on them. So I put them at the top left and far from the menu.

Wireframing the menu tabs and the back button

The A/B test just confirmed what they complained about. I observed how users interact with the menu system and back buttons. Their behaviour was the same as my friends.

I’m so happy to announce that my app is ready to be coded (click here to see the final version). I’m sure that Pheela will be useful to people who are tired of wasting time while in line and it could be a great opportunity to improve their experience of hanging out.