Usability Case Study: Shake Shack
About
Shake Shack is a well-known fast-casual American restaurant chain based in New York City. The most common dishes it serves daily are burgers, milkshakes, frozen custards, and much more.
Problem
ShakeShack wants to ensure their website is working well and running efficiently. There were a few frustrations that the customers were facing while completing their online purchase orders for food and also souvenirs. I conducted usability tests to identify the customer’s behavior and interactions with the ShakeShack online ordering experience.
Approach
The usability study could reduce the time on the development and redesign efforts, according to Blast Analytics. It could help measure the users’ behaviors while interacting with the product during the study. There are two types of observations that were conducted on participants testing out the Shake Shack website.
Moderated: The moderator works along with the participant to guide the study and answers their questions.
Unmoderated: There is no guidance and moderator during the study. Therefore, the participant must solely complete the study.
I recruited five participants who came from technology and business backgrounds doing the tasks. All of them had some familiarity with how the online food ordering process works. The major constraint involved was a tight timeframe for conducting the moderated study due to extensive planning and participant coordination. Therefore, the unmoderated study would be the best method to use due to the tight timeframe. Validately was the tool used for unmoderated studies.
See Report for the task information.
Results
There were quite a few instances that occurred within the studies that lead to user confusion. It existed within the purchase funnel.
• The menu page was not extremely intuitive for the participant when customizing a burger. For example, locating a single burger was an arduous task. There was an inconsistent topping selection.
• One participant went through the purchase path for processing the burger orders. He noticed he has to first put his name before proceeding with checkout. It made him a little uncomfortable revealing his info.
• The gift box message needed to be located earlier in the purchase funnel, such as placing it in a cart.
See Report for more information.
Lesson Learned
The essential lesson I learned when it came to any usability study was to provide extreme clarity on the tasks. I had to ensure the tasks were intuitive to the user. For example, the first task was unclarified on where the participants should stop in the purchase funnel before completing the purchase.
