UX of Dim Sum | A Food-Friendly Intro to Design Thinking

First Dim Sum. First design thinking workshop.

Dim Sum at Capital Seafood Restaurant in Monterey Park, CA

From poached baby bok choy to sesame seed balls and Cantonese sponge cake…my first ever Dim Sum experience was a delicious success thanks to SGVUX! As chopsticks were clinging, carts were flying, lazy susans were spinning, and tea was endlessly pouring, my senses were overwhelmed and my observations were keen. Why was my food moving so much? Why is it so cramped at the table? How do I use chopsticks? What are the service staff saying? Why are people fighting FOR the bill? Where are the vegetarian options? Now I was starting to think in terms of UX!

After dining, we took to the classroom to dissect our experience and understand the thought process behind dim sum. What were some of the issues I noticed while eating? What would the design thinking process look like if we wanted to tackle those problems? It was time to put on my design thinking cap.

Step 1: Interviews

I sat down and talked with a fellow diner to understand how her first Dim Sum dining experience was. Through simple conversation, I captured a better grasp on where improvements could be made to enhance the experience of someone trying Dim Sum for the very first time. I recorded these ideas on sticky notes to create a collection of cards for the next activity.

Interview Debrief | Photographed by Jesse Despard

Part 2: Card Sorting

With everyone’s observations up on the wall, we dove into a card sorting activity to make sense of the madness! Grouping observations that seemed similar helped me understand what kind of thoughts were on folks minds the most throughout the meal.

Pre and Post-Sorting Card Activity

Step 3: Ideate, Critique, Prototype

With a better understanding of the users’ dining experience, we collectively ideated, critiqued, and reiterated concepts to make improvements for an ultimate feast. From “water guys” to “megaphone shouting waitresses” we came up with crafty innovations to spice up the UX of Dim Sum!

Design Sprints Activity

Going into this event with the expectations of having an ordinary dining experience was my first mistake! It was eye-opening to see how something like food, which is so universal to humans, can still be experienced so differently from person to person. I was taught to take something conventional like eating at a restaurant and transforming it into an entire design process of problem identification and solution prototyping. Who would have thought that UX could be so relevant in our daily lives?

A huge thank you to SGVUX for the introduction to my first Dim Sum and breaking down the design process for me in this exciting and creative workshop!