point of sale kiosk

Happy Ice is a food truck serving water ice desserts in Los Angeles. They sought a digital solution to address a multitude of operational concerns that range from order fulfillment to inventory management to business reporting, and more.

We designed and developed a custom point-of-sale application with external and internal interfaces to create a more branded and streamlined ordering experience.

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The Challenge

To address such a large-scale project, we first focused on the primary revenue-generating task: order fulfillment.

The client was looking for a digital solution that enabled customers to create orders and complete transactions  independently of staff members. Automating the ordering process would allow them to increase productivity by prioritizing their efforts into order fulfillment instead.

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We took a look at Happy Ice’s existing system to understand the baseline transaction and the factors to consider in digitizing the end-to-end transaction:

• Happy Ice has an unconventional menu and pricing structure: while product price predominantly depends on the cup size, they also offer add-on items or individual requests at an additional fee.
• Due to the personalization and novelty of the dessert, staff members frequently interact with customers incentivize them to purchase or to guide them through creating and placing their orders.

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Defining the problem area

We determined that the target demographic that we would design for were: children, parents purchasing desserts for their children, and first-time customers. I created personas to get a sense of our users’ and their needs, and drew  insights into what the solution might look like. I then formulated some guiding principles to address the problem space:

• Simplify the process to decrease time spent on ordering
• Offer adequate menu and pricing information to a broad range of customers
• Provide a branded, engaging, and interactive experience

Our solution

We knew we had to create a point-of-sale system that would take order information and payments in cash and card. We brainstormed for desired features and functionalities, sketched the ideal user flow, incorporated our features into new and existing screens, and iterated on solutions.

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Design Direction

The design direction was to stylize the order screen into a “virtual freezer“ or WYSIWYG builder. To visualize the dessert, we featured an illustration of the water ice cup on the order customization screen. We composited vector layers to form the water ice scoops and programmed each layer to change dynamically to reflect the customer’s selections.

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Software Development

Upon receipt of the four physical kiosks, the technical lead and I collaborated and began a trial-and-error process of integrating and troubleshooting each of the devices: while the developer programmed the device SDKs into the app as needed, I worked on optimizing the UI and testing the functionality.

While we initially designed for both iOS and Android, we eventually moved forward with the Android version and developed the software using Java. The app was deployed onto a custom Android tablet.

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User Testing & Insights

Once we had an MVP, we used the kiosk during their regular operating hours. We asked over 30 Happy Ice customers to use the POS system to place their orders while we observed their process. After order completion, the participants were asked a series of questions regarding the interface and overall experience.

We found that while most of our participants enjoyed this new experience of purchasing their dessert, many also experienced  friction in at least one stage of the transaction. In particular, we found opportunities in improving the communication regarding the payment flow.

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Conclusion

We deployed an MVP kiosk used at their flagship location, in addition to a supplemental application to be used exclusively on handheld tablets. The project has since been placed on hold to identify opportunities to scale the app with the business.

If I could do this project over, I would have:

• measured against a more rigorous success criteria
• mapped out a firm scope of the solution and established it clearly between all stakeholders
• painted a clearer picture of assumptions regarding users’ familiarity with technology

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