Mobile app development for Qpay
Development of a mobile application to connect cafes and restaurants with their customers
Business needs
The project brief was centred around seamless commercial interaction between customers and cafes or restaurants. The thinking was to allow customers to order food and drinks to be delivered directly to them, or to pre-book and pay for such orders for collection or consumption on site. Through the application, the User could browse the menu, select their drinks and food, select the branch of the restaurant, decide whether they would like a delivery or to dine in (and if so, reserve a table to do so) and then pay for their order. The desired outcome was to expedite the customer journey to make it as quick and easy as possible, and to spend more time enjoying their meal and less time organising it.
Technology stack
Analysis and suggestion
Through deep analysis we set about understanding the typical customer journey and buying requirements, before transforming this into a technical plan for a fully-fledged mobile service to meet the need. We then defined the business logic required to support the customer journey and meticulously applied this logic to the application design that we were to implement. We then produced a contemporary and beautiful UI through which we were able to support the minimalist UX journeys as defined by our customer and business understanding, for both the mobile service (for customers) and the web administrative tools (for our clients).
Functionality & design
To create the minimalist and effective UI, we chose white as the base colour with dark blue and yellow accents deployed. Applied to a clearly spaced lay-out with a logical informational hierarchy, these colours psychologically encourage the user to take action, and so this choice was deliberate.
The next challenge was discoverability oriented. We employed maps on the application to allow for the user to search by locality and, having found their café of choice, we made the process to order a delivery, or book a table seamless and with few steps as possible.
Repeat business was encouraged through the use of personal account information. Previous orders and favourite cafes or restaurants were made clear, and we added the ability for users to search by specific location, by user rating and even by the users eating preferences, such as type of food.
The final main user requirement was that of payment. We also wanted this to be as clean a process as possible and so, as well as incorporating the most expedient payment journey possible, we also added the functionality to split the bill, have a stored/preferred payment method for their account and even leave tips for the serving staff.
Administration of the application was performed by the café proprietors via a custom web application. Through the tool, they can manage all the active orders, manage the menu in real-time and instantly see live order and booking information – split by establishment. In addition, the tool allows to produce sales / inventory analysis and reporting.
In summary
The project outcome was the creation of a service that truly drives competition and quality of service in the café and restaurant industry. The customer focus taken, allowing them to plan their leisure time in advance, to instantly book a restaurant or order food in such a simple manner, gives the café or restaurant using the application a significant advantage over their competition.