McDonald's · Food · Case study

Making MyOrder clear before it reaches everyone

With a research and design team I watched 18 people use MyOrder, McDonald's Italy's service for ordering from a smartphone, and turned what I saw into six UX and UI fixes to make before launch.

  • UX research
  • Service design
  • UX copywriting
  • Digital analytics
  • iOS
  • Android
  • In store
MyOrder app: selezione del ristorante su mappa
MyOrder app: ordine in preparazione
Funnel di checkout MyOrder, dati oscurati

The journey

From a brief to an action plan

  1. 01 Brief

    Understanding MyOrder before launch.

  2. 02 Fieldwork

    18 interviews and shop alongs.

  3. 03 Analysis

    Semiotics, analytics and app review.

  4. 04 Solutions

    Report, priorities and visualisations.

Where it started

A new service, three ways to collect an order

McDonald's Italy was about to launch MyOrder: you order from your smartphone and receive the order at the counter, at the table or in the car park. The service was being tested in 29 restaurants . Before launch, it needed to be clear whether people knew what it was, how to use it and where they got lost .

3 ways to collect an order, one service to make clear.

The approach

Not market research, research that ends in solutions

I combined the method of a research firm with UX and UI design skills. The result was not meant to be a snapshot, but concrete actions in order of priority: quick wins to make before launch and more complex improvements to evaluate later.

The work

Three lenses on the same service

I supported the fieldwork, analysed user flows and interface, and designed the visualisations of the improvements , to speed up the knowledge transfer to the teams who would build the app.

01

Fieldwork

Interviews and shop alongs in restaurants with people who use the app and people who do not.

02

App review

User flows, interface and benchmark, to spot the friction people feel but cannot explain.

03

Digital analytics

Google Analytics data to check what people really do, beyond what they say.

An interview with a shop along in a restaurant.

The process

Four phases, from brief to solutions

  1. 01

    Brief

    Defining goals, the three use cases and the research plan, with a discussion guide instead of a rigid questionnaire.

  2. 02

    Fieldwork

    18 ethnographic interviews with shop alongs of about 75 minutes. Nine app users and nine non users, six people for each way of collecting the order, across the Assago and Sesto San Giovanni restaurants.

  3. 03

    Analysis

    Semiotic analysis of the interviews to read meanings, motivations and resistances beyond words, app review and Google Analytics data. Twelve insights in journey order: before, during and after purchase.

  4. 04

    Solutions

    A ranking of actions, before and after visualisations of the screens to improve, and guidance on what to communicate and how to evolve the service.

Timeline

4 weeks in total

  1. 1

    week

    Recruitment and discussion guide, including the sharing and approval step.

  2. 1.5

    weeks

    Fieldwork, desk analysis, benchmarking.

  3. 1.5

    weeks

    Final report: insights and solutions.

Two audiences

Two ways of living MyOrder

Profile 1

Make it slow

For these people MyOrder is a comfortable order. Exploring the menu calmly, avoiding queues and shared screens, staying seated at the table or in the car.

  • Comfort
  • Calm

Profile 2

Make it fast

For these people it is a quick order, to use when there is a queue or little time. Without the option to choose a pickup time, the service is worth little to them.

What we saw

Six moments where people got lost

  1. 01 Orientation

    Where do I start?

    At the entrance to the service it was not clear where to begin . We observed how the app was perceived and how recognisable the entry point was.

  2. 02 Language

    Say it plainly

    The words in the interface did not always match the words people used. We collected what they would have called things themselves .

  3. 03 Signals

    Lost in the map

    The same signals on the map were read differently from person to person. We reconstructed the meaning each one gave them.

  4. 04 Physical space

    Lost in the park

    The step from the app to the real place put the experience to the test. We followed people on site to see where the journey broke down .

  5. 05 Waiting

    I've paid, now what?

    After the last step in the app the journey was left open . We observed what people expected and which cues they looked for.

  6. 06 Expectations

    Without slots the benefit is halved

    Expectations came from other services people already knew . We compared what they imagined with what the service offered.

“From the moment I paid I felt abandoned.”

“I can order even if I am far from the restaurant, right?”

What the data says

The numbers confirmed what we had seen

On Android, access to MyOrder was much lower than on iOS, because there is no navigation bar. Another signal confirming the visibility insight.

77%
percentage points of drop off at the pickup choice screen.
45%
of payments not completed.
80%
of app users visit the offers pages.

The verdict

Three services, three outcomes

  • Table service

    Most appreciated

    Comfortable, sociable, hassle free.

  • Car park pickup

    Has potential

    Unclear signage and doubt about whether you can eat there hold it back.

  • Counter pickup

    Needs refining

    Without the option to choose a time it loses its purpose.

The solutions

Six fixes to make before launch

Each fix comes with a before and an after screen. The visualisations were meant to speed up the knowledge transfer to the design and development teams, not to replace their work.

  1. 1 Make MyOrder more visible
  2. 2 UX copywriting
  3. 3 Offers inside the purchase flow too
  4. 4 More clarity in Change restaurant
  5. 5 Payments with less typing
  6. 6 Guide people
Offers in the MyOrder menu and offers listing

Communicate and evolve

What to say, and where to grow the service

Communication

Focus on table and car park service and on the need to take things calmly .

Evolution

  • Choice of pickup time
  • An alert when the order is ready
  • PayPal
  • A car park set up for eating
  • Home delivery

The result

An action plan, not just a report

18
field interviews
12
insights along the journey
6
fixes before launch
29
restaurants in test

The results were discussed with McDonald's Digital team and produced a prioritised list of actions , from quick wins before launch to evolutions to evaluate later.

How I can help

From people to solutions, in a single path

  1. 01

    Fieldwork

    Interviews, shop alongs, observation in real places.

  2. 02

    Analysis and insights

    Semiotics, analytics, benchmark.

  3. 03

    UX copy and interface

    Clear labels, flows, screens.

  4. 04

    Prioritised solutions

    Quick wins and improvements to evaluate.

I tell the full process out loud

There is more story than fits on a page. Some data and research materials are confidential and not published.

Let's talk Write me an email

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MyOrder app: selezione del ristorante su mappa
MyOrder app: ordine in preparazione
Funnel di checkout MyOrder, dati oscurati

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Offers in the MyOrder menu and offers listing

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Unieuro Revolution

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