Content

01/The five W’s of User Experience Design

02/Problems with the student counter

03/Mind map

04/Navigation map

05/The view of Entrying from main entrance

06/Temporary solution for the distinction

07/Pictograms

08/Food sigange system

09/Menu design

10/Further suggestions

01/The five W’s of User Experience Design

Who – We are trying to create a better experience of eating lunch in the newly renovated restaurant for Aalto University students. The place is called “Arabianranta restaurant” which servers student lunch as well as lunch for business class people.

What – We as students and designers identified spatial and navigational issues in the restaurant. Through this project we wanted to recommend possible solutions to the restaurant in order to create an enjoyable experience of being in that space.

Where – The restaurant is situated in the Arabia Campus and there are 3 other restaurants that the students can go to have their lunch. We targeted this particular restaurant because it has been recently renovated and though the space looks really good, the navigation and signage system in the space is very confusing.

When – The restaurant is open from 10.30-13.30 hrs. Students and others normally crowd in the restaurant from 12.00-13.00hrs. It is at this time we believe that the place needs a proper system in place. The restaurant becomes so crowded and confusing that it’s difficult to navigate.

Why – As students we feel that we are taken for granted by these restaurants, but we are potential costumers as well. We, as students and designers, wanted to bring about a change in thought. We believe that small changes in the system add up to a huge difference in the way users experience any space. Food is central to everyone’s life and therefore we decided to make this change in a student’s life by recommending changes at this new restaurant. We want everyone to feel equal, whether student or business people. We wish to break the idea of user experiences being valued in terms of money.

Soup is hard to find Gets really crowded near the entry point

Carrying water in the beginning causes spilling of water and breaking of glass

No salad plates

Less space to slide the tray and take food at the same time

The bread area has no place to keep the tray and therefore balancing everything is a problem

The sign for vegetrian food is too high and is often unnoticed

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07

08 09

04 06

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Card machine on one side of the table

Unnecssary gap between the food and the payment counter

02/Problems with the student counter

As we entered the space with a focus to create a better experience, we realised that there are many areas that needs a change in the student lunch space.

Here are a few problem areas that we mapped on the space.

Arabianranta restaurant user experience (Student’s point of view)

separate buffet tables

Students vs. Business people

Student cards with credit

Feedback? Paying system

NavigationFood presentation

Signage

Menu

SignsPictograms

Color codes

03/Mind map

We began thinking about the problem areas that we as students face every time we enter the Arabianranta restaurant. This mind-map demonstrates the areas we tried to focus in order to give possible solutions to bring together the ultimate user experience for both students and other regular customers.

Food Tables

Tables

Student Food Tables

Students

CURRENT WALKTHOUGH INARABIARANTA RESTAURANT

Others

04/Navigation map

We walked through the space from both the entries and mapped them into a diagram to understand different spaces in the restaurant and studied how people navigate through the space.

This visual map that clearly shows the areas explored by students and other regular people coming in the restaurant.

05/The view of Entrying from main entrance

No clear distinction between student lunch and business lunch.

Business Lunch

Student Lunch

?

06/Temporary solution for the distinction

When we created the signboard to make the clear distinction between the student lunch area and other people’s lunch area, we realised that creating a visual vocabulary for the restaurant would be an immediate solution for most of our problems.

07/Pictograms

Creating a signage system using pictograms would not only make a friendly environment in the restaurant, but will also ensure giving clear information to people about the kind of food they are eating and the spaces they are entering.

08/Food sigange system

We used a visuals signage system to inform people about the food they are eating.

We propose a very simple idea of having magnets printed with the designed signs for different kind of food available on a particular day. The idea was to have flexibility for the restaurant crew to change the magnets on a daily basis.

09/Menu design

While we were trying to create the previous magnets with visual signs for food, it was important that we also train our users with the visual language. Therefore, we decided to re-design the menu for one day adding the new signs and symbols designed.

The aim is also to have more regular customers who eventually don’t have to look into the signs to understand the food. The visuals are very universal to understand, considering that there are many international people coming in the restaurant.

ArAbiAnrAntA rAvintolA - ArAbiAnrAntA restAurAnt

Menu Maanantai /Monday

VL = Vähälaktoosinen / Low lactoseL = Laktoositon / Lactose freeG = Gluteeniton / Gluten freeM = Maidoton / Dairy free

KalacurryaFish curry VL

Keitettyjä tilliperunoita Boiled potatoes with dill G, L, M

Falafel L, M

PorkkanariisiäCarrot rice G, L, M

Tzatziki G, L

Kermaista hernesosekeittoa Creamy pea soup G, VL

LiharuokaMeat option

KasvisruokaVeggie option

KeittoSoup option

i i

iFood Tables Food Tables

Tables Tables

Student Food Tables Student Food Tables

Students Students

CURRENT WALKTHOUGH INARABIARANTA RESTAURANT

SUGGESTED WALKTHOUGH INARABIARANTA RESTAURANT

Others Others

10/Further suggestions

Integrating the payment system into the student card – We want to have the payment system integrated in the student card, as this will avoid the hassle of showing the student card separately every time students enter the restaurant. Introducing such a system will help students maintain the records of their payments and will ensure easy distinction between students and other regular customers.

Take away – To distribute the crowd and improve more business opportunities, we suggest that the restaurant must have ‘take away’ options on the menu. This might be helpful for people who want to are in a bit of a rush and want to grab some food or people who might not want to eat in the restaurant but want to eat somewhere in a peaceful environment.

Information to students about the daily menu – The Arabianranta restaurant is not yet on the list of restaurants on Aalto University website http://arts.aalto.fi/en/services/catering/ Also, the restaurant’s website is under construction and therefore there is no way one can find out what’s on the menu for a particular day. The restaurant does have an A4 sized leaflet of the weekly menu, but it’s not efficient for everyone to carry the paper everyday. We suggest that until the website is in place, students should be informed about the daily menu on the Aalto website and eventually have the link to the restaurant’s menu.

Have better quality and variety of breads – Taking into account our experiences in eating the restaurant as students, we suggest that the restaurant must have better quality and variety of breads. The breads in the other section (business lunch area) are of better quality than the student area. Also, better variety of salad is a plus.

Feedback – We suggest that the restaurant must have a place where people can give feedback. Considering people’s opinion about the restaurant is a sign of a good restaurant. Currently, the restaurant has no such facility and therefore it’s important that they ask people about their experience of being in the space. It would also be important for customers to receive a response to their feedback from the restaurants.

We believe that these changes would create an improved user experience not only for students but whoever comes to the restaurant. The space already has a sophisticated environment and these small but crucial changes would surely make better prospects for a sustainable business model for the restaurant.