MENU REDESIGN
Role: 2D Designer/Graphic Designer
DURATION
2 months
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator
TYPE
Menu
TOPICS
Attitude
Menu Redesign
Mockups
2D Design
Hierarchy
User Experience
OVERVIEW
A personal project I took up while trying out the Korean-style fried chicken at Boom Boom Chicken. Upon entering, I was reviewing the menu to order the fried chicken and coleslaw. My user experience was not great when trying to read and understand the menu. There were many pain points I faced while trying to find certain items as the design was not intuitive. I decided to redesign the menu to enhance the user experience and address these pain points.
PROJECT DETAILS
I revisited the location with a friend to observe their interaction with the menu. Collecting their pain points and mine, I came up with different design solutions addressing them. These pain points were:
Overload of colors and text
No clear direction of where to start
Side orders placement creates a weird separation within the menu
The right part of menu captures the user's attention first rather than reading from left to the right
MY TASKS
Collecting user feedback on experience and pain points.
Designing solutions to guide users when reading the menu.
Simplifying the use of color to make it clear to read.
Separation of items on the menu that makes sense.
GOALS
Intuitive menu that guides users.
Putting more focus on the menu items.
Brand is visual and follows a cohesive design.
Obvious distinctions between menu items.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The customers, business owner, and employees. The customers are the ones engaging most with the menu. The menu should be intuitive and easy to read especially for first time customers. Frustration from customers can drive business away. The design of the menu should align with the business branding set by the business owners. The employees are also users interacting with the menu regularly.
CLIENT ANALYSIS
Boom Boom Chicken serves traditional Korean-style fried chicken along with other staple items. It is casual dining similar to fast food chains. They use colors like red, yellow, and white for their branding. I still want to use these same colors to follow their branding. Red is also a popular color used in fast food chains since it invokes appetite and urgency, representing their quick service. Their use of these colors is seen below in their menu.
Attitude
The menu colors are bold and vibrant with their use of red and yellow. These colors are both representative of positivity, excitement and high energy. With the simulation of appetite from the red, this color combination creates an inviting atmosphere that encourages customers to feel eager about their meals.
DESIGNING THE SOLUTION
I planned to incorporate these colors while enhancing the user experience. The redesign will include the following:
Clear separation of menu items
Using hierarchy to guide users attention
Better layout of text
Logo and brand is more obvious
Other menu details like gluten-free and party trays are made more obvious without disrupting the menu's flow
Sketches
1
2
Throughout my sketches, I had trouble envisioning where the logo must fit and whether I should make it big. The centered design is what I ended up going for¹.
Another take of logo placement where it is lays less obvious².
MOOD BOARD
Consists of menu's with clear layout and text readable to users. Items are broken down with ingredients and dietary concerns. The colors do not clash with one another showcasing ways to make colors compliment one another. This is especially important in my redesign where I'll be working with bold colors.
Color Palette
Typography
Header Font: Bungee
Body Font: Adobe 고딕 Std
2D Design
Chicken leg
Title with chicken leg
Final Design
CHALLENGES
There was so much text and imagery to on the original design that I tried to incorporate together in my redesign but found to be too distracting.
Deciding how to separate the menu items and which was most important to showcase.
Sketching different layouts of each section that would not be too confusing for the customer reading the menu.
Balancing the bold colors through a variety of different color combinations that followed the visual branding.
TAKEAWAYS
Design can be very personal and invoke different kinds of emotions from users. Poor design choices can frustrate the user. This is something I faced during my time at Boom Boom Chicken. On a busy day, users trying to figure out a menu while staff is busy can discourage them on ordering. This can harm businesses especially one that is meant to comfort one of our basic needs, food!