Making resy social:expanDing resy’s reach and functionality


Resy is a “hospitality technology platform” that allows users to easily book restaurant reservations online, both on their mobile app or via computer. They currently partner with over 9,000 restaurants in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia.


Overview

Resy is a reservation service that offers the convenience of booking a restaurant reservation online, without the hassle of calling a business, trying to reach a person, and hoping something is available.

Through our research, we learned that users wanted the option of paying through their app; They are more willing to book a reservation through an app if there was some sort of loyalty program or incentive, and most users only took restaurant suggestions from trusted sources, like friends and family. Additionally, global navigation was inconsistent throughout the app.

Our goal was to update navigation, while incorporating new functionality into the Resy app by adding a booking option through a social review “Friends Feed”, that offered incentives, as well as adding the option to pay through the app.

RESULTS

Customer engagement was improved due to the implementation of paying through the app, and the“Friends Feed”, which allowed users to read trustworth reviews from their friends and family, thus creating more confidence in the app.

Additionally, with the implementation of a true global navigation system, 100% of our users were able to navigate through the app with zero mistakes and the amount of time it took to complete a task was reduced as well.

OUR TEAM

Ryan Preske | Lead Designer

Hadassah B. | Project Manager, Designer

MY ROLE

• User Experience (UX) Designer

• User Interface (UI) Designer

TIMELINE

2 Weeks

PLATFORM

iOS Application

METHODS

• Heuristic Evaluation

• Accessibility Evaluation

• Competitive & Comparative Analysis

• User Interviews

• Affinity Mapping

• Personas

• Customer Journey Mapping

• Storyboarding

• Usability Tests

• User Flows

• Sketches

• Grayscale Prototypes

• High-Fidelity Interactive Protype

TOOLS

• Figma

• Miro

• Balsamiq

• Adobe Photoshop

• Adobe Illustrator

• Adobe Premiere Pro

• Trello

• Google Docs

Bedylin U. | Researcher, Information Architect

Matt K. | Researcher, Designer, Copywriter

DISCOVERY & Research

Competitive and comParative analysis

APPS WE RESEARCHED INCLUDED:

USERS SAID:

• “I like having the receipts. conversations, confirmations”

• “I want to book with minimal buttons/clicks”

• “I only take suggestions from trusted sources like family and friends”

• “I feel most reviews are more positive than they should be”

• “I’d love to be able to pay for my dinner through the app and leave”

• “I think there should be some sort of loyalty”

• “I would use reservation apps more if they offered incentives”

ACCESSABILITY Analysis

A brief accessibility analysis was performed to determine Resy’s commitment to W3C accessibility standards and ADA compliance across the iOS app. Any additions we made to the app needed to either maintain, or improve the standards already implemented in the Resy App. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS INCLUDED:

• Contrast ratios averaged 7.9:1, well about the standard of 4.5:1

• included adaptive accessibility text, which supports Dynamic type,

• includes functional images like icons, and has good visual hierarchy and grouping of information

• Touch targets, which are parts of the screen that respond to user input, meet the minimum


Before we started with our user interviews, we conducted a C & C analysis. We knew not all of our interviewees were familiar with Resy, but they may have used competitors or sites that allowed them to book appointments. Knowing these apps a little better, and seeing their pluses and deltas, allowed us to understand our users' needs better, and allowed us to craft better informed questions, which is important in the interview process.


USER INTERVIEWS & PERSONA

User interviews were conducted to to help understand what was the user wanted in a reservation app, and the pain points they may have had using these kind of apps. Our interviewees were spread throughout the United States, from California to New Jersey, and as far south as Florida. Their answers were synthesized through Affinity Mapping, with several trends arising. These became the basis from our first sketch’s, our areas of focus and our user personas. The personas are characters based on interview feedback trends, and are used to better understand the average user, and their habits.

SKETCHES, WIREFRAMeS, & PROTOTYPES

Using the suggestions from the users, the process of sketching and ideating began. The initial user flows and sketches provided the loose framework for the first prototypes. When sketching and designing the layout and features, I needed to focus on retaining the look and feel of the original Resy app, since we weren’t redesigning the app, just adding new functionality like a the social network/review system “friends feed”, the ability to pay through the app, and making sure there is some sort of incentive program to entice the user. When doing this, I also needed to ensure we were maintaining or improving website accessibility standards.

In order to make sure these ideas and designs worked for the potential future customers of the website, usability test were conducted to determine if there were any pain points, or areas that could be improved upon. Through the usability tests, we learned that global navigation was inconsistent, and needed to be address before we finished up final high resolution prototypes.

SKETCHES/WIREFRAMES

GRAYSCALE PROTOTYPES

HIGH RESOLUTION / FINAL PROTOTYPE

OUTCOMES

Customer engagement was improved due to the implementation of paying through the app, and the“Friends Feed”, which allowed users to read trustworthy reviews from their friends and family, thus creating more confidence in the app.

Additionally, with the implementation of a true global navigation system, 100% of our users were able to navigate through the app with zero mistakes and the amount of time it took to complete a task was reduced as well.

Feel free to reach out.

ryanjpreske@gmail.com
(812) 606-5005

Enjoying life in Broomfield, CO.