Designing a Welcoming Experience for All at a Traditional Chinese Restaurant
My mission was to redesign Fanfan’s dining experience and introduce a board game to attract a more diverse clientele.
Role
UX & Visual Designer
Timeline
Jun - Sep 2024
Location
CA, US
Responsibility
Graphic design, interior design, and balancing the restaurant's marketing goals with customers' needs.
01 - Background & Context
Over 80% of customers are Chinese International Students
Despite its authentic flavors, Fanfan struggled to attract non-Asian customers. How might we help them increase customer diversity with the help of design?
1200+
Daily Orders
>80%
Asian Customers
15 min
Peak Wait Time
02 - User Research
“Hmm… My top 3 familiar Chinese dishes are Orange Chicken, Broccoli Beef, and Fried Rice”
I conducted in-depth interviews with 9 participants, including students and a professor, to learn about their perceptions with Fanfan and Chinese cuisine.
Increase Customer Loyalty
Improve Dining Environment & Experience
03 - Ideation & Prototyping
Drawing the blueprint… but with limitations
Before creating a low-fidelity prototype, I chatted with the manager and identified a few limitations for the indoor & outdoor space.
In the first prototype, I rerouted the food pickup path to avoid cutting through the main dine-in seating area.
I added long tables outside to keep the walking area in the back clear and used greenery to separate the dining area from the pedestrian space.
04 - Testing & Iterative Design
Polishing up dining experience design
After the first version prototype, I surveyed the manager and some customers and gathered feedback about the first version prototype.
Sofa Area
37.5% of customers want a space to sit down and relax.
Further Cut Cost
Cut cost by 125% if replacing the long tables with 5-piece outdoor table sets.
Preserve Old Route
50% of customers felt uncomfortable with the new food pickup route.
To-go Order Stand
20% of orders are to-go: I divided the traffic. Now it less impacts indoor seating area.
After the first version prototype, I surveyed the manager and some customers and gathered feedback about the first version prototype.
The new design aimed to balance the needs of the restaurant and customers.
Attract New Customers
Chinese Cuisine Board Game
05 - Board Game Ideation & Visual Design
Mahjong & Chinese Dishes Combined
Board game offers an engaging way to help break down stereotypes about Chinese food while fostering a sense of community. Inspired by Mahjong, a classic Chinese game, it adds a cultural touch to the experience.
The victory goal is easy -- use 5 hand cards to serve 2 dishes.
Stir-fry (Chi, 吃)
Form a sequence of 2 or 3 consecutive numbers from the same suit. When other players discard an ingredient card, you may claim it to form a stir-fried dish and discard one of your cards.
Steam (Peng, 碰)
Collect a set of 3 identical tiles from the same suit. When other players discard an ingredient card, you may claim it to form a steamed dish and discard one of your cards.
Moodboard
Adopted an approachable, vibrant visual style to reflect Fanfan's atmosphere.
Sketches
Created cartoon-like figures and a funny story for each character to increase user engagement.
Board Game
Used the board game as prizes to attract new customers and teach Chinese cuisine concepts.
06 - Results & Impact
A More Diverse Customer Population
By renovating the dining experience, creating the Chinese cuisine board game, and other marketing activities such as happy hours, we increased sales and customer diversity.
