Subway - Designing a Pickup Mobile Order App
The introduction of a mobile app aimed to modernize Subway's service delivery in Brazil, focusing on improving the customer experience, particularly in ordering and pickup processes.
Client: Subway
Year: 2022 - 2023
Problem Statement
In the competitive fast-food industry, Subway Brazil faces the challenge of enhancing customer satisfaction and operational efficiency through its mobile app. The primary issue involves streamlining the app's ordering and pickup process to offer a seamless, intuitive, and quick experience for customers ordering ahead. Additionally, Subway aims to encourage customers to choose standard, non-customized sandwiches through discounts, simplifying preparation processes and incentivizing the exploration of classic menu items. The solution must balance quick service, user-friendliness, and promotion of standard menu offerings, aligning with Subway's brand values.
Challenge
The challenge encompasses two main phases, each with its distinct focus but contributing to the overarching goal of enhancing the mobile app experience:
Phase 1
Initial Coupon App Design and Launch:
The first phase involved designing a basic coupon app to quickly engage customers and gather initial usage data. This phase required rapid design and deployment, focusing on simple functionalities that encourage app downloads and usage. The visual representation of this phase highlights the urgency and simplicity, showcasing basic app screens with coupon offers and a simple user interface.
Phase 2
Pickup App Development:
Building on insights from Phase 1, the second phase aimed to develop a more sophisticated app that not only supports ordering and pickup but also encourages user engagement and the integration of features that encourage the selection of standard menu items to improve operational efficiency. This phase involved integrating advanced features such as customizable orders and streamlined pickup processes.
phase 1Design Thinking Workshops
Following the rapid design phase, I led the design, Subway marketing and product teams through a series of design thinking workshops that allowed us to collaboratively align on the goal of the project, map the primary user stories, customer personas and prioritize features of the new experience.
Design and Product Team Collaboration
Post-workshops, the design and product teams worked together to define the coupon app's architecture, focusing on a structure that supports both immediate and future functionalities. Simultaneously, the design team developed the app's visual design, ensuring it aligned with Subway's brand identity while prioritizing user-friendly navigation and aesthetics. This collaborative approach was crucial for creating a cohesive, intuitive app ready for a successful launch.
wireframing and testing
After securing approval for the app's architecture and visual design, we quickly moved to wireframing, focusing on laying out the user journey and ensuring intuitive navigation. This step was vital for visualizing the app structure and preparing it for user testing. Feedback from testing sessions was crucial, allowing us to refine our designs to ensure clarity, conciseness, and intuitiveness. This iterative process of design, test, and refine played a key role in crafting a user-centric app experience ready for Subway customers.
final design and launch
After an intensive period of collaboration, design, testing, and refinement, our design team could deliver the design specifications to the product team, working alongside we successfully launched the Subway App within an impressive six-month timeframe. You can see everything we worked on in the final version of the app. Check it out here.
phase 2Creating the pickup experience
Objective: Integrate an efficient pickup experience into the existing coupon app.
Challenges:
User Flow Design: Enable menu exploration before store selection, considering the variability in product availability across franchise locations.
User Engagement: Motivate users to opt for pre-established recipes to boost preparation efficiency and reduce costs.
Sales Strategy: Implement upsell and cross-sell features to increase average sale cost.
strategiesuser flow design
Dynamic Menus:
We implemented backend systems to show available items based on the store chosen by the user. For users who haven't selected a store, a general menu without prices appears, prompting them to choose a location to see item availability and prices.
StrategiesUser Engagement
Discounts on Fixed Recipes:
To encourage users to choose pre-established recipes, we offer discounts, making these options more attractive financially compared to customized orders. If a user opts to customize their order, the app clearly shows the additional cost, encouraging them to consider the more efficient, discounted options.
StrategiesSales Strategy
Enhanced Customization with Add-ons: During the order customization process, we seamlessly introduce add-ons, encouraging users to enhance their meals. For those who select a fixed recipe, the app directly moves to add-ons, simplifying their experience.
Bundle Deals Popup: After customization, users are presented with bundle deals through a popup, offering more value if items are purchased together, effectively increasing the average order value.
Quick Add-ons at Checkout: We added a feature for quick add-ons during the checkout phase, making it easy for users to include extra items last minute, boosting sales further.
As for Phase 2, it reached the final prototype stage, demonstrating promising advancements and user engagement strategies. Unfortunately, the continuation of this phase was impacted by unforeseen circumstances outside our control. The holding company managing the Subway brand in Brazil faced financial challenges, leading to a strategic reassessment of the project's continuation. This situation, while disappointing, provided valuable insights into the importance of adaptability and resilience in project management.
