Queuing Coffee

What if someone would like to order something, but has a short break only? I think it would be even better if the displays and the app can show the approximate wait time for people to decide if they should place an order or not. Otherwise, I would love to see this implemented!

I think this is a really good way to cut down on waiting time in line, however the people working there can only make a drink so fast, and if a lot of people still want drinks at the same time (peak time), then there is going to be a backup and its still going to take quite a few minutes for the drink to be made (considering it takes 3-4 minutes to make a custom drink). In that sense, even though these people aren't waiting on a "line" anymore, they still have to wait in that area, right? So in a sense, aren't they still blocking traffic flow by waiting in a crowd by the kiosk? If anything this could make it worse for commuting in and out of the building because now the big crowd is closer to the doors and harder to weave in and out of. Is there a way to have an app or some sort of noise or alert that your drink is ready be available so people don't have to crowd the kiosk and can wait outside or a little bit farther nearby maybe?

It is an awesome idea. One suggestion is that maybe the app can show how much food are left(say the number of croissants left), because lots of people buy food there and food sold out very quickly. So there should be a system that keep track of the how much food is left. And maybe the app can cancel the order if the student does not pick up the food at certain time? Overall, it is great idea and I really like the pictures too.

I think this is a good idea. The only thing I would say is that what happens when people are ordering on location through the touch screens and people ordering on their phones from a remote location for pick-up? Which of the orders get priority?

Overall I think this would do an excellent job of solving the problem you observed, and I wish they used this system already!

I like the ideas for a "food counter" and estimated wait time that others have suggested. Also, your design kind of implies this, but customers should probably have to pay when they place their order, right? Otherwise you could have problems with people ordering and then not picking up their items. I think the crowding Amanda mentioned could be an issue, but hopefully if this system were implemented the area could be rearranged somewhat to add more seating (which is an issue now anyway) so that fewer people would just stand around.

A few details of your design that seem especially well thought out: the progress display, since there will likely be many people waiting who would appreciate knowing about how much longer they have; the three displays so there can be three short lines rather than a single long one; and the ability to order from anywhere on campus, because I can see people ordering before they actually get to Wean so that their coffee will be ready when they arrive.

One of the problems mentioned in previous comments was that of possible overcrowding of people in the waiting area. In my opinion, this shouldn't be that big of a problem as the fact that you can also order from the app instead of being there physically means that many people would order well before they actually reached the cafe. It is what I would do as I enjoy the idea of having my order ready to be picked up by the time I walk to the cafe. This would cut down on the amount of people physically waiting at the cafe. However, at the same time, it poses another problem - Having a pileup of orders that have not been collected yet. Just leaving the orders lying at a counter unattended might result in the 'wrong' person taking them, something that happens at the underground too. Other than this point though, i believe the groups solution is highly likely to solve the problem that they intended: the congestion in front of the cafe and the time taken to pick up food.

I really liked how detailed the observations are. Your group succeeds in really capturing the minutae of the experience of ordering at La Prima. That said, I feel like your observational data can be somewhat opaquely presented at times. It is a little difficult to understand what is being said on certain occasions.

That said, I like the idea of putting up renders of your UI and system as it would look on location. That helps to really convey what you are planning to do better than any description ever could.

As for the idea itself, I'd like to offer a couple of suggestions and express some concerns. For one, the number one thing that concerns me when I'm running between classes and wanting to get a coffee is 'how long will this coffee take to get?'. A cumulative wait time display would go a long way for your idea. Secondly, while your system makes ordering something at LaPrima much faster, the actually process of making a coffee/beverage or serving food remains the same. How would the LaPrima employees keep up with the increased number of orders?

@Kim_Lister

What we did not clearly state in the project, but have planned, is to use square readers to read student cards and debit/credit cards. Unfortunately, for those who wish to pay cash, I suppose we could have the app make them go to a cashier and pay them.

Despite this setback, I think that the person running the register would be able to devote more time to making coffee, which is what we thought would also decrease wait times.

Cash of course is a problem overall for the project.

I want to commend you guys on the level of thought and observation you put into this project. Not only did you observe the lines at different time intervals but you also tracked a sample of people to observe. The idea of the app itself is great - it definitely would solve the overcrowding line issue and reduce traffic in the area which is important since the line runs through the entrance of wean to the elevators. As I mentioned before though, how would you deal with people ordering on location via the touchscreen and people placing their orders on their phones? Specifically, if I place an order through my phone while I'm walking from my last class in Margaret Morrison because I know it will be ready for pickup by the time I get to Wean, how would the person who already placed there order and is waiting on location to pick up the order feel when they see me come up to the counter, pick up my drink and walk away? I think that there is room for development in the way in which the queue is organized. Also, because the app provides such an increase in convenience, I worry about how popular the app may become. As you mentioned, some students left the line because of the wait but with the app, what if the orders increase in quantity and La Prima becomes busier than ever and the wait to pick up a drink increases?

As others have said, this is definitely a good idea to reduce the mob that occupies the fifth floor of Wean, but there are some problems that I think are just due to the nature of the problem. As Kim mentioned, there would be the problem of people ordering and not picking up, but if this app can increase the efficiency of La Prima enough than from a business perspective this is still profitable to La Prima, especially if payment happens through the app and not at a cash register. That way the fact that people already paid for their drink would encourage them to always pick up their drinks because they already paid for them.

This is a great idea to cut down on the line that often takes over the lobby of Wean! The app and touch screens seem very easy for a customer to use, and it does seem to make employee's lives easier too, as they can just read an order from the screen as opposed to taking time to listen to a customer that may be hard to hear in a loud, crowded space. I do have a couple of concerns, though. The first is that I wonder what would happen if something sells out. I like the idea of a "food counter", but this would take away from employee's time to update the app constantly. Also, what if there is just one of an item left and two people order it on the app at the same time? Second, I am concerned about customers that would like to pay with a credit or debit card. Would they swipe their card at the kiosk? What if they order using the app? Besides these minor issues, I think the idea is a good one (maybe it should actually be implemented)!

I like how this idea has a good amount of simplicity to it in terms of user interface and its intuitiveness, and will also probably reduce the long queue.

But I also agree, as some people have mentioned before, that the biggest problem this would introduce is a huge backup of orders. With people being able to order all over campus, I think at the end of every class period, there will be a sudden huge influx of orders from people who wish to get a snack on their way to the next class without waiting in line. This places a huge burden on the staff, because they don't have sufficient numbers to handle hundreds of orders at once. Also, if people don't get there right on time to get their order, prepared food will start pooling, and then when they finally do get there, they will have to rummage through the food-reservoir to find the right order. I think an approximate wait time display that constantly updates would be helpful for people wishing to order so that orders do not stack to a ridiculous amount.

@abhishek

We were thinking of just notifications to users with the app about when their order was ready, but with all these suggestions of an estimated wait-time, I think it would be a great and easy-to-implement feature.

In response to how La Prima workers would increase their productivity:
Well, first, there doesn't have to be one person working the register all the time. Actually, we've seen the person at the register leave to prepare orders in the current system.
Secondly, from our observations, it takes 2 minutes for people to wait to put their order in, and that's just due to the register.
Also, suppose two people wanted the same drink. We were thinking our queue could operate to tell the employees to make the two drinks simultaneously, which would be of no inconvenience to the employee, and virtually no increased time for others waiting.

@Anna Tan

I agree that displaying a wait time based on how many drinks have been ordered and have yet to be made would be very beneficial to customers, La Prima, and that space in general (if people see that there is a long wait, they won't even try to go to Wean 5 to get their coffee and this will reduce the number of people in that space unnecessarily). Additionally, this feature would be fairly simple to implement. Thanks!

@Amanda Marano I agree that this solution doesn't change the number of people physically in the area. However, our goal was to change the manner in which people will wait. Currently, the main problem is that a lot of people waiting to pay at a cash register naturally results in a long line. However, if we shift the waiting time to pick-up,we predict that people might migrate to other areas of the room. Currently, there are tables and chairs on the other side of the room that are often empty. With the large display we implemented above the cart, people can see if their orders are ready from everywhere in the room.