Sushi Hana
- Most guests read the menu for 2 to 4 minutes before ordering.
- Guests who asked about the menu had longer, warmer conversations with staff.
- Servers checked on each table at least twice during the meal.
BackMEEA
Where tradition meets innovation.
A leather bound restaurant menu with a screen inside. Guests read it their way, call their server with a reason, and split and pay at the table, without taking out a phone.
- Role
- UX designer, final UI design
- Team
- Team of 3
- Class project
- UXDG101, 10 weeks, 2025
- Product
- Tabletop menu in a leather folio
The problem
Diners leave unhappy when ordering, service and knowing their food fall short. Paper menus cannot adapt, and phone menus pull people away from the table.
The insight
Guests did not want a smarter phone menu. They wanted a better menu, and their server at the right moment.
What MEEA does
Puts the screen inside a familiar leather menu: read it your way, call your server with a reason, then split, tip and tap to pay at the table.
The problem
Diners leave unhappy when ordering, service and knowing their food fall short
US restaurant sales passed $1 trillion for the first time in 2023, and restaurants keep adding technology. Most of it asks guests to pull out their phones.
Paper menus
Guests love holding them, but they cannot translate, change their print size or say much about what is in a dish. When a question comes up, guests wait for a server.
Phone menus
QR code menus are growing about 20% a year. They mean a phone out at the table and a small screen to read, and the people we talked to did not like them.
“It is awkward to have your phone out whenever you're with people.”
Research
What restaurants and their guests showed us
We watched three Savannah restaurants at work, sent a questionnaire and ran six in depth interviews. That became three findings and the three people we designed for.
3
restaurants observed
8
questionnaire responses
6
in depth interviews
3
wireframe usability tests
01
Observations
We sat in three restaurants and watched how guests read the menu, got a server's attention and paid.
Coco and Moss
- Once it got busy, guests struggled to catch a server's attention.
- Groups paid separately, and some worked out and split costs by hand.
- A few guests needed parts of the menu explained.
The Public
- 23 guests, mostly families, couples and young adults, there to be social.
- Guests were not keen on taking their phones out.
- Most tables paid one bill, digitally.
02
Questionnaire
Eight people told us about a recent meal out, mostly at local restaurants.
8.6
average rating out of 10 for their last meal out
Most
preferred not to use their phone in a restaurant
Most ordered dishes they already knew. Others read the descriptions, and some asked their server what to get.
“There was no physical menu, I would have liked one because I couldn't read well from the screen.”
“It was the only option, I wouldn't prefer an online menu.”
03
Interviews
Six in depth interviews about menus, service, technology and paying.
Menus
- Everyone preferred a physical menu to a digital one.
- Digital menus meant using a phone, or a screen too small to read.
- Photos help if they look good and honest. Some felt photos make a menu look cheap.
Service
- The worst part was waiting for a server to take the order or bring the bill.
- Good servers add to the night without hovering.
- People wanted human interaction, not none at all.
Technology
- Phones at the table take away from the meal and can come across as rude.
- QR menus are not designed well yet, but people were not against the idea.
- Seeing the menu online before arriving was handy.
Paying
- Most felt uncomfortable when their card was taken away to pay.
- Splitting the bill got hard in bigger groups.
- Some found QR code payments confusing.
“I prefer a physical menu, but I don't mind digital menus if I have to.”
“I've seen many (QR menus) in Miami, even in nicer restaurants. These menus annoy me, but I understand that it's better for the planet.”
04
What we found
Putting the observations, questionnaire and interviews together, three findings stood out.
A menu has to work for everyone at the table
Paper menus cannot translate or grow the print, and phone menus are small and pull people away. Guests also order for each other, around allergies and kids.
- “I couldn't read well from the screen.” Questionnaire
- Language and small fonts were Baba Vera's biggest barriers
- Photos split opinion, so they had to be optional
People want their server, at the right moment
Everyone we interviewed would rather order from a person than a screen. The problem was never the server, it was waiting for one.
- Waiting to order or for the bill was the top complaint
- Servers should add to the night without hovering
- At Coco and Moss, guests struggled to get attention once it got busy
Paying is the awkward part of the night
Handing a card to a stranger felt risky, splitting slowed big groups down, and the tip was guesswork for some guests.
- Most felt uneasy when their card was taken away
- Groups at Coco and Moss split costs by hand
- Tip math confused Britney, and Baba Vera was new to the US
05
Personas
Three guests we designed for. Each one walked through the menu in a scenario, from sitting down to paying.
Big Money Mark
Likes an upscale night out with no room for mishaps. He has a reputation to keep with the guests he brings.
Goals
- Good timing with his server
- Impress family, friends and clients
- Cater to everyone's allergies and preferences at once
Frustrations
- Not being able to reach the server
- Menus that do not work for everyone
- Feeling out of control
Social Butterfly Britney
Goes out with friends every week and turns each dinner into an event.
Goals
- Spend less time on logistics
- Split the bill without fuss
- Enjoy friends without constant interruptions
Frustrations
- Too many interruptions
- Slow, awkward bill splitting
- Working out the tip
Baba Vera
Recently moved to the US from Russia. Loves eating out with her family, grandkids and friends.
Goals
- Time with family without interruptions
- Understand the menu easily
- No complicated technology
Frustrations
- The language barrier
- Print that is too small
- Not knowing some ingredients and dishes
Insight
Guests did not want a smarter phone menu. They wanted a better menu, and their server at the right moment.
Each finding became a how might we question, and each question became a principle every screen had to pass.
I
One menu, read your way
It lives on the table, not on a phone. Each guest sets the language, text size, light and diet they need.
How might we provide a menu experience that accommodates different preferences, as well as accessibility features?
II
The screen calls the person, it does not replace them
MEEA helps guests decide and ask. Their server still takes the order.
How might we enhance the menu experience while still preserving the human interaction that makes dining feel warm and personal?
III
Settle up without the awkward part
Split, tip and pay at the table, with no card leaving anyone's hand and no math.
How might we create a more efficient and stress free way for restaurant goers and their friends to split the bill?
The product
A leather menu with a screen inside
MEEA keeps the look and feel of a leather bound menu, with a thin, high resolution screen on the right page. It stays with the table, so nobody needs their own phone, and it goes back to the host stand at the end of the night.
01
The restaurant's mark
Each restaurant's logo is pressed into the leather, so MEEA looks like their menu, not a gadget.
02
Tap to pay
The gold MEEA mark sits over a contactless reader. Guests tap a card or phone there, so a card never leaves the table.
03
A page shaped screen
The screen has the 3:4 shape of a menu page, and everything on it is designed to read at arm's length.
Type
Cormorant Garamond
Dish names, prices and headings. It reads like a printed menu.
Montserrat
Everything you tap: buttons, tabs, labels and descriptions.
Color
- Paper#F4EEE3Page background
- Card#FBF8F2Cards and the dock
- Ink#1F2A24Text
- Green#1E3A2FActions and selected states
- Gold#A8844AAccents, your server
- Candlelight#121A16Dark look for dim rooms
Process
From research to a final menu
- 01
Research
Three restaurant observations, a questionnaire and six in depth interviews.
- 02
Strategy
Points of view, three how might we questions, a MoSCoW list and a Lean UX canvas.
- 03
Personas
Mark, Britney and Baba Vera, each with a scenario walked through the menu.
- 04
Structure
Card sorting with three people, then an information architecture refined twice.
- 05
Wireframes
15 low fidelity screens, tested with three people.
- 06
Final UI
Every screen redrawn in one system, with each change answering the research.
Wireframes
Fifteen low fidelity screens built from the persona scenarios: home, drinks, the food menu, dish details, settings, kids, games and payment.
Testing the wireframes
Three people with very different comfort with technology clicked through the wireframes. Their notes fed straight into the final UI.
Gaby
Eats out often, used to paper and digital menus
Liked
- The extra features, and exploring them
Asked for
- The settings icon was unclear
- The kids menu's drinks and food button was hard to find
Zane
College student who relies on technology every day
Liked
- Tapping a dish to see its description and photo
- Asking for a paper check, for guests who want one
Asked for
- The hamburger icon should be a gear
- Add a way back to the home page
- Show what is already on the tab, and the total
Kaden
Rarely uses technology beyond her phone
Liked
- Photos of the dishes
- How information was spread across each page
Asked for
- Navigation should explain itself
- More personality in the dish descriptions
Design decisions
From wireframe to final
I designed the final UI from the team's research and wireframes, in one system for navigation, type and components. Every change below starts from something we heard.
Decision 1 of 10: Language and text size come first
01 / 10
Principle 1 · One menu, read your way
Decision 1 of 10
Language and text size come first
- Wireframe
- The first screen was a list of sections. Language and text size were hidden behind a menu icon.
- Final
- Guests pick a language and text size before anything else, and meet the server looking after them.
Why: Baba Vera's biggest barriers were language and small print. One questionnaire answer put it simply: “I couldn't read well from the screen.”
Final screens
16 screens across 6 flows
Pick a flow, then swipe or use the arrows.
The menu opens on language and text size, then the menu home with tonight's specials.
Welcome
Language and text size come first, and you meet your server.
Menu
Tonight's specials, every section, and three buttons that never move.
Twin Valley is the sample restaurant from the team's menu file, and its dishes and photos come from there. Prices, totals and the server's name are sample content.
Reflection
What I learned, and what I would test next
What I learned
- The best idea in the research was the one that held technology back. Leaving the order with a person made every other screen simpler.
- Designing for Baba Vera made the menu better for everyone. Big text, words instead of icons and plain explanations helped every persona.
- A product that is part object and part screen means designing both together, like the gold mark on the leather that the pay screen points to.
What I would test next
- Do servers find the reasons on Call your server useful, or do they just walk over anyway?
- Can a group of four split a real bill by item faster than they can with a paper check?
- Does the dimmed allergy filter feel clear to guests, or do they expect hidden dishes?
About this project
- MEEA was a 10 week team project in UXDG101, with a team of three.
- The research, personas, structure and wireframes were team work. I designed the final UI.