Outback Steakhouse’s Checkout Simplification
Role: UX Manager
From the homepage to the landing page to checkout… creating a frictionless end-to-end customer experience was the ultimate goal behind this project. As a UX Manager, I was responsible for overseeing the entire process of simplifying the user flow of Outback Steakhouse’s online ordering responsive website.
Summary
Background
When I initially joined Bloomin’ Brands in 2016, Outback Steakhouse’s ecommerce/online ordering website had only been around for a couple of years. This facet of the business was only a fraction of their overall sales, at the time, since they relied heavily on their brick and mortar restaurants where their customer would dine. The off-premise dining concept was taking off throughout the restaurant industry and Outback was interested in improving their online experience for their customers. They did not have a dedicated user experience team in place and had gone through various design agencies to help them improve their website. Most of the suggested improvements were focused on Outback’s marketing site and not on the ecommerce/online ordering portion side.
My Role
After having successfully established and implemented the UX process within Bloomin’ Brands in-restaurant and corporate technologies in 2016, I had the opportunity to take on the role of UX Manager in 2017 overseeing the customer journey of all of Outback Steakhouse’s digital touchpoints including their ecommerce website. I oversaw and directed a UX team of few UX designers and researchers.
Problem
Outback’s website was initially constructed with the main goal of providing their dine-in customers with current offers (specials), restaurant locations, access to the food menu and getting on the waitlist. Online ordering was available on the website but it really wasn’t prominent. Much of the content of the website promoted what was happening within the restaurant and really didn’t drive customers to place a take-away or delivery order.
What We Learned
Research Objective
I focused our efforts on conducting in-lab user assessments on our improved online order prototype and also on the current live website. We conducted ten (10) in-lab user assessments each session lasting approximately sixty (60) minutes. I gathered the UX team as well as several representatives and stakeholders within Outback to be a part of the entire process. The study was focused on branding, information architecture, nomenclature and the checkout experience. Through this research, we were also hoping to uncover any usability issues.
Homepage from mobile and desktop prototype used during in-lab user assessments.
Ordering Behaviors
Major findings emphasized that customers ordering food for take-away or delivery have different behaviors and needs than Outback’s dine-in customers.
Many of the users were surprised to learn that Outback offered delivery and take-away options since they think of Outback as a dine-in only restaurant.
Though respondents think of Outback in the same category as Longhorn Steakhouse, Applebee’s, and Chili’s for the dine-in experience, the competitive set for take-away and delivery orders are quick-service restaurants with a history of take-away, such as pizza chains and Chinese food.
Respondents order take-away and delivery food in the moment they desire it and most frequently ordered when heading home from another activity, such as work, the gym, or a child’s sporting event.
Some mentioned the ease of ordering food from a fast food mobile app or delivery aggregator apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Overall Prototype Feedback
Most respondents clicked on Pickup or Delivery CTA within the body of the homepage versus from the header and some were confused about “Menu” and “Order Now” within the top navigation.
The default restaurant location often was missed in the header which is important in easily completing an online order.
Although, they loved the food images, respondents were unsure which menu category to select to find the Victoria Filet Mignon, as three (3) categories seem to feature steak.
I feel like [the Victoria Filet Mignon] could fall into any of these categories: signature steaks, steak and lobster, or signature favorites.
Menu page showing the menu categories from mobile and desktop prototype
Some category names were confusing to respondents, such as “Signature Favorites” and “Joey Menu.”
Some respondents expect the menu categories to be more similar in grouping and ordering to what they would find on a traditional restaurant menu, Aussie-tizers first, Entrée’s second, sides, and desserts to follow, party platters to be separate.
Some respondents did not understand how to change the selected meat temperature. Options for steak weren’t displayed together and not presented in the same fashion as other selections.
Meat temperature selection from mobile and desktop prototype
Respondents love the visual nature of the side selection carousel but were confused on their selected state and customizing their side further.
Sides selection from mobile and desktop prototype
Within the mini-cart, respondents wanted to see all details of their selected items listed, even on mobile, as a confirmation that their selections were correct. They also would like the option to duplicate an order.
Why are sides and add-ons not mentioned? Even if I’m not charged for them, I want to know the order is fully correct.
Some thought the checkout process seemed drawn out especially with multifarious actions within each step of the progress tracker.
Top 3 Things a Customer Wants to See in a Restaurant Website
Respondents desire timely information about what seasonal, daily specials or limited time promotions and be inspired by vivid imagery to help them decide what they are in the mood for.
Customers want an easy path to which menu to order from at a given time of day, for example if they navigate at noon, lunch menu should be defaulted.
Respondents also expect an easy path to find locations near them.
Design Thinking Part 1
Design Workshops
In order to build trust with the Outback representatives and also to establish our strategic vision, I led the entire team through collaborative design workshops.
First, a strategy session was conducted where each finding was laid out on a whiteboard and everyone had an opportunity to dot vote in order to prioritize short and long term objectives.
Strategy session showing dot voting
Many of the items that were voted upon involved UI improvements but some needed more idea generation from everyone. As a team, we decided to expand upon two opportunity spaces
Opportunity 1: How might we politely nudge customers towards offers and upsells throughout the online ordering experience?
Opportunity 2: How might we better cater to our customers knowing they are coming from another activity and thinking about ordering from other quick-service restaurants known for pickup and delivery?
I had everyone look at some example websites that do a good job at either politely suggesting offers and upsells throughout their experience or reaching their customers who have different needs based on life style. The team came up with the following examples from Zappos, Home Depot, AirBNB, NorthFace, Hello Fresh, Uber Eats, Seamless, Panera, Starbucks and Old Navy, all documented below:
Ideas for Opportunity 1
Ideas for Opportunity 2
After these inspiration sessions, I led the entire team through Crazy 8’s design sprints.
Crazy 8’s design sprints
Summary of the Major Ideas from Opportunity 1
Include imagery of lifestyle scenarios on homepage: picking up food after kid’s soccer practice, romantic meal at home, etc.
Order by the bundle by suggesting meals for different situations: steak for one, romantic dinner for two, family meals, office party, etc.
Include a “You might also like” or “Others ordered…”
Crazy 8’s for Opportunity 1
Summary of the Major Ideas from Opportunity 2
Use geotagging, time of day and previous order data to better present relevant offers on the homepage
Personalize YMAL (You Might Also Like) tiles at the bottom of the menu item page
Provide option to “Save order for next time” or “Schedule next order” from confirmation page
Follow up confirmation message with order status tracker
Crazy 8’s for Opportunity 2
Design Thinking Part 2
Card Sorting
In order to address the confusing menu categories, I decided that we needed to conduct more thorough user research by conducting card sorting exercises with a larger participant base. The UserTesting platform was utilized for this exercise.
An initial open digital card sorting exercise was given to 15 participants.
Open card sorting involves participants creating and labeling their own groups from the list of items they are presented with.
92 cards of our menu items were presented to participants, some of them with description.
A second round was given to 15 participants but this time a hybrid card sorting exercise was conducted.
A hybrid card sorting involves participants sorting cards into categories given to them, and they can also create their own categories.
Category names provided were ones that participants came up with from the initial card sorting.
92 cards of our menu items again were presented ALL with descriptions.
A final round was given to a much larger group of nearly 100 participants, again with a hybrid cart sorting exercise, to validate learnings from the first two card sorts.
Only included 72 menu items with clear description AND images.
Menu items not included were Desserts and Kid’s Menu since these had 100% or nearly 100% agreement in previous card sorts.
Top 5 Things Learned
Consumers are inclined to give menu sections very functional descriptions; therefore, I recommend simplifying category names (i.e. Seafood vs. Straight From The Sea) to align with consumer expectations.
Consumer preference is a menu layout that follows the ordering process in-restaurant (i.e. Appetizer, Entrée, Sides, Dessert); I reorganized the categories to follow a similar flow.
The first entrée section communicates a restaurant’s specialty…steakhouses should position steaks before all other entrées; I placed “Signature Steaks” as the first entrée section listed.
After Outback’s Brand review, I made slight adjustments to the final categories list. I incorporated Brand’s recommendation about keeping the category name “Chicken, Ribs & More” in place of “Main Entrées” and separated out “Seafood Entrées”.
The following categories were also added: Limited Time Offers, Lunch, Party Platters. We also reduced the number of categories from 16 to 13 categories.
Page from “UX Recommendations for Category Names” report.
Vision
Design
Based on everything we learned, what we voted on during the strategy session, what we came up with during the design workshop, and recommendations from the menu categorization, I had the UX designers work on next iteration of Outback’s homepage, offer page and online ordering experience. Below are the fruits of all our labors.
Final Desktop Designs
Final Mobile Designs