Dragon City Restaurant
Redesigning a restaurant experience.
What Happened?
The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on my family's restaurant. I started this personal project to support my family's restaurant.
After taking a few design classes and learning more about design methodology and concepts, I used this newfound knowledge by creating a customer feedback survey for our restaurant. Based on their feedback, I redesigned our website to cater to their needs better and found ways to promote our business.
To increase our customer base, I also designed mail cards to print 300 copies and mail them to homes around the area.
Understanding our Customers
The Survey
Survey
Journey Map
I really liked this project component because it connected directly to my experience as a Psychology student. For example, careful framing of the question to avoid influencing responses. Exploring opinions and thoughts was very enjoyable, and I was thrilled to apply what I learned to the mail cards.
Updating Our Website
Out with the old, in with the new
Low-Fidelity Sketches
User Flow
Interaction Flow
High-Fidelity Mock-up
The Old Website
The old website showed incorrect photos and information. Navigating the website was hard, and it needs to be clear why someone should create an account. There's too much text in some places, leaving insufficient white space for the eyes to rest. Overall, the website is very messy, outdated, and unappealing. Customers expressed dissatisfaction when using it.
Challenge #1: A challenge I faced while doing this project component was ensuring that the design was suitable for the business, had a good reading flow, and was functional.
Solution: To overcome this challenge, I revisited the survey feedback and my work repeatedly while reviewing a mental checklist to ensure each goal was being achieved.
Come to Dragon City Restaurant, Neighbor!
The Mail Cards
Iteration
Graphic Design Concepts
Challenge #2: One of the biggest challenges I faced was trying to make my designs more "intentional." What does this object mean? What purpose does it serve? What is the audience supposed to take away from this visual?
Solution: I overcame this challenge by regularly pausing while working and reflecting on my work by asking myself, "What is the audience seeing?" "What is the meaning of this element, and how does it contribute to the message I'm trying to communicate?" This helps me check that l'm staying focused and helps redirect me toward the design's intention.
What I Learned
This project has been a great learning experience. I've learned to pay attention to details and to be precise: such as line weight, font, and texture and how to emphasize the focus of the design. I also found the importance of iteration, which differs from making simple rearrangements.
Reinforced the importance of user-centered design: conduct research, gather feedback, and design to address their needs and expectations.
Creative problem-solving: find innovative solutions to complex problems. I received a lot of feedback from the surveys, and I considered many ways to approach the concerns.