Appetite for the Future

Chick-fil-A suffered from a “wanted” pain point – effectively unlimited demand during peak hours without a future-proof method for increasing throughput.

my role

Design director through end to end process: discovery, user research, design, prototyping, testing

team

Allie Kerstein, Project Manager
John Preziotti, Creative Technologist
Will Schroeder, Visual Design
Jonathan Mendoza, Product Design
Mark Millhollon, Product Design
Paul Stephens, Architect
James White, Architect
Ashwin Kadaru, Engineer
Boris Blosse, Engineer

Coursing the Future

While everyone unanimously loves the taste and quality of their food, the crowds bring some unwanted pain points to customers and team members. The future CFA Restaurant experience had to meet increasing demand without sacrificing the brand’s key principles. Our challenge was to develop a fast, frictionless, and personal experience that will delight and help more people every day.

Throughout the process, I led a blended team of interaction designers, industrial designers, and architects in designing and producing rapid prototypes, physical builds, and virtual simulations to design the restaurant experience of the future.

To learn about the current experience, the team visited multiple locations to observe guest and team member behaviors. Several bottlenecks inside and outside were witnessed and documented as areas of opportunity.

Using those areas of opportunity, the team rapidly ideated. Multiple concepts were generated to solve the challenge of increased threshold during the busiest hours.

Testing the Future

Through frequent test research sessions, the team gathered valuable feedback directly from the customer perspective. Physical simulations were created and real customers were immersed into our concepts. We ran them through a series on inside and outside scenarios, and then collected their feedback on the experience. That feedback was used in the next sprint to refine our ideas.

Getting a taste of the future

To push our designs and concepts, we married digital and physical processes. Using AR, VR, and XR simulations, we could quickly prototype and validate our designs and iterate.

Our custom simulation tools allowed us to tweak many variables while the simulations were running. You could then instantly see the affect on flow and throughput. We also utilized a portable virtual reality headset, to allow us and others the ability to “physically” walk through our digital designs.

This process allowed us to test, prototype, and validate solutions for both inside and outside to move Chick-fil-A into the future.

REALTIME SIMULATIONS

The simulations tested capacity at peak hours to help evaluate potential bottlenecks as well test as which components worked best.

AUGMENTED REALITY

By placing physical models of components (such as a kiosk), we can use AR to instantly digitize them and run a simulation showing throughput and spacing.

VIRTUAL REALITY

Using a VR headset, our concepts were simulated to understand capacity, flow, and throughput. The team could move around freely in the virtual environment.

DIGITAL PROTOTYPES

Custom web apps were developed to enable a more realistic live simulation with customers in our physical test environments

2025 and Beyond

After 12 sprints of ideating, iterating, and testing, the team created a restaurant and drive-thru experience that seamlessly enables the rapidly evolving ways that Customers will want to engage with Chick-fil-A in 2025 and beyond.
‍
In the future experience, guests will experience a personal, convenient, hospitable, and frictionless experience inside and outside the restaurant. Guests can easily and safely navigate to their desired destination, while creating a safe experience for Team Members to provide hospitality. The designs also increase through-put and disperses tasks by providing multiple access points to deliver and receive food.

Drive Thru of the Future

dynamic wayfinding

Signage and wayfinding throughout the restaurant site will guide guests to their intended destination with less cognitive load. As guests enter the drive-thru, they can view expected wait times and can be acknowledged by name. Smart Metering will instruct guests when and what lane to safely pick up their order.

smart metering

The smart meter instructs guests on when to stop and which lane to advance to when open to help control the flow of traffic. After a guest has completed their order and payment in one of the lanes, the smart meter changes to green and instructs guests to proceed to the open order bay.

flexible orderbay

A dynamic order station that allows guests to view a digital menu if they are ordering on-site. Guests can view and converse with a team member that appears virtually on the screen. As the guest orders, their order will appear on the screen. Guests can scan their CFA One app to pay, and receive a notification with a receipt.

meal portal

Onsite, Pre-order, and Third-party guests will pick up their food from one of several “Walkbays” underneath the restaurant. Food is delivered via a deliver mechanism to Team Members in the lane who are guided to the correct car using computer vision and digital screens.

Pre-Order runway

Pre-order guests can bypass the on-site order bays and proceed directly to pickup. They pull forward under the canopy until the car in front of her stops. When their order is ready, a Team Member grabs it from the Meal Portal and delivers the food to the driver side window. Guests can then safely exit into the bypass lane. Team Members are protected from the elements inside the glass enclosure.

Dine In of the Future

FLEXIBLE KIOSKS

An order station that allows guests to view a digital menu and order confirmation during the ordering process. If a Team Member is present during a transaction, guests order with them. As the guest orders by voice, their order will appear on the screen. If the guest is a loyalty member, they can also view their points and any free offers through a connection with their CFA One account.

Dynamic wayfinding

As guests enter the restaurant, they see large signage that serves as wayfinding for their visit. Guests who pre-ordered can see upcoming orders, and orders that are ready for pickup at the smart counter. The screen also displays seasonal food promos as well as new ways to interact for the guests.

smart counter

For guests that have pre-ordered, they are directed to a specified zone at a smart counter that includes multiple team members there for assistance. Guests’ food will appear in the zone when ready and their name will be displayed above the counter on the Echo Board using ComputerVision to populate the correct name per order.

Table delivery

Using cameras and computer vision for order identification, Team Members can deliver meals to dine-in guests at their table. Guests can also use RFID check-in for mobile app guests to identify where they are seated within the restaurant

Challenges to the Future

The Chick-fil-A brand is one that is known for its high touch service. Using technology as the sole means to solve throughput issues was always at a tension. We learned that guests preferred interacting with Team Members when possible, but are open to self-service if it means faster service.

Also, the organization is very thorough and slow moving when it comes to implementing new ideas. With franchises being a big part of their offering, new services will require buy-in from operators due to the investment needed.

Next Project →

Appetite for the future