By Greg Kalman, Austin Konig, Ananya Navale, Shuman Wang, Jasmine Xu

Overview

For our usability testing, we evaluated the working prototype of our app (https://snax-order.replit.app/) with three potential users. All participants were college-aged students reflective of our target audience (2 male, 1 female) who engage in late-night eating behaviors on varying levels.

Participants were asked to complete three tasks while verbalizing their thought processes using a think-aloud protocol:

1. Place an individual order for the night
2. Place a group order with friends
3. Complete a log entry reflecting on what they ate the previous night

Following each task and to close each test, participants were asked several open-ended reflection questions about their experiences using the app.

Positive Feedback

Overall feedback was very positive. Participants found the interface intuitive, enjoyable and easy to navigate. Some memorable comments included:

• “Very clear, very easy! I honestly love this app.”
• “It’s a great app — I would totally use it.”

Participants consistently responded affirmatively to the large food images/icons, as well as the variety and appeal of the food options available. The pledge element, soundtrack/song reveal surprise, and progress tracker were also highlighted as engaging and unique features that enhanced the user experience.

Usability Issues

Aside from the generally positive feedback, several usability issues emerged during testing. These are summarized below by severity level.

Severe

Issue #1: Lack of customization options when selecting food items (e.g., “If I’m allergic to the sauce, I’d want the option to remove it from the poke bowl.”)

Proposed Solution #1: Add a “customizations” text box or ingredient/option selector after choosing the item quantity to allow users to modify ingredients based on dietary needs.

Issue #2: Similarly, users want visibility into the exact ingredients of menu items, particularly for allergy considerations.

Proposed Solution #2: Add a “See ingredients” expandable section beneath each menu item description, listing the full ingredient details for complete transparency.

Issue #3: Participants noted that appetite and food preferences can change later in the evening, potentially creating unwillingness to commit to an order earlier in the morning.

Proposed Solution #3: Implement an “Edit” or “Cancel Order” option available up to one hour before the scheduled delivery time to avoid food wastage and create a time buffer.

 

Moderate

Issue #4: Users expressed interest in tracking their order status (e.g., knowing when it will arrive or where it currently is) after placing their order.

Proposed Solution #4: Add real-time order tracking, including timestamps and optional map-based tracking.

Issue #5: When logging what they ate the previous night, users wanted searchability or pre-filled foods based on their most recent order rather than manually scrolling through a long list of food options.

Proposed Solution #5: Implement type-ahead search functionality so that the menu dynamically filters as users type or pre-fill this part of the form with the food in the order corresponding to the log entry.

Issue #6: During group ordering, users were sometimes unsure whose card was being charged.

Proposed Solution #6: Display payment details (e.g., last four digits of the card number) during checkout to increase transparency or allow each student in the group order to provide their individual student ID numbers for payment through their meal plan. This number would not be revealed to the other individuals in the order.

 

Trivial 

Issue #7: Preference for a nighttime interface theme. One participant noted: “Since I’ll be using this at night, can the app have a nighttime theme?”

Proposed Solution #7: Introduce a light mode / dark mode toggle.

Issue #8: When selecting delivery time, some users preferred choosing from a scrollable list rather than manually typing a time.

Proposed Solution #8: Offer both options: a scrollable time picker with dropdown functionality.

Issue #9: The group ordering button was inconsistent with the ‘Browse Catalog’ button.

Proposed Solution #9: Standardize button shape and width across clickables in the prototype.

Issue #10: The catalog access button (‘Visit Night Market’) was not obvious that it was clickable.

Proposed Solution #10: Change format to the shape, size, and style of other clickables to keep consistency.