CS 3750 Group Project: Part 1

Team POSitive (Richard Bordianu, Edwin Choate,

Eric Cochran, Leon Gill, and Harrison Obiorah)

Improving Restaurant Point-of-Sale Systems with a Focus on User Interface Design

Introduction
A restaurants point-of-sale system (POS) system is critical to a restaurant's daily
operation. The restaurant POS system interfaces with all phases of the restaurant operation and
with everyone that is involved with the restaurant including guests, suppliers, employees,
managers and owners. The goal of our project is not to create a new restaurant POS system, but
rather to create a model that can demonstrate how good design practices can be used to create an
easy-to-use and intuitive user interface (UI) that can be customized to meet all of the needs of
any restaurant business.
The requirements gathering portion of our project will involve speaking with people who
work in the restaurant industry, for example owners, managers, and wait staff, to gather their
input regarding the UIs of the POS systems that are used in their respective places of business.
This step will involve administering surveys, conducting interviews and observing. Through this
process, we expect to learn what users like and dislike about POS system UIs and the ways upon
which these UIs can be improved. This critique of current UIs will then aid us in defining user
characteristics and use cases. Once we have determined the requirements of the user, our next
step will be task analysis. For example, some important high-level tasks that we have already
identified as being relevant to our project include order entry, menu customization and employee
management. In utilizing hierarchical task decompositions and workflow diagrams, we expect to
gain a grasp of the most efficient and easy means of accomplishing various tasks.
information that follows will delve further into the aforementioned topics.

The

Requirements Gathering Methods and Critique

Our group utilized three methods in generating our requirements: written survey, face-toface interview, and user observation. We communicated with six individuals at six different
restaurants, all of whom had varying degrees of experience in the restaurant industry and
responsibilities within their current place of employment. The positions represented included
cashier, host, server, bartender, manager, and owner. Some individuals held multiple positions.
Of the six participants, five participated in face-to-face interviews, three allowed us to observe
them interacting with their POS systems, and one completed a survey.

The restaurants

represented by our participants include Across the Street, Chucks Famous, Yogli Mogli, Rays
Pizza, The Barrelhouse, and Gyro King, all of which are located in Atlanta, GA. The POS
systems used by these restaurants include HotSauce (Chucks Famous), Aloha (Across the Street,
Rays Pizza, The Barrelhouse), Ambit (Yogli Mogli), and SPS-2000 (Gyro King).
Survey
The survey served two roles in our groups requirement gathering process. First, the
survey allowed our research participants to answer questions relevant to our project in a
convenient manner, particularly for those who did not wish to be interviewed. Second, the
survey questions served as a guide for the interviews that we conducted. Only one participant
completed the survey, as the rest of our participants agreed to be interviewed. Figure 1 (below)
is the survey we used and includes the answers provided by the participant.

Fig. 1

Point-of-Sale (POS) System Survey for Georgia Tech Research and Design Project
Making a Better POS System UI for the Restaurant/Bar Industry
Thank You for Your Help!
Name: [redacted]
Job/Position: Assistant Manager/Server/Bartender
Education Level:
Primary Language: English

Secondary Language(s): Spanish

Tech Devices Owned (laptop, smartphone, tablet, game systems, etc.):

laptop, smartphone, XBOX 360, digital camera
On a Scale of 1 to 5, how tech savvy would you say you were?
1__Not at All
2__A Little
3__Average
4 (X) More than Most
5__Very Savvy
What POS system does your place of employment currently use?
Aloha
What POS systems have you used in the past?
Aloha, Squirrel, Micros & Hot Sauce
In your experience, what has been your favorite POS system to use, assuming you have used more than one?
Why?
Aloha, very user friendly when modifying orders, and the instructions for upgrading are easy to follow.
What features do you find confusing or hard to use in your POS system?
Havent come across any yet with the Aloha system
What features do you find easy to use in your POS system?
Splitting items for large parties

Fig. 1 (continued)
If you were able to fix your POS system tomorrow, what would you change?
I wouldnt.
What features or capabilities would you most like to see in a POS system?
Smaller more compact systems, being in the industry space is limited at times, also maybe hand held devices,
instead of caring a pen and paper
Is your POS system completely touch-based?
Yes
What are the steps required for you to log in to your POS system (if any)? Would you change it if you could?
I just input my employee code. I would like to see a fingerprint recognition login implemented to increase
accountability.
What steps do you have to take when entering an order?
Enter my employee code, select the table and add items.
What steps do you have to take when changing/voiding an order?
For the most part a server would need management for voiding, then management would enter his or her passcode,
highlight item and direct to certain areas for the void, whether its a server error, birthday comp, kitchen error, etc.
For changing an order you would highlight the item or order that needs to be changed.
What steps do you have to take when adding a new item to the menu or changing the price of a menu item (if
you dont do this, you can skip this question)?
You need to go into the Aloha Management software located on the managers desktop, find the item you want
change, then direct yourself to the page in which to make the change.
Do you have any specific ideas or comments regarding POS systems that you would like to share?
As technology advances I would like to see the POS system integrated into the customers tables, it would shift
accountability towards disgruntled customers with respect to order placing.

This survey participant provided some very useful information. One drawback of the
survey method is the inability to ask follow up questions if necessary to clarify answers.
However, in this case, the respondents answers provided enough detail to be useful.
Interview
We were able to conduct face-to-face interviews with five out of our six participants. We
found that the interviews were an effective requirement gathering method. Prior to beginning the
interviews, background and context regarding the purpose of the interview were provided to the
participants, which we felt was helpful in creating a cooperative exchange between us and the
interviewees. Using the survey questions as the basic structure for the interview, we were able to
gain additional insight via follow-up questions not contained in the survey. The interviews
enlightened us on some of the basic tasks performed by users of restaurant POS systems and
some of the problems and inconveniences encountered during those processes. This information
allowed us to identify possible improvements with respect to UI design.
Observation
We observed and recorded on video three of the six participants interacting with the POS
systems at their restaurants. At our request, the participants spoke aloud about the steps they
were taking as they demonstrated how certain tasks were performed, such as placing an order.
Observations were conducted in conjunction with the interview. Observations were conducted
during our interview if the participant felt it would help illustrate a point or provide more clarity
on a particular answer. However, our preference was to conduct observations after the interview
because we felt that this approach would lead to more thorough walkthroughs of the users
system. We believed that the interview would prime the interviewee to begin thinking of what
problems existed in their system before showing during the observation portion.

As with our interviews, our first-hand observations of how POS systems are used allowed
us to note what type of UI elements were better suited than others in a restaurant setting. We
identified specific design flaws and took note of how to fix them and translated these findings
into requirements. A majority of the people we interviewed had used their current POS system,
in addition to others, for several years.
Current UI Critique
There are hundreds of POS software developers and POS-Advice.com maintains a
restaurant POS directory of almost 150 restaurant POS solution providers marketing their
software in the United States.1 According to research conducted by Raymond James Investments
in 2010, the largest market share of Restaurant POS systems was held by Radiant Systems
(Aloha) and Micros Systems at 22.7% and 20.8% respectively.2 These two companies hold
almost 44% of the restaurant POS system market share. Three of the six restaurants included in
our research utilize Aloha as their POS system.
Every user surveyed who had used the market leading Aloha POS system preferred it
over any other system they had used in the past, including HotSauce, Micros, and Squirrel.
Some of the reasons people preferred Aloha included user-friendliness, speed of operation, and
ease of splitting checks among customers.

Nonetheless, the Aloha users also had some

complaints related to the UI design such as:

1. menu items got disorganized whenever you enter/update a new item (there was no logical
order or layout to help when trying to find an item)
2. coding skills were required to make menu layout changes on the backend
3. button sequence to get do simple things often takes longer than necessary
4. placement of buttons is not optimal
5. lots of wasted black/white space

1
2

POS Advice, LLC at http://www.pos-advice.com/hospitality-software

Tillman, T. (2010) Surveyed 1500 restaurants; positive takeaways for RADS and MCRS. U.S. Research, p. 3.

Fig. 2 Aloha POS System Screenshot of Payment Processing Menu

This screenshot from the Aloha system shows demonstrates what

some users did not like such as the button layout and large areas of
empty white space.

Fig. 3 Screenshot of Aloha POS Systems Order Management Menu

Alohas order management menu (above) was described as easy to use and
quick. Many functions can be accessed from this screen such as navigating
through menus and submenus, adding items to an order, and splitting a check.
The HotSauce order management menu (below) has a similar layout but was
described as less intuitive, not as user-friendly and functionally inferior to Aloha.
Fig. 4 - Screenshot of HotSauce POS Systems Order Management Menu

Based on our research, the UIs of the most popular POS Systems, in terms of market
share and user feedback, possess the common qualities of being user-friendly and providing
access to many related functions from a single screen. However, we have identified ways in
which certain aspects can be improved. For example, users indicated a desire for an overall more
modern feel and look with respect to graphic design and text. Allowing more user controlled
customization with respect to things like the color palette, font and icon selection could address
this area. Also, this customization could extend to what functions or buttons are displayed to the
user. For example, the ability to remove buttons from the UI that do not perform any functions
or are not available to a particular user would be useful in increasing efficiency by reducing
visual scanning and hand movement. Freeing up screen space in this manner would allow for a)
more intuitive button layouts such as timeline ordering where functions are placed in the order in
which they are normally performed, i.e. ticket creation

ticket submission

ticket closing,

and b) more useful information being presented on the screen or presented more prominently.
With less clutter and better utilization of space, more creativity could be employed in how
information is presented to the user. Equally as important, the user can more effectively and
efficiently interact with the software.

For example, features commonly found in mobile

applications, such as swipe screen navigation, could be implemented into the UI to allow for
faster access to various menus. Other implementations might include tools, such as a calculator,
that can be easily accessed and hidden with a single button push.
At this early stage, our ideas are not fully fleshed out, but as our project evolves, we
expect to go through many iterations and experiment with different concepts and features that
will incorporate the knowledge that we have gained from this course.

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User Characteristics
Our research has revealed that the most relevant user characteristics are related to job
responsibility. We found no relevant physical characteristics related to gender, race, size, or age
that would affect our design approach. Basic requirements such as vision and use of ones hands
have been assumed. Any characteristic or quality preventing a user from working in a restaurant
would also prevent that person from properly using a restaurant POS system. The main users are
divided into three distinct roles:
1. Supervisor this role includes owners and managers whose primary responsibilities
include staff and finance management, inventory management, menu editing and
customizing, and permission based actions (such as comps and order voids).
2. Wait Staff this role includes servers and bartenders whose primary responsibilities
include order taking and entry and payment processing.
3. Host/Hostess this role includes the host or hostess whose primary responsibilities
include greeting and seating guests and managing customer traffic during peak and busy
periods.
User Personas
Alex (represents the supervisor user) Alex is the general manager of a popular dine-in
Mexican restaurant in a metropolitan area that employs five cooks, twelve servers, four bussers
and two hostesses. Alex is responsible for the daily operations of the restaurant which include
managing the employees and finances. He also has the authority to update the menu and
authorize certain transactions such as comps and order voiding.
Barbara (represents the wait staff user) Barbara is a server and bartender at an Irish Pub in a
small suburb. Depending on her shift, she is either behind the bar or on the floor. She can take

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food orders from either position, but when she is bartending, she is also responsible for preparing
alcoholic beverages. She is responsible for providing customer service which includes taking
orders and processing payment.
Caroline (represents the hostess user) Caroline works as a hostess at a nationwide chain
restaurant specializing in American cuisine. Her job involves greeting guests as they enter the
restaurant and seating them somewhere in the restaurant or on the patio. Once she has seated a
party, she informs the relevant wait staff. She is also responsible for managing the flow of
customers into the dining area, ensuring that tables are ready prior to seating guests and
accurately informing customers of wait times when the restaurant is busy.
Usage Scenarios
Scenario One
Alex, the owner/general manager, has decided that he would like to add a new appetizer
to the menu, the Flaming Flauta. He accesses the restaurants POS system behind the bar by
entering his password, which gives him access to the menu editing features. He creates a new
menu item with all of the relevant details and adds it to the appetizer section of the menu. After
saving the changes, the Flaming Flauta is now able to be added to an order by any of the wait
staff.
Scenario Two
Barbara is bartending on a Saturday night at the Irish pub in her neighborhood. Two
guys walk to the bar and place an order for twenty wings and four draft beers. However, the two
men want Barbara to split the cost of the order between them on two separate credit cards.
Barbara logs in and enters the order into the POS system. She selects the option to split the cost
evenly between two people. She charges the first card half of the order, and then charges the

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other half to the second card. She gives each guy a separate ticket and moves on to the next
customer.
Scenario Three
Caroline is hosting on a very busy Friday night at a major chain restaurant in downtown
Atlanta. A young man and his date approach the hostess stand and ask her for a table for two.
Caroline logs into the POS system and checks out the floor plan and sees that there is only one
table currently open. However, it still needs to be bussed. She tells the couple that it will be just
a few minutes before a table will be available. Once the table is ready, Caroline walks the couple
to their seats and upon returning to the hostess stand, she logs in to the POS system again, and
marks the table as occupied.
Implications
As the data gathering process took its course, a number of consistencies began to emerge
across various restaurants which suggest fascinating implications.

However, at times, the

contrasts between different restaurants was apparent. These similarities and differences account
for a variety of implications that are useful in determining subsequent steps to take in designing a
well-implemented POS system UI that effectively uses good design principles.
One interesting consistency involves the interviewees perceptions of their own
technological know-how. When asked to rate their own tech-savvy on a scale from one to five
(where five represented the most savvy), the vast majority of the interviewees identified
themselves as a four on the scale (or more savvy than most). Regardless of the accuracy of the
self-assessment, it suggests that the average interviewee is confident in his or her ability to
navigate an electronic POS system with a certain degree of competency. This point is significant
because it suggests that a sufficient demand exists for better POS system UIs. Demand for such

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a product is crucial to its success. Too little demand indicates that users would likely not notice
or appreciate an improvement in UI design.
When users were asked about their favorite existing POS system, there was a resounding
consensus. The Aloha system appeared to be the clear winner. When asked what made Aloha
better than its competitors, interviewees consistently noted that the systems UI was very userfriendly and intuitive. Three of the interviewees noted that Aloha was their favorite because it
made it easier to split checks.

One server that shared this opinion was kind enough to

demonstrate how to split checks on an Aloha machine. Upon observation, the process of
splitting checks appeared intuitive and easy to use. This pattern is significant because it suggests
that across the board, users of POS systems desire easier to use systems than currently exist.
There are a number of ways in which to implement POS system UIs. This collection of
observations and user feedback was useful in determining that our design should be more
flexible than currently existing systems.
Another notable (and perhaps counter-intuitive) consistency between different
interviewees was general contentment with their system. More often than not, interviewees
expressed that they were satisfied with their systems and would not really change much, despite
the fact that every server was able to identify problems or had complaints with their systems UI
in some form or fashion. When interviewees did identify changes they would make to the
system, they consistently ran into a problem - they did not have the technical knowledge to
implement those changes. For example, an assistant manager at Rays Pizza noted that he
wished he could change the organization of menu items in his POS system. However, he stated
that neither he nor any other employee had the skills to make the change because doing so
required software programming knowledge.

This complaint persisted from restaurant to

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restaurant which implies that a demand exists for the ability to make simple customizations to
the system without needing a high level of technical skill. This point is highly significant with
respect to the design of a new POS system UI because it dictates how customization should be
implemented. Thus, it may be necessary to simplify the process as much as possible so that the
average user can easily make special customizations.
With respect to restaurant operators, a survey conducted by Hospitality Technology, a
media organization that covers technology trends and solutions in both the lodging and
foodservice industries, reflected that restaurants have a strong desire for POS technology
advancement, with five out of the seven capabilities it measured growing in interest over prior
years, as displayed in Figure 5.3 Online ordering is the number-one choice for the second year
running, with slightly more than half (51.2%) of all restaurant operators naming it as the POS
feature in which they most wanted to invest in 2013.4 Interest in mobile phones for ordering and
payment spiked too, with 48.4% of restaurant operators adding it to POS wish lists.5 Cloud
computing saw the biggest jump, and was desired by 36.2% of restaurants in the survey (a jump
of 17 percentage points over 2012).6
Thus, as our research has demonstrated, the desire for more features and technological
improvements in restaurant POS systems makes a well-designed and user-friendly UI very
important. Increased functionality necessitates effective UI design that will facilitate growth and
profitability.

Lorden, A. and Creamer, D. (2013). POS software trends 2013. Hospitality Technology. Retrieved at
http://hospitalitytechnology.edgl.com/news/POS-Software-Trends-2013-83583
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.

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Fig. 5 Most Desired Restaurant POS Features

Fig. 6 Restaurant POS Purchasing Plans

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Requirements Summary
Floor and table seating plans
Justification - manager expressed this was an essential feature and eliminates need to
constantly remember what table a server is assigned
Check splitting
Justification - essential feature that is repeatedly used day in and day out in every
restaurant
Personas: there are different categories (personas) of users of POS systems like
Clerk/Cashier and Manager, the UI should present the relevant options to that logged-in
persona according to these guidelines
Justification - necessary for owners and managers of restaurants to define what their
workers can and cannot do
Time clock
Justification - standard feature in all POS systems
Menu ordering
Justification - requirement for any POS system
Ability to void orders
Justification - requirement for any POS system
Table-layout screen: user can view all tables in restaurant and select and interact with the
table they are serving with the table layout interface
Justification - manager expressed this was an essential feature and eliminates need to
constantly remember what table a server is assigned
Easy to split checks: time to split checks evenly needs to be under 2 seconds
Justification - we encountered a system that had this feature implemented as described,
the users saw this feature as the highlight of the system
Buttons big enough for any type of user: ensure that each button can be pressed by
someone with "fat fingers" as easily as smaller ones.

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Justification - requirement for any touch screen UI

Proper screen alignment: ensure there are no screen alignment problems with the UI
Justification - We interviewed a restaurant that had screen alignment problems with their
POS system
Flexible transaction building: don't force a sequence to transaction where possible, place
product orders in any order and allow them to be changed at any point before transaction
goes through
Justification - waiters/managers explicitly told us they wish they could flow through
different parts of the transaction sequence as they saw fit
Use plain text: avoid abbreviations as much as possible (only use standard abbreviations
e.g. size: S, M, L, etc.)
Justification - increases learnability of the system which is what new users in a fast-paced
restaurant environment need
Product lookup: support shortcuts for regular orders (i.e. burger meal), categorized
browsing, and item name search
Justification - waiters/managers expressed that unorganized menus in the system slow
down orders; item name search was not included in any of our observed POS systems

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Task Analysis
Supervisor (Owner/Manager)
One of the many specific tasks that the supervisor will need to perform is to assign a
server to specific tables. Servers wait on specific tables, and the supervisors job is to assign
them to those tables at the beginning of their respective shifts. Another of the supervisors
responsibilities is to create and edit the menu as needed. The supervisor should be able to create
and edit the restaurants menu at the POS system. Both items and their prices should be assigned
by the supervisor.

A well-designed UI would ensure that either of these tasks could be

completed quickly and simply even in the busiest of environments. Ideally, major menu edits
would be done during slow periods or during closing hours.

However, if items become

unavailable during operating hours, menu edits would need to be performed as quickly as
possible. Hierarchical task decompositions and workflow diagrams detailing these tasks can be
seen in Figures 7 and 8.
Host/Hostess
The host or hostess main responsibility is to greet and seat the customers. He or she
needs to decide where to seat the guests, and additionally, note the seating and server assignment
in the POS system to a) alert the server and b) inform the guests about who will be waiting on
them. The host or hostess typically will be interfacing with the POS system at a station in the
front of the restaurant. During busy times, the host or hostess will be performing these tasks
often. Thus, with respect to UI design, the ability to determine seating availability and location
must be able to be accomplished quickly. Once guests are seated, alerting the server must also
be completed quickly. Again, a well-designed UI will is crucial.

Hierarchical task

decompositions and workflow diagrams detailing these tasks can be seen in Figures 9 and 10.

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Supervisor Task Example 1 - Assign Tables to Servers (Fig. 7)

1) Decide how many tables per server there should be.
2) Choose servers for table clusters.
3) Go to central computer/system.
4) Click servers name.
5) Click tables for server.
6) Click Done.
7) Repeat steps 4, 5, and 6 until tables are depleted.
Fig. 7 Table Assignment Workflow Diagram

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Supervisor Task Example 2 - Create and Edit the Menu (Fig. 8)

1) Go to central computer/system.
2) Click Edit menu.
3) Select item to change, select New item, or select Remove item.
4) Select price for item (if existing item), enter item name and price (if new item), or select
item to remove.
5) Click Done when finished.
Fig. 8 Menu Creation and Editing Workflow Diagram

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Host/Hostess Task Example 1 - Assign Guests to Tables (Fig. 9)

1) Decide on a table for the guest.
2) Mark that table as seated on the computer.
3) Alert corresponding waiter.
Fig. 9 Guest Seating Workflow Diagram

Host/Hostess Task Example 2 - Retrieve Servers Name to Tell Guests (Fig. 10)
1) When selecting table for guests, look at tables server assignment.
2) Announce server name to guests.
Fig. 10 Guest Communication Workflow Diagram

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Fig. 11 Server Tasks Workflow Diagram

One of the servers primary tasks is to take an order and enter that order into
the system. The server must be able to do things such as create, edit, submit,
and close tickets.

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Reflections
A challenging part of this phase of the project was physically coordinating the group for
data gathering. With everyones different and busy schedules, it was difficult to find a time that
worked well for everyone in the group. Yet, while finding a time that suited the majority of the
group to meet was challenging, interviewing people and finding lull hours at the restaurants was
probably the hardest part of this phase of the project. We found it difficult to speak with
restaurant managers and having them allow us to observe the use of their POS systems. Many of
the people we spoke with were concerned about what their POS system provider would think and
were hesitant to show us the actual system. We were, however, surprised at how willing and
forthcoming the people that we did speak with were regarding feedback about the pros and cons
of their systems. We were greatly appreciative of their contribution to our project.
If we had this phase of the project to do over again, we would have contacted managers
of the restaurants we visited and scheduled appointments. This preparation would have allowed
our group to gather a significantly higher amount of data on restaurant managers. In addition, we
would have sought out more opportunities to find a greater variety of restaurants. We achieved
diversity in the type and genre of restaurants, but the restaurants we observed and interviewed
were primarily in the Midtown area. Gathering data from a larger variety of restaurants across
different regions of Atlanta could have helped our data gathering process significantly.
Compared to doing the legwork of interviewing and data collection, the writing and
analysis was relatively easier after we had our data. If we had more time, we would have liked
to research specific POS systems more thoroughly.