Manners Maketh Man: Fast Food Innaovation

Proposed Idea: Vacant Seats Monitor Board for McDonald’s

Objective: It aims to give the customers a heads up on how many seats are taken or vacant.

Problem

McDonalds is a very famous fast-food chain. It has a lot of customers that loves their products. And by saying “a lot”, I mean “A LOT”. McDonald’s is one of the most busiest fast-food chains in the world since the customers are rushing in just to order their favorite meal. With that, it is a “no wonder” that each McDonald’s branch are easily filled and occupied.

Now, due to the reason that McDonald’s are easily filled and occupied with customers, there is this thing or scenario which we cannot avoid, probably each and every of us had experienced it. It is that when you arrived at McDonald’s and you look for a vacant seat, but you saw that all the seats were taken. You tried to wait for minutes hoping that there will be a customer who just finished eating and is about to leave, and you’re going to take over that seat. And sometimes it is annoying because you’re not the only person who’s waiting for that customer to leave.

Now to make that scenario worse, many people are rushing to order without noticing that there are no vacant seats left. You know, when they are very hungry and they went straight to the counter to order a meal, then they are left in awe when they realized that all the seats were taken. There’s nothing that they can do, but to wait and bear the brunt of it. It is a very frustrating moment for a person holding a tray full of meals standing while waiting for a customer to leave. And the sad part of it, is that when no one seems to leave their seats. It is a very sad moment, frustrating moment for a hungry customer. I can tell that due from my experience.

Solution

Now, that incident could be avoided if we already knew that that are no seats left. But, how is that possible? It will be possible if there is a monitor at the counter showing how many seats are taken and how many seats are vacant.

How does is this possible? First, the tables must be marked with numbers. And each table should have short-ranged thermal sensors placed underneath along the edges of the table facing outwards. And in the counter, there will be a monitor showing the schematic diagram of the floor, and tables in the diagram are represent by numbers, and those numbers are the numbers that are marked on the table.

It will also have the total numbers of seats, the number of taken seats and the number of vacant seats. And to distinguish the seats that are taken and the seats that are vacant, the vacant seats will be colored as green on the diagram, and the taken seats will be colored as red.

Now, whenever a person is occupying a table/seat, the thermal sensors will read the customer’s heat signature. When the thermal sensors confirmed that there are people on that table, the sensor will automatically update the schematic diagram on the monitor.

For example, a customer walked into McDonald’s and he looked up at the monitor at the counter. He saw that there are a total of 43 seats, 40 taken seats and only 3 seats are vacant cause there are only 3 seats that are colored as a green on the monitor. Those seats are on tables #4, #27 and #33. He chose to sit on table #4 cause it is the one which is near to him.

When he sits there, the thermal sensor will start to read the customer’s heat signature. After a couple of seconds, the thermal sensor will update the schematic diagram at the counter, making the table #4 colored as red, and making the total of vacant seats into two and making the total of taken seats into forty-one.

Now, when a customer leaves, the thermal sensor will detect a rapid decrease of heat signature, and it is not a thing to worry if there are people around since the thermal sensor is short-ranged. When, the thermal sensor can’t read any heat signature in front of it anymore, it will update the schematic diagram. It will turn the red-colored seats into green, and increases the number of vacant seats and decreasing the number of taken seats.

The Design

The monitor will be placed at the counter

Proposed Idea: Built-in Digital Menu on Tables

Objective: It aims to reduce the number of people falling in line at the counter.

Problem

Now, due to the reason that McDonald’s are easily filled and occupied with customers, there is this thing or scenario which we cannot avoid, probably each and every of us had experienced it. It is that when you arrived at McDonald’s and you saw that the queue is very long. All counters are occupied by a lot of hungry customers forming a very long queue.

The annoying part is when you fall in any of those lines, it will take you a long time to reach the counter. It is like you can listen to 2 – 3 full songs and notice that you barely moved at all. This is a very frustrating moment for those who are very hungry. They are left with no choice but to wait for his/her turn. Now, the worst part of it is that when it is your turn and you are done ordering your meal, you found out that all seats tables were occupied. It is a real pain in the brain.

Solution

It would be easy give that problem a solution. Instead of falling in line just to order, why not order on the table. Yes, just like other restaurants. Of course, you can also fall in line at the counter. But this idea aims to reduce the number of people falling in line at the counter.

But sets this idea apart from those restaurants who are already doing this? It is that other restaurants are using a large physical menu book that eventually will be taken away by the waiter after you order. But this idea uses no large physical menu books. There are no waiters who are awkwardly standing right next to you waiting for your order. This idea, will have the menu built-in the table itself.

The concept of this idea is that, each table in McDonald’s are built-in with a device that takes the order of the customer. But how is this possible? It is not that really hard to think how is this possible. The table itself is just a normal furniture, but it carved to fit the device which takes the orders. The table will have a number that stands for its identification. Then the carved part of the table is covered with tempered glass to protect the device and will have a sliding cover.

The device is connected to server via Wi-Fi and it has only one built-in app which is pretty much the same as the McDonald’s application.

Whenever the customer wishes to order, the customer will simply slide the cover, and it reveal the device, cased in the table and covered with tempered glass. The customer will unlock the device, and enter his/her table number. After that, the customer will be redirected to the menu. The menu will have the list of all its meals, categorized by their classes, example; burgers, pastas, fries, desserts, beverages, etc.

The customer will simply have to tap on the desired class on the menu, example, if the customer wants to order a Big Mac, he/she will just tap the “Burgers” on the menu, and it show him the list of all burgers available. Then, the customer will just have to select the Big Mac on the list and tap the button “Order This Meal”. After that, he is allowed to go back to the menu to order more meals. It also have a search button for convenience. Everytime the customer taps “Order This Meal” the price will be automatically shown on the bottom part of the screen.

Whenever the customer is done with his/her order, he/she will just tap the “Confirm Order”. After that, a message will appear showing the list of meals that the customer ordered along with their prices and the total amount.

Then, the waiter will deliver the meals you ordered with the receipt to your table and you will hand your payment to the waiter.

The Design