There has been a great proliferation of food trailers in Austin, among those are fine drip coffee and espresso shops that seemed to have overlooked some fundamental service design principles (if there are such a thing given the infancy of the discipline, my guess is most restauranteurs just call it “good service”). And for the last month I’ve been traveling between frog’s Austin and San Francisco offices — two cities sporting some fine baristas. No doubt, the product is good, but I’ve noticed a pattern of confusing and time-consuming interactions that must be hitting their bottom line. These moments are usually plagued by troubling environment and space design. Often the trailers or shops are ad hoc corners of something else — a parking lot, an alley, a corner of a restaurant — that just aren’t designed to support the kind of traffic they get. Add to this the fact that the baristas don’t seem to be schooled in the art of managing people in line; they can make a great cup of coffee but when it comes to setting other expectations, forget it.
Here are some observations about what we call “touch points” in the design world. Touch points are the decisive moments where a customer and a business intersect and they define the qualities of the overall experience that a customer has between the barista, the product, and the place itself.
What kind of coffee do you have? The counter and the fine machines that make this brew are often featured and tell the most stories about what is being served in addition to a barista making a suggestion (menus are sparse and handwritten, adding to the craft of the product). Customers are curious, and the conversations that occur stack up. While the aphorism “Good things come to those that wait” certainly applies in this situation, the wait times can drive regulars away (only on rare occasions do I frequent my own favorite place in Austin). How can these coffee joints design their service to support the loyal customers and keep them coming back?
Where does the line start? This is one of the most baffling conditions I’ve witnessed in both cities. Inside and outside, there are not so much “lines” as “crowds” and to the approaching customer it’s baffling. Choose the wrong crowd to associate with and you might find yourself not “waiting” for anything at all.
Do I pay now or pay later? These joints don’t employ a fleet of folks at your service. The one that takes your order is the one that makes it and also the one that rings you up. They need to get right to work on your coffee because it’s no ordinary cup of joe. I've paid before, during, and after I placed my order and during each time the fear of taking off without paying is pretty high. Plus, I often find myself wondering of they remember that I didn't pay when I originally ordered.
Where should I wait? Time to get lost in the crowd again. No doubt the conversation can be riveting (like the French guy getting taken advantage by his landlord because he just can’t master English enough to figure out the transactional concept) but does my location send a strong enough signal to the barista that I’m waiting for my coffee? And will I be able to find my way through this throng to get that small, hot, and delicate brew, and then fight my way out?
I need a lid. And because I need to circumnavigate the cluster and typically walk a couple blocks, I’ll need some protection. Aside from the coffee, everything else is usually an afterthought. The self-serv station is a hodge-podge of lids, napkins, sweeteners, cream, flyers, notices, menus, and of course, other people. And it’s frequently a mess, which makes me question the five dollar drip that I just paid for (at least I think I paid for it).
So, we love the product, but getting it is a bit of an issue. Just a few small design moves can orchestrate the flow of services a little better, message the sequence of events, and perhaps remove that little voice that tells me I don’t have the time for this.
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