Understanding the Problem
Kitchen management is a complex issue. Before KDS systems, waiters passed orders to chefs on paper tickets. This option led to several errors, such as delayed cooking times, inefficient service, and lost kitchen order tickets. Eventually, the process evolved into the use of printers connected to restaurant POS systems, which printed receipts in the kitchen used by kitchen staff. In the modern restaurant business, the KDS plays an important role. It reduces human error and increases efficiency. It also provides a better inventory and time management process.
The Challenge
After the development of the POS, Curbngo asked me to design a KDS system that would integrate more seamlessly with this system with the essential functions of sending orders to the kitchen, displaying order statuses and marking items as ready.
As a result of listening to Curbngo’s store owners and line cooks, I was asked to implement the ability to sort orders by items and disable out-of-stock items and products.
Competitive Analysis
Fresh KDS: There is a fixed navigation menu on the left. The ticket length is determined by order size, and the top header is tightened with information.
Lightspeed Kitchen: Tickets are displayed in a clean grid view, showing the table name or order type, receipt ID and elapsed time inside the header.
The Process
After doing my competition analysis research I came to a few conclusions:
• Ticket needs to indicate if it’s for pickup or dine-in
• Ability to go back or undo an action quickly
• Display items relevant to their areas (bar, kitchen, salad bar)
• A way to know in advance if an item is running out
Wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes were developed to test UI consistency, ticket size, grid layout, etc.
High Fidelity Prototypes
This concept displays tickets in a masonry grid layout with large color coded sections to display order IDs, time stamps, and customer information.
In this concept, there is a sidebar menu and a cleaner interface with color highlighting to identify order types and buttons. Items in tickets are separated to avoid accidental touches, and the search bar is fixed above all tickets for easy use.
Initial Animated Prototypes
The purpose of this video demo is to demonstrate how the container handles overflow content within a ticket. Additionally, it illustrates how content rearranges when switched to items view from orders view.
The video (at 1.5x speed) shows how tickets are stacked horizontally and then vertically (masonry style) as they enter the station. Orders expand as new items are added and turn red to notify the user.
Latest KDS Version
1. The clip above shows how a user can quickly switch between different kitchen stations: pizza, sushi, packer, and all.
This clip shows when the user taps on each order ticket to view more information. Also when the user switches from “orders” to “items” view and from active to completed orders.
The Result
The first version of the KDS was tested and installed in a store in March 2022. Over the past six months, Curbngo’s KDS has been installed in 25 stores. Store owners are reporting immediate improvements to operations and efficiency, which has led to KDS becoming the most popular Curbngo product.
KDS in-store images
