allO.

allO streamlines all essential operational tasks, freeing up time for owners to focus on what counts: giving customers an unforgettable dining experience and boosting customer satisfaction. Sounds catch-phrase-y, but that's it.

Great success.

Since partnering with allO, they have been on fire! This partnership lifted off allO. We're talking sales so hot they make a jalapeño look like a bell pepper! And the best part? Restaurants and customers both love it.

But the secret ingredient is a little something called customer feedback. We're leveraging their frank input to improve allO and make it even more, bear with me, finger-licking good. And trust us, the proof is in the pudding (or the pizza, pasta, dumplings, tacos, or whatever restaurants serve up).

Target audience.

From the restaurant owners who inherited their business from previous generations to the young interns who are just getting started, allO has to cover a lot of ground. Friendly for individuals at all levels of experience, expertise, and age. Flexible and versatile enough to cater to each restaurant's unique needs and requirements.

After serious sleuthing, we uncovered a shocking truth about the restaurant industry – some are stuck in the technological dark ages! Ancient devices, archaic software, and enough wires to make an electrician cringe.

We also noticed a stressful, fast-paced environment paired with a constant back-and-forth frenzy of stressful staff, running incessantly between tables, POS, counter, and kitchen. If anything, allO couldn't be one extra anxiety-provoking element. We had to design it as straightforward, easy-to-use, and device-proof as we possibly could. A stress reliever.

Goals and challenges.

When allO came to us, they had a simple request – make allO the best restaurant management system on the market. We're not ones to shy away from a challenge. We dug deep. We analysed every nook and cranny of the competition, the market, and the restaurants, to find areas for growth and improvement. As it turned out, it wasn't hard. Some competitors are stuck in the 90s, with no hope of ever breaking free from their prehistoric software. The opportunity was clear: fresher design, newer tech.

We had one problem, though: restaurants are used to it. Regardless of our ability to build the best management system, the underlying reactionary trait of the human being would be hard to counter. Part of this is due to reminiscing technological illiteracy. Part due to being in the comfort zone. And this explains the chaotic and confusing interfaces of the competition.

With this came a real challenge.

How can we make allO so easy to use to the point where there's a minimal learning curve and, as a result, less friction to transition to? The added value had to be unquestionably obvious. We had to strike the perfect balance between usability, recognisability, freshness, and comfort.

Let's see what we came up with.

Love at first sight.

We saw a sad, sad sight as we peered into the depths of our competitors' offerings. We knew we had to do better. We did.

We designed a seamless onboarding with minimal steps, paired with test data and tutorial videos. Often, restaurants actually reached out to allO wondering if they had completed the entire onboarding. They expected more steps. We gave them less.

The terminal is the centre of action.

The POS can make or break a service. More time at it, less time with the customers. In busy restaurants, it snowballs into chaos in a finger snap. A well-done terminal boosts a smooth operation, whereas a questionable one shatters a restaurant into pieces.

At allO the terminal had to be like a non-stick pan: frictionless, prioritising the most critical information at any given time. We didn't want the screen to resemble a cluttered desktop piled high with irrelevant information and unattended orders. In other words, we created a contextual POS that adapts to the status of the service.

We separated the information into panels. This made it easier for restaurant staff to focus on what mattered most without feeling like they were drowning in chaos.

The key to multifunctionality.

allO isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. It is designed to be versatile, with a grouping system that rearranges information according to the waiter's preferences and the restaurant's needs. Besides filtering, waiters can group orders by item, customer, or course. Allowing for some serious efficiency, even in the craziest of environments, when orders are coming in flaming fast.

Payment splitting.

Let's face it, when it comes to paying at a restaurant, everyone's got their own payment preferences. Cash, cards, mobile payments, the whole lot. And then some insist on splitting the bill to the last penny with their five friends.

allO's versatile checkout process allows waiters to split bills by item, equal parts, or even specific amounts, all while keeping tabs on tips, discounts, and receipts printing. This enables customers to pay how they prefer, making the payment process seamless and hassle-free both for waiters and customers.

Rush Mode.

The brains of those who work in restaurants should be studied. These warriors remember an absurd amount of information, from complex orders to customers' quirky preferences, under so much pressure. We wonder how they haven't developed superpowers yet!

This is why Rush Mode came about. It's like a timeout for the kitchen – a chance to catch their breath, calm their nerves, and take a quick power nap. Okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the point. With allO's Rush Mode, the kitchen can handle even the busiest rushes without breaking a sweat.

“Quick and easy” interactions.

Streamlining the user experience has always been a priority when designing allO. However, after user feedback, we realised that some of the interactions we created were not as quick and easy as we had anticipated.

We thought a swiping gesture to change the order status would revolutionise the ordering process, speeding it up. It turns out restaurant staff can memorise hundreds of item codes, but when it comes to interacting with a device, they prefer the good old-fashioned push of a button. Let's just say that swiping turned out to be rather useless.

Different view modes for different needs.

Restaurants come in all shapes and sizes, just like their tables. And when it comes to managing those tables, there's no one-size-fits-all approach. We designed allO to give restaurant staff the power to choose their preferred table view, allowing them to organise, manage, and view their rooms in whichever way they are more comfortable.

Feeling traditional? The tile view is perfect for you. Prefer a more visual notion of the space? Floorplan view it is. And if you're all about schedules, the timeline view is the way to go.

But wait, there's more! We also added the ability for waiters to customise the properties displayed for each table, so they can see everything they need to know at a glance.

It takes two to tango.

Any restaurant depends on the dance between customers and staff.

Customers want their orders to be taken like clockwork and be served perfectly. On the flip side, staff has to account for all customers in an equally welcoming fashion. But how do you ensure each customer gets a personalised experience without sacrificing efficiency?

We found the answer: allowing customers not only to book their tables but also to place their dine-in orders in advance. To preserve the personal touch, allO enables restaurants to add customer notes and tags, see table history, and receive notifications of upcoming reservations. It's like having a personal assistant for every table, without needing a fancy suit or a British accent.

Making data intelligible. And useful.

Most restaurants are still run in a very amateur fashion. Dishes, opening hours, stock, or anything, are still decided by the gut. There's no data-drivenness because data isn't available or isn't intelligible. We set ourselves to change that.

We designed reports beautifully and easy to understand. We wanted to empower restaurant owners to own their data and control their inventory, staff performance, and sales data, among other metrics. Therefore enabling them to make better decisions. To take their business to a whole new level.

Conclusion.

Designing allO allowed us to address many common issues restaurant owners and staff face. We had to ensure all the ingredients worked together seamlessly to serve a delicious dining experience.

With an intuitive, efficient, and flexible system, allO is the perfect garçon, making it easier for restaurants to manage their operations. And just like a good chef who never stops improving their recipes, we keep gathering user feedback to make allO even better. Stay tuned.