Developing an E-menu App for Restaurants

Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP

Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal

A Development of Electronic Menu (E-menu) Application
for Restaurant on iPad

By Traitet Thepbandansuk, Student ID 20043132
MSc. Enterprise Systems Professional, Sheffield Hallam University

1. Introduction

Development of technology enables people to become more comfortable in most areas of our lives.
The restaurant industry is an area which has remained behind the technical advances until recently,
when the electronic menu (e-menu) started being used to improve catering services and increase
revenue. Nowadays, the e-menu is becoming popular and changing the concept of food ordering by
paper-based menus. As canbe seen in figure 1, restaurant customers are able to view the items
listed on the menu as well asbeing able toorder directly from tablets or touch-screen monitors
located on tables, which offer customers a full range of ordering choices (Azilen 2011).

This researchwill conduct aninductive approach by case study methodologyat a Thai restaurant to
develop a software prototype and evaluate users’ perceptions.This research will employ qualitative
methods, such as passive observationto gather system requirements and test the prototype, and
group interviews to evaluate users’ perceptions. To conduct this research, this paper proposes
research design divided into six main sections:Research question and objectives, Critical evaluation
of literature, Research methods, tools and techniques, Research process, Potential outcomes, and
Issues of access and ethics.

Fig.1 - E-menu on iPad tablet (Conceptic no date)

Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 1 of 13 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal


2. Research question and objectives

The aim of this research is to study that how to develop e-menu application for casual restaurants to
meet their business requirements. The research question, objectives and limitations of research are
summarised below.

2.1 Research question
How can a prototype of an electronic menu (e-menu) application be developed for the casual
dining restaurant industry to meet business requirements?

2.2 Research objectives
1. To identify the key issues relating to the development of an e-menu application for the
casual restaurant industry.
2. To investigate the system requirements, and analyse, design and develop an e-menu
prototype to meet business needs.
3. To evaluate users’ perceptions on the final prototype of the e-menu application from
stakeholders such as restaurant customers, owners and waiting staff.
4. To make recommendations regarding the development of the e-menu application based on
chosen software development methodology.

The first objective begins with the critical evaluationthe range of literature to find out the
potential issues relating to the development of the e-menu application, such as the current use
of paper-based menus and e-menusat restaurants,and the software development methodology.

The second objective is to gather system requirements to design and develop the e-menu
prototype, and produce software development documents.In addition, to deliveringsoftware to
meet business needs, Hanafiah (2007) suggests that the software development approach
should be compatible with customer requirements, project team and time of implementation.

The third and final objectives are focused on data collection and analysis. Group interviews will
be used for data collection to analyse users’ perceptions, which are expected to answer the
research question in terms of developing ane-menu application to meet business requirements,
whereas the software development processes will be reflected to make recommendations
regarding the development of thee-menu application to meet business needs.

2.3 Limitations of research
The proposed dissertation is a product-based project involving the application of software
engineering techniques to analyse, design, and develop of a piece of software (University of
Oxford no date). The software prototype for this research includes only some specific features
such as ordering food and beverages, previewing order information, calling for services, and
transferring information to the kitchen. Therefore, other functions,e.g. booking, billing and
integrating with a point of sale (POS) system, are excludedin this project.



3. Critical evaluation of literature

This critical evaluation explores potential informationto identify current knowledge and key issues
relating to development of a prototype of an e-menu application for the casual restaurant industry,
which are divided into foursections: E-menu for restaurants, Restaurant service processes, Software
usabilityand human-computer interaction (HCI), and Software development methodology and
prototyping techniques.

3.1 Electronic menu (e-menu) for restaurants

The e-menu system is a new technology for restaurant ordering solutions. The system includes
touch-screen devices installed with a piece of software to show a restaurant menu with actual
photos of the dishes (Emenunyy2012). The touch-screen devicesare not only used to display
the list of food and beverages, but also to process the restaurant services, from ordering to
payment (Jenie 2011). In general, an e-menu is used in three different ways: tablet menu,
table side touch screen menu and a touch screen menu for waiting areas, as shown in figure 2
(Emenu USA 2011; Conceptic no date). However, Chen, Lin, and Yen (2011) indicate that
interactive restaurant tabletop menuscan also be implementedby using interactive surface
technology to enlarge the size of menus and increase customer attraction.

Fig.2 - E-menu (Emenu USA 2011; Conceptic no date)



3.2 Restaurant service process

To investigate requirements of a restaurant system, logistics and information flowsare of
importance to analyse the system. As can be seen in figure 3, the dotted lines show that a
customer has to wait for a waitress in order to give the order and make payment. Therefore,
these processes can be greatly improved by using an e-menu system (Crowston, Rubleske and
Howison 2006). Furthermore, e-menu enables information to be sent directly from a table to
the bar or kitchen. Although, the e-menu system can bring several benefits, e.g. enhance the
dining experience, increasesrestaurant revenue, and reduces waiting time (Chirag 2012),they
are much more expensive than printed menus, and tend to decrease personal contact between
customers and waiting staffs (Studentwebstuff 2009).

Fig.3- Basic process flow diagram of restaurant system
(Crowston, Rubleske and Howison 2006)

3.3 Software usability and human-computer interaction (HCI)

In a software engineering perspective, the usability has been recognized as an essential key
factor to evaluate software quality (Gulati and Dubey 2012). Majid (2011) similarly describes
that effectiveness of software can be measured based on its usability in terms of a HCI design
and users' experience in using the software. Therefore, consideration of HCI is an essential
factor in delivering high usability software following business needs.

In addition, because HCI deals with the way that people interact with information on electronic
devices, a HCI design should help non-IT proficient users to use the software without
specialized IT knowledge (Edexcel 2010). For example, effective graphical user interfaces (GUIs)
on e-menus should be easy to use without a user manual. Therefore, to answer the research
question, HCI design should be considered and evaluated by both users and developers in all
development processes to produce the quality of the software prototype (Adikari 2009).



However, Hussain et al. (2012) and (Gulati and Dubey 2012) similarly suggest that successful
software development is not only associated with HCI and software usability, but is also
dependent on how software development processes fit solutions into problem areas required by
customers or businesses. The software development methodology is reviewed in the following
paragraph.

3.4 Software development methodologies and prototyping technique

There are several methodologies forsoftware development to meet customer requirements, e.g.
waterfall, Agile and RAD (Rapid Application Development). The waterfall model is a traditional
approachwhich clearly separates development projects into fourseparate stages:analysis,
design, implementation and testing (Khan et al. 2011). Although the waterfall model is an
effective way to control deadlines and outcomes in each process, it hasa high cost
whenrequirementsare changed. On the other hand,the Agile and RAD approachesare more
flexible to change requirements at any stage. With an iterative process, the requirements are
fulfilled to increase customer satisfaction (Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008).

Prototyping is an effective development techniquethat allows analyststo know how users react
to work with the prototype and how good the fit is between their needs and the prototyped
features (Kendall 2011). In addition, after the analysts get the users’ feedback, they then make
a new version to test with users again. This iterative process continues so that users are
relatively satisfied. Therefore, the final product can be developed in a short time following the
customer requirements (Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008). However, Khan et al. (2011)
claims that the RAD approach with prototyping concentrates mainly on experimenting with the
customer needs.It may results in insufficiently understanding of the overall business
requirements.



4. Research methods, tools and techniques

The objectives of this section are to describe selected research methodologies, tools and techniques
based on the research objectives in order to answer the research question, as well as to evaluate
the chosen methods by comparing with other possible alternatives.

As can be seen in table 1, there are several approaches to archive the research objectives. Some
essential methods, such as case study methodology, direct observation, group interviews, and rapid
software development (RAD), are evaluated and justified in the following paragraphs.

Table 1 - Matching objectives to methods and outcomes, and summary of chosen methodologies



4.1 Case study methodology

This study conducts an inductive research. The proposed methodology to accomplish the aim
and research objectives in this research is a case study approach. This is divided into four main
stages: design, conducting, analysis the case study evidence, and developing the conclusions
and implications (Yin 2010).

The case in this research is the development of ane-menu prototype at a selected Thai casual
dining restaurant. The type of research design is a single-case study with two analysis units,
which are the evaluation of the software development and users’ perceptions. The case study
method is not only suitable for conducting evaluation research, but is also appropriate for a
descriptive question, such as what or how. It is better than a quantitative approach in terms of
providing holistic and in-depth explanations of the behavioral problems (Kemanusiaan 2007).
However, Baxter and Jack (2008) claim that it can also be extremely time consuming.

To conduct thiscase study, qualitative approachesby direct observation and the group interview
methods are selectedto collect data.

Firstly, direct observation for requirement analysis is a straightforward activity that can provide
insight into the users and their tasks, whereas indirect observation by video recording can
create more distance between observers and users, and that by interviews onlycan be difficult
to clearly understand all problem areas (Kriwaczek 2006).

Secondly, although collecting data by a questionnaire method is cheap, convenient and has no
bias by an interviewer, evaluating users’ perceptions of the e-menu system by group interviews
enable an interviewer to make clear in unambiguous question as well as prevent missing
important data (Slack 2012a). It can also provide both detailed information and some
fascinating contextual or other information (Wisker 2008). The comparison among observation,
interview, and questionnaire methods are summarized as following table.

Table 2 - Comparison table among observation, interview and questionnaire methods
(Slack 2012b)



4.2 Software development methodology by RAD with prototyping

Regarding literature evaluation, Agile and rapid application development (RAD)are iterative
software development methodologies to react to the problems with the traditional waterfall
methodology. Agile approach starts from analysis requirements and design specifications, then
directly to code and test software, whereas the RAD approach uses a prototype to get feedback
from customers in order to enhance the prototype until the users are satisfied. This continuous
feedback loop enablesan RAD prototype to correspondexactly with customer needs (Meso and
Jain 2011). Moreover, RAD is appropriate for a small project which has a shorter delivery time,
but Agileis suitable for a largerproject (Khan et al. 2011). Finally, the RAD approach can
enhance the features of the prototype more rapidly to deliver a workable and satisfactory
system. However, using RAD with prototyping may make a system inadequate for overall
business needs if the system is accepted by only specific groups of users (Hoffer, George and
Valacich 2008).

This research proposes RAD as a development methodology to develop a prototype for several
reasons. Firstly, RAD is an incremental software development process model by using
customers’ feedback. Therefore, the quality of the prototype will be improved throughout the
life cycleas shown in figure 4 (Sommerville 2004). Secondly, Hoffer, George and Valacich (2008)
point out that system developed by the RAD model both spend shorter time and is closer to the
business needs than that by the Agile and traditional models. As a result, the prototype fulfilled
requirements can be and developed rapidly. Finally, Gantthead (2010) mentions that RAD is
more effective than Agile for a narrow project scope with a small implementation team.
Therefore, a prototype which implements only some features by one person is more suitable
forimplementation by RAD than Agile approach.

Fig.4- RAD Prototype model (Sommerville 2004)



5. Research process

There are four main research stages of this case study,which are design, conducting, analysis and
conclusion,as shown in figure 5(Yin 2010). In the second phase, a prototype is developed following
the RAD approach to analyse, design, develop and test the system (Khan et al. 2011).Data
arecollected and analysedin the conducting, analysis and conclusion stages as follows.

In the conducting stage, requirements are gathered at a selected restaurant by direct observation of
the service processes and interviews with related users such as the owner, chefs and waiters. Then,
requirements are analysed to design user interfaces and new restaurant serviceprocesses. Lastly,
requirementsare confirmed and an initial prototype is developed, respectively.

After the first prototype is developed and tested by users, feedback data is collected by direct
observation again in order to analyse and create a new prototype version. As can be seen in figure 5,
the life cycle of developingtheprototype is an iterative process repeated until theusers are satisfied.

In addition, after the final prototype is completed and tested by waiting staffs and customers,data is
then collected by group interviews from the restaurant owner and all waiting staff, whereas a non-
probability sample of around ten customer groups are selected to interview.

Fig.5- Proposed research process framework (Yin 2010; Khan et al. 2011)



In data analysis process, the approach for interpreting qualitative data is a content analysis
method.This method can analyse data for the objective and systematic description of manifest
content of communication. It is an effective technique that helps analyst reducing time and the
effect of bias (Kohlbacher 2006).

In conclusion, collecting data by direct observation in their natural habitats is an effective way to
understand business processes and requirements, especially implicit requirements. It is also an
effective way for getting feedback about the prototype to refine requirements so that it satisfies
users (Sehlhorst 2006), whereas qualitative group interviewapproach is a good method to capture
the subjective comments of participants and find out the perceptions of users (Blom 2006).

6. Potential outcomes

This research is expected to design and develop a prototype of e-menu application for a Thai casual
dining restaurant. The potential outcomescan be defined in terms of software development
artifacts,users’ perceptions and recommendations regarding development of thee-menu application.

Firstly, a prototype of e-menu application, system analysis and design documents,such asdatabase
design, use case, class diagrams, and feedback from development of the e-menu prototypecan be of
benefit to software practitioners and developers who are interested in software development,
especially for mobile application, restaurant system and RAD methodology. Furthermore, the
prototype and system design documents of this case study will be useful to produce the final
product ofane-menu system in the future.

Secondly, the summary of users’ perceptions on using e-menu application canbe information for
restaurant owners and people who would like to starta restaurant business. It can help them to
make decisionswith regards to implementation of thee-menu system to improvetheir service
efficiency and customer satisfaction. In addition, this case study can also generalize the result to
other types of restaurants, e.g. fast food restaurants, cafes and pubs,because most restaurantsuse
menus for ordering food and beverage as a basic function.



7. Issues of access and ethics

There are some ethical issues that need to be addressed in this research. Firstly, in the direct
observation process at a selected restaurant, a researcher must request formal permission to
observe activities, and must not disclose business information without permission,e.g. revenue and
number of customers.Moreover, all information has to be reviewed by the restaurant owner and
related people before submission. Finally, in the interview process, the researcher must explain the
objectives of the research to participants and request permission to record sound or video during
the interviews (Wisker 2008).

8. Conclusion

To sum up, this inductive research will employa case study approach to answer the research
question that is how can a prototype of an electronic menu (e-menu) application be developed for
the casual dining restaurant industry to meet business requirements? The case study will use
qualitative approaches i.e. direct observation to develop a software prototype, and group interviews
to evaluate users’ perceptions.Finally, this research is expected that the software prototype, system
design documents and suggestions in this development will be of benefit to software practitioners
and developers who are interested in the development of mobile applications, especially for the
restaurant industry. It is also hoped to be of a particular interest to restaurant owners who are
looking towards improving their service efficiency and customer satisfaction by using an e-menu
system.



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