Saturday, December 12, 2009

Hungry Geek - Reviewing Chipotle’s iPhone App

Earlier this year, I discovered Chipotle Mexican Grill, a wonderful restaurant with a bare-bones menu, great interior design, and most of all, great food. As soon as I learned about their iPhone app, I knew I'd have to try it out.

After a month passed of me having the app on my phone and not taking advantage of it's time-saving graces, I decided to take the plunge a little over a week ago. A friend of mine (and a client) had set up a lunch meeting and settled on Chipotle as the meeting place. This was the perfect time to test out the app. Not only could I test out the before-mentioned elements, I could add a second order to the app, not only testing it's ability to keep items straight, but to also test the interaction with the restaurant once we got there.

An in-app experience
With my stomach and taste buds anticipating the research reward that lie ahead, I launched the app. The interface was very intuitive, giving me options to view the menu, to place an order, find the nearest location and learn more about the company. Having been there before, I knew what I wanted, but looked through the menu anyway. When I found my menu item of choice, I pressed the "order" button. I expected to have my selection carry through to the next phase of the process. This, however, wasn't the case. I still needed to make a menu selection from within the "order" section of the app. I'm holding out hope that this will be corrected in a future version.

From that point on, the process was very smooth and intuitive, which is a great thing if you're looking to put burrito to mouth in a short amount of time. After I had set up my order, I put together the order for my friend and proceeded to the checkout.

And how will you be paying today?
At this point of the lunch selection process, I had two lingering questions about the remainder of this process. The first question dealt with payment. I was hoping that I would be able to pay for everything from within the app, although paying in person wouldn't be the end of the world (it would just gum up the entire process). My first question was quickly answered when I was asked for my CC info. One down, one to go.

I'm here to pick up an iOrder.
After a short drive, we were at the restaurant, ready to experience the second leg of the experiment. My biggest concern now, was how cumbersome the in-store experience was going to be. One of the last messages in the checkout process informed me that I could go right to the checkout to pick up my order. That's when my overly-nice nature kicked in and said "what about all of the other equally hungry people that I'll be cutting in front of?".

As it turned out, there weren't that many people in line that day, so by the time I got close enough to the front counter, I would have been just as well off ordering in person. Regardless, I indicated that I was there to pick up an iPhone order, and was then instructed to wait by the cash register. A minute (less actually) later, my order came out, neatly bagged and ready to go.

Takeout takeaways
It wouldn't be a true experiment if I didn't learn something, so here's my breakdown:

• This app is truly intended for larger, takeout situations.


• While there were a few hiccups in the ordering flow, the overall UX from the app was smart and enjoyable.


• While the "interface" with the restaraunt itself was good, it could be a bit better. Maybe include an iPhone order line or "outside order" line.


• Chipotle makes a darn good burrito.