A Cafe Redesign
To create a unique, welcoming, and sustainable cafe environment that enables its staff to work efficiently and provides its users with a relaxing and memorable experience.
Manndrake
Type
Customer Experience, Cafe Renovation
Role
Design Strategist
Software
Adobe Suite, PowerPoint
Discovery
Context
Provide a renovation strategy for the Mann Library cafe with increased operation efficiency and enhanced customer experience.
Challenge Identification
i. Observation & Behavioral Mapping
We conducted behavioral mapping sessions during operation hours to understand how different user groups navigated through space.
Typical Customer Journey
Kitchen
Coolers
Bakery Counter
Cashier
Pick-up
Utensil
Lounge
Cafe Floor Plan
Scale: NTS
Entrance/Exit
Crowding
Coolers
Typical Staff Journey
Freezers
Utensil
Lounge
Food-prep
Sink
Beverage Cashier
Coolers
Kitchen Exit to Storage
Cafe Floor Plan
Scale: NTS
Crowding
Coolers
1. Circulation
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The customer journey path is convoluted and confusing, creating congestion during peak hours, discouraging purchases, and creating frustration.
2. Spatial Utilization
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The lounge area is under-utilized, with 4-seat tables occupied by 1-2 people at a time.
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While coolers are located on both the east and west sides of the room, the east-side coolers are rarely used.
1. Lack of Space
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During peak hours, the crowded food prep area creates safety hazards with high oven usage.
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The shared beverage and cashier space also becomes crowded, hindering staff productivity.
2. Circulation
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It is difficult to move around the kitchen without disrupting employee workflows.
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East-side coolers, located away from storage in a crowded area, are challenging to refill.
ii. Customer Surveys
A QR code for the survey was posted on the Cafe bulletin board, encouraging voluntary participation. We received over 50 responses; respondents include students, alumni, faculty, and staff. The survey provided insights into user preferences, from current experiences to hopes and visions for the renovation.
When do you usually visit the cafe?
How many people do you normally go to the cafe with?
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What is your typical purchase?
Do you sit in the cafe?
If you ever sit in the cafe, how long do you typically stay for?
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Most people visit the cafe in the afternoon (12 pm-4 pm), alone, and spend about 0-30 min. The most common purchases are hot food and coffee.
These findings are consistent with our observations, underlining the importance of effective circulation in the food-prep areas and small, flexible sitting arrangements for small parties and short durations.
User feedback and vision for renovation:
1. Aesthetics
Hope for a more modern and better-illuminated space
2. Circulation
Minimize queuing confusion and congestion
3. Spatial arrangement
Have a more appropriate and comfortable seating arrangement.
“The checkout station makes it hard to get around”
“The walls are very blue...they can be more interesting”
“The space can be more modern and inviting”
“It’d be nice to make the space feel more spacious”
“It’s not always clear where the line is”
“The seating set-up can be improved to help with flow”
iii. Staff Interviews
To better understand the staff's routines, needs, and wants, we interviewed two student workers and two full-time staff with ten years of experience.
Opening the window disrupts work flows, creating safety hazards
“The barista area gets a lot of congestion.”
1. Lack of space
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More freezers and ovens are needed to increase productivity: the current lack of freezers results in more trips to the inventory downstairs to get ingredients, reducing efficiency.
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A larger prep table is necessary to increase staff efficiency and meet customer demands.
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Storage areas need to promote effective organization to optimize space usage.
“It would be nice to have more freezers and ovens"
“The prep-table is too small, disrupting our workflows"
2. Circulation
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The space needs to prevent congestion for more efficient workflows (i.e. partition between coffee and food-prep area)
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The oven area needs better circulation to prevent safety hazards
In addition to findings that echo our observation, we learned that the cafe is hitting record highs (up to 1,100 people a day) and looking to expand, requiring enhanced work efficiencies to meet the growing demand.
Summary of Findings
Current Issue
1. Congestion
Insufficient food-prep and circulation space pose safety hazards and reduce staff efficiency.
Opportunity
Spatial Efficency
Implication
A more efficient spatial design will enable the cafe to operate at its full capacity and support its staff in increasing productivity.
2. Confusion
The current layout creates congestion and confusing queues, increasing customer frustration.
Circulation Design
An effective circulation will provide users with better, more at-ease experiences and encourage customers to make purchases and come back in the future, increasing profits in the long run.
3. Underutilization
The seating area is underutilized due to inappropriate seating arrangements.
Shaping Experience
Designing a more appropriate seating lounge and establishing a stronger brand will allow people to enjoy and take full advantage of the space.
Recommendations
Adjacency Diagram
We began with spatial programming to improve spatial efficiency, studying ways to optimize the customer and staff flows in space. Notable relations include retail space designed on the path of the queue to encourage purchases and adjacency between cooler, storage, meal prep, and pickup to minimize staff travel distance and maximize efficiency.
Spatial Recommendations
The new design supports clear and distinct circulations for staff and customers, with clear divisions of spaces and a one-line procession delineated by the custom countertop, encouraging purchases while reducing confusion and congestion.
Coolers
Snack Display
Cashier
Pick-up
Utensil
Cafe Floor Plan
Scale: NTS
Customer Area
Staff Area
Appliance & Storage
Moss Logo
Plant
Divider
Hanging Plants
Retail Display
Custom Bench
Cafe Elevation
Scale: NTS
Floor finishes and ceiling design delineate the space, while the wallpaper echoes the organic yet modern spatial experience.
Customers flow through the space in a single-line procession. Along the way, they are greeted with organic and welcoming wooden material and a wide selection of foods.
Plant dividers and acoustic ceiling panels are incorporated to increase sound absorption while making the space more organic and playful to create a more memorable experience.