Leopolds
Leopold's Café App is a mobile ordering and reservation platform designed for a local café-bar in Madison, WI. It allows users to pre-order drinks or food, choose pickup or delivery, and reserve tables—offering a seamless experience for both daytime coffee lovers and evening bar-goers.
Project type: End-to-End Mobile Application
Roles: Sole UX/UI Designer
Industry: Food
Tools: Figma, Illustrator, FigJam
Duration: September 2024 – November 2024 (12 weeks)
Leopold's Café App Animation
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VIEW PROTOTYPE
Problem Statement
At Leopold’s, customers often face long lines and trouble reserving tables, disrupting the experience for both coffee drinkers and evening bar-goers.
Goal
The Leopold’s app aims to make your visit seamless—order ahead, choose pickup or delivery, and reserve a table without the wait.
Table of Contents
01 Empathize
02 Define
03 Ideate
04 Design
05 Test / Final Design
01 Empathize
User Interviews & Insights
I interviewed six users and found common pain points like unclear menus, delivery delays, and limited customization. Users wanted mobile ordering, flexible payments, and the ability to reserve tables— highlighting the need for a more seamless experience.
Competitive Analysis
Auditing six food and drink apps revealed best practices and feature gaps. These insights guided improvements in navigation, order customization, and integrated reservations for a more user-friendly design.
Feature by Feature comparative analysis
Comparative Analysis
02 Define
Defining the Problem & Personas
User research revealed key issues: long wait times, unclear navigation, and difficulty reserving tables. To address this, I created four personas representing core customer types, helping guide design decisions around real user needs and behaviors.
Persona 1 Persona 2 Persona 3 Persona 4
User Journey Mapping, User Flow & App Structure
Journey maps exposed shared frustrations and inspired the table reservation feature. I then mapped the full user flow and defined the app’s information architecture, organizing it into four clear sections—Home, Order, Cart, and Reserve-to support smooth navigation and efficient task completion.
User Flow
User Flow Diagram
03 Ideate

Sketching &
Concept Development

I started with paper wireframes to explore layout ideas for ordering, customization, and table reservations. This helped prioritize key features like simplified navigation and the table reservation based on user pain points.

Digital Wireframes &
Feature Planning

I then created digital wireframes to map out user flows and structure. Features like scrollable menus and clear reservation options were designed to align with user needs before moving into testing.

Wireframe sketches
04 Design

High-Fidelity Prototyping

After finalizing core features through wireframes, I moved into high-fidelity prototyping using Figma. These screens brought the app to life with full visuals and interactions that reflected Leopold’s dual identity as both a café and a bar. I designed detailed mockups for each stage of the user journey—from login and ordering to checkout and table reservation—ensuring every screen was intuitive and aligned with user needs.

High-fidelity prototype screenshot
05 Test/Final Design

Usability Testing &
Key Findings

With the prototype complete, I conducted two rounds of usability testing to uncover layout and navigation issues. Users struggled with the hamburger menu, dense menu layout, and unclear reservation flow. Based on this feedback, I removed the hamburger menu in favor of a search bar, simplified the menu into horizontally scrollable rows, and refined the bottom navigation for easier access to key actions.

UI Redesign &
Style Guide Refresh

To better align with user expectations, I overhauled the UI and introduced a cleaner, more intuitive design. I also developed a new style guide that focused on simplicity, clarity, and ease of use— ensuring a visually cohesive and user-friendly experience throughout the app.

Order Process Animation

Order & Search Bar

User testing revealed that the order screen needed to be more efficient and personalized. Users wanted quick access to favorites and previous orders, as well as a search bar to easily find items—replacing the hamburger menu for a more streamlined experience.

Home Screen Animation

Home Screen

User interviews and testing revealed a desire for more engagement, leading to the addition of a home screen point system. Users earn points for ordering, reserving, and referrals—encouraging repeat use and loyalty.

Table Reservation Animation

Table Reservation

Testing also revealed the need to specify start and end times for table reservations; furthermore, a simpler UI using numeric table labels rather than the café’s floorplan proved far more navigable for users.

Style Guide

Style Guide Diagram
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VIEW TAKOMO CASE STUDY
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