Case Statement
One of New York City’s most iconic and popular destinations, attracting over 9 million visitors each year. Located in the former Nabisco cookie factory, this food hall is home to dozens of diverse vendors offering everything from tacos to gelato.
However, despite its significance as a landmark and culinary hotspot, Chelsea Market’s digital presence and capabilities lag behind.
This document examines opportunities to enhance the customer experience through technology integrations that leverage artificial intelligence and cross-vendor collaboration.
Role: UX-XR Designer - AI trainer
Time Frame: 10-2023 02-2024
Case Study: User Experience - Extended Reality
Location: New York City
Academic/Press Research
These sources provided valuable insights into user behaviors, market trends, and technological advancements. By analyzing diverse perspectives and gathering data from reputable sources, I gained a comprehensive understanding of user needs and preferences, as well as emerging opportunities in the market.
User Research
User research included semistructured interviews and app interaction observations with three users of varying profiles. Insights from these sessions informed evidence-based development aligned with industry best practices.
AN APP FOR THE CHELSEA MARKET AND ITS USERS
User Experience:
Utilizing XR and AI technologies, the user experience at Chelsea Market is transformed into a seamless journey of discovery and satisfaction. With XR, users receive personalized recommendations tailored to their taste preferences, dietary needs, and culinary interests, all presented in an intuitive and engaging interface. The AI-driven assistance ensures users can effortlessly navigate menus, make informed choices, and enjoy a delightful culinary exploration within the market's vibrant ecosystem.
Utilizing XR and AI technologies, the user experience at Chelsea Market is transformed into a seamless journey of discovery and satisfaction. With XR, users receive personalized recommendations tailored to their taste preferences, dietary needs, and culinary interests, all presented in an intuitive and engaging interface. The AI-driven assistance ensures users can effortlessly navigate menus, make informed choices, and enjoy a delightful culinary exploration within the market's vibrant ecosystem.
Vendor Empowerment:
For vendors within Chelsea Market, the integration of XR and AI opens doors to unprecedented opportunities for business growth and collaboration. Through AI-driven data analytics, vendors gain invaluable insights into consumer behavior, allowing them to optimize offerings, streamline operations, and drive revenue. The unified app platform fosters a spirit of cooperation among vendors, enabling joint promotions, cross-selling initiatives, and strategic alliances to enhance the overall market experience and cultivate a thriving marketplace community.
For vendors within Chelsea Market, the integration of XR and AI opens doors to unprecedented opportunities for business growth and collaboration. Through AI-driven data analytics, vendors gain invaluable insights into consumer behavior, allowing them to optimize offerings, streamline operations, and drive revenue. The unified app platform fosters a spirit of cooperation among vendors, enabling joint promotions, cross-selling initiatives, and strategic alliances to enhance the overall market experience and cultivate a thriving marketplace community.
User personas and pain points
- Difficulty in accessing menus amidst the bustling environment of Chelsea Market.
- Crowded and text-heavy app interface complicating navigation and readability.
- Lack of efficient search and filter options for specific categories and criteria.
User flow
Based on the research findings, the user flow was strategically crafted to encompass three key functions aimed at facilitating the user's journey of discovering and purchasing food:
Interactive Restaurant Menus: Users are provided with interactive menus for seamless browsing and selection of food items.
Tailored Filtering System: A customized filtering system is integrated, focusing on the most frequently accessed categories, to streamline the search process for users.
AI Assistant: An AI-powered assistant is incorporated to offer personalized guidance and assistance throughout the user's interaction, enhancing the overall experience and efficiency of the task.
AI Implementation: Information gathering and classification
To develop an AI-powered app it is necessary to gather, organize, and classify the information the Bot will be fed with. To do so I crawled the Restaurant's websites and built a database with specific categories and classifications.
Spreadsheet link
BOT TRAINING AND FINE TUNNING
AI serves as a highly effective user interface, offering immense potential when tailored to user preferences and expectations.
After developing a prototype chatbot using Claude AI, I identified two primary modes of user interaction:
Conversational Queries: Certain users seek detailed and specific information about menu items, expecting tailored restaurant or dish recommendations along with informative descriptions.
Menu Navigation: Conversely, some users prefer a quick and efficient means to locate specific menu categories. In this scenario, concise responses presenting relevant menu options are essential for a streamlined user experience.
The AI Bot is still being trained.
SKETCH
When finding where and how to place a new user interface for it to be intuitive and accessible the best option is testing.
This design went into many sketches to identify what was the best option to apply all the new functionalities, including the AI assistant.
THE INTERFACE
In response to user behavior insights, our interface prioritizes intuitive search options, such as Meal Type and Country of Origin, streamlining the browsing experience. Users can also engage with an AI assistant for quick searches or personalized recommendations.
Ordering is made effortless, allowing users to add items from multiple restaurants and complete a unified payment process. Beyond static menus, our digital interface offers dynamic dish details, including ingredients, nutrients, and user comments. By understanding user preferences, we foster vendor collaboration and community engagement, ensuring a seamless and enriching culinary experience.
PROTOTYPE
After undergoing three rounds of user testing and implementing adjustments in color, size, and wording, the project culminated in its final version defined by minimalism, with a focus on highlighting the products and delivering concise yet precise information. Achieving this outcome necessitated extensive work on refining the database, product classification, and training the AI assistant. Despite the complexity behind the scenes, the app successfully delivers tailored and accurate information to users in an intuitive and user-friendly manner.
Caveat: Since there is no shared graphic language among the Chelsea Market vendors, I opted to use dummy icons instead of different icons or images, considering variations in sizes, resolutions, and types.
