Concept

UI

UX

Itsu Kiosk Experience Improvements

Itsu is a UK-based fast-casual restaurant brand focused on healthy, Asian-inspired food. In many locations, self-service kiosks are the primary way for customers to place orders - creating a clear and efficient kiosk journey is therefore critical, not just for user experience, but for shop throughput and revenue. This project examines how I implemented targeted UI interventions to drive real commercial benefits.
Scope, problem and approach
In this project, I focused on improving the kiosk ordering journey by:
  1. Reducing dwell time
  2. Increasing engagement with the loyalty scheme
  3. Increasing basket sizes
Many of the key interactions on the kiosk were not designed with customer behaviour in mind. I ran usability tests and analysed kiosk usage metrics to identify several issues facing customers. My findings showed that the navigation system made it difficult for customers to find and select menu items, loyalty was buried within the payment flow and frequently missed, and upsell prompts were often ignored. This led to friction in the ordering process and missed commercial opportunities.
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To fix this, I focused on how each of these issues could be solved through targeted UI interventions. I ideated, designed, and prototyped these solutions, then worked with a development team to implement these across the kiosk journey.
Reducing dwell time
The problem: Customers struggled to find menu items quickly, particularly when browsing menu pages with lots of items. Many didn’t realise the list could be scrolled, meaning items further down were often missed. This led to customers spending a long time interacting with the kiosk, reducing shop throughput.
My solution:
  1. Where scrolling was required, affordances were introduced to make this clearer. Scroll bar thickness was increased, and the grid was resized to allow items to ‘peek’ up from the bottom, suggesting to users that more items lay below the fold.
  2. Introduced nested menu structures to make browsing more intuitive and reduce the need to scroll in the first place.
  3. Reorganised menu categories to prioritise popular items.
  4. Updated the screensaver to reduce steps and streamline the start of the ordering flow.
Before (left) and after (right) of a typical menu page. The scroll bar has been widened and grid layout has been amended to aid scrolling. In the left-hand navigation, categories have been reorganised to prioritise more popular menu items.
Typical menu page before (left) and after (centre, right). New version features 'nested' product listings, removing the need to scroll. When tapped, nests expand into a full page selector where product variant can be picked.
Screensaver/entry flow before (left, centre) and after (right). By combining the screensaver with the dining preference screen, the ordering flow is reduced by one step.
The impact: 10% reduction in dwell time, improving ordering speed and throughput during peak periods.
Increasing loyalty engagement
The problem: The loyalty scheme was only surfaced on the checkout screen, hidden within a low-visibility button. As a result, many customers missed the opportunity to scan their app, and therefore did not collect loyalty points or claim loyalty rewards - leading to reduced engagement with the scheme and increased customer service contacts post-transaction.
My solution:
  1. Allowed users to scan their app at any point in the journey, and introduced clear prompts on the menu screen to encourage this.
  2. Redesigned the payment screen, making loyalty more prominent.
  3. Improved visibility of available rewards once scanned, reinforcing value of the scheme.
Loyalty scanning process before intervention. At checkout (left), user taps button on bottom right hand side to activate loyalty scanning. Once card is scanned, rewards are available for selection (right).
Loyalty scanning process after intervention. At checkout (left), user can now scan without needing to press a button. App messaging is larger and clearer. Once card is scanned (right), rewards are available for selection in the same region of the screen.
The impact: 16% increase in loyalty engagement at the kiosk.
Increasing basket size
The problem: Basket size increase is driven mostly through the upsell pop-up, which suggests a single and often irrelevant menu item, making it easy for users to dismiss.
My solution:
  1. Redesigned the upsell to present three options instead of one.
  2. Improved the item selection strategy to increase product relevance.
  3. Simplified the UI for quick item selection.
Upsell pop-up before (left) and after (right). New upsell enables up three products to be selected, with amended selection UI.
The impact: 3% increase in orders including an upsell.
Impact
These targeted changes delivered measurable improvements across key metrics. Small changes at critical points in the journey combined to create a faster, clearer, and more effective ordering experience.

10%

dwell time reduction

16%

loyalty usage increase

3%

upsold orders increase

UI shots
Designing for a busy, in-store environment meant prioritising speed and clarity to deliver real efficiency gains. My changes had a measurable impact at scale, but also highlighted technical constraints - for example, while expanding to a three-item upsell improved performance, it still relies on static item suggestions rather than personalised recommendations. Future iterations could focus on more dynamic upsell logic, alongside continued refinement of navigation and loyalty visibility.

Interested in working together?
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