The Tea Point; A Design Student’s Journey of Mapping a Service
Having a cup of tea (or three in my case) in a restaurant, after extremely hard and distressed one and a half years, felt liberating. The luxury of going to a Tea Place again, came with a lot of gratitude and promises for never taking it for granted again.
The importance of this endeavor demanded to be mapped, experienced and taken in.
Here’s all that went into making this craving a reality-
Step 1: Convincing someone to go with me and deciding on a restaurant
Finding a buddy to spend time with, on a weekday is an uphill task. My inability to dine alone compels me to drag someone with me, whenever I have to eat out. After making puppy dog eyes at my Husband and calling friends and my sister, the husband stepped in to save the day.
The relief didn't last long as being a person who finds it hard to decide on restaurants (married to and going out with a person who’s equally bad at it) was proving to be difficult. Zomato and Google Reviews were surfed thoroughly when I suddenly remembered a friend suggesting a place a couple of years ago and decided to give it a try.
Touch Points: Phone, Zomato App, Google reviews, Friend’s experience
Step 2: Heading out and Reaching the Tea Place
Convincing a family, who suffered from COVID not long ago, to let us go out for a walk in the old city of Bhopal, seemed extremely hectic and so the reality was twisted to suit my narrative (read, lying).
And so bags were prepared for war with COVID with masks, sanitizers, sprays and sports shoes were strapped on to prepare for the 6 minute walk — as per the tried, tested and trusted app — Google Maps.
The moment I reached the street, a bike rider almost ran over my foot forcing me to realize that not every experience was missed during COVID. As my husband and I went ahead, the traffic grew even chaotic. A footpath could have saved the day but it was no where to be found on the bustling old city roads. My husband argued that, that itself is the charm of an old city life but more than traffic, it was the old beautiful buildings’ charm that made the walk enjoyable for me.
Nearing the destination, I noticed groups of men at the entrance and nearby areas of the restaurant. I felt uncomfortable and asked my Husband to check out the crowd and ambience of the restaurant. He returned assuring me that there was in fact a genuine mix of all ages and men and women inside.
Before stepping inside the restaurant, the guard took our temperature on a digital thermometer and offered us a spray of sanitizer each. It felt comforting to know that they were COVID protocol savvy.
The waiter took us to our seats and told us to place an order on counter.
Touch Points: Family, Phone, Google Maps App, Traffic/ Traffic Signal, Restaurant Guard, Digital Thermometer, Sanitizer, Waiter
Step 3: Placing and waiting for the order
The counter had a lot of people around it and their ordering system was conventional — with a token system in place. The menu was displayed on the counter.
They accepted UPI Payment and offered a QR code standee to scan from.
The payment happened easily and the automated speaker on their system announced our amount to intimate the book keepers of the payment.
We were given a bill and a token number — handwritten — and asked to wait for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile the order came in, we talked and took in the beautiful views all around us.
I thought of taking beautiful pictures for the Gram.
The peace was often disturbed by a group of teenagers (seemingly). Their table was too close to ours and they kept on using harsh and foul words, spoiling the overall experience.
Touch Points: Menu : Hardcopy Display, Order Taker, Phone, UPI App
QR Code — Hard Copy, Phone — Camera App, Confirmation of Payment
Bill — Hard Copy, Order Token Number, Social Media App — Instagram
Step 4: Receiving the Order
The order came well in time and the waiter was wearing gloves and a mask.
He checked the token number and placed our order on the table.
Everything came in disposable containers and tasted well.
The owner came to our table and personally asked if we liked the service — which felt really good. He also sent us a Hibiscus Tea on the house and that gave us immense happiness — who does not like free Chai and a little special treatment?
Four cups of hot tea down, — one on the house, it became very difficult to critically examine the service. I was left with a content heart, beautiful views all around and happy afterthoughts.
Touch Points: Token Number, Waiter, Packaging, Food, Owner
Mapping
The mapping was done in two phases:
Journaling — Details were jotted down in a diary so I could easily remember what I had to mention when I was compiling information into a map of Steps Experience and Emotions.
Actual Mapping — A lot of points from the journal proved useful and the records made it all easy to remember and process.
Takeaway
The whole experience made me think critically about the small, everyday problems that we simply ignore because we have gotten so used to them. But what was a slight discomfort for me could prove extremely dissatisfying to someone else. It is important, especially as designers to understand existing customers’ preferences and expectations and prospective customers’ wants and requirements, so that either the current design could be improved upon or completely changed accordingly.
Mapping a journey not only helps a designer or researcher to look at new perspectives but also makes them think more critically and empathetically. It helps them notice the smallest of struggles that could be faced by customers — Which proves to be extremely beneficial, given that the world is progressing towards an even more customer centric era in terms of products and services, especially in and after the time of Covid,
