El Patio Beer-Company
(Class Project)
El Patio was a solo class project designed to solve a real problem familiar to anyone who's been to a busy bar or restaurant: the friction of ordering, managing a tab, and paying without flagging down staff. The project covered the full design spectrum — app, mobile web, tablet, and desktop — tested and iterated with classmates and an instructor.
The area that demanded the most iteration was menu browsing. Early versions leaned heavily on established patterns — the layout drew initial inspiration from food delivery apps like Uber Eats. Through continued feedback and iteration, I moved away from that reference and developed a distinct presentation using pop-ups to surface item details, keeping the browsing experience cleaner and more fitting for a bar environment where atmosphere and speed matter equally.
I also designed the brand identity from scratch, including the logo — bringing my graphic design background directly into the UX work to ensure the visual experience felt cohesive, not like a generic template dropped onto a brewery.
Logo
Project Overview
Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator
Role: UX Designer
The problem:
“El Patio” is a beer-garden located in Miami, they would like to implement and app that allows customer order food and beverage.
The goal:
Create an user-friendly app and a responsive website that allow user order and pay tabs on their phone.
User Research
User Research Summary
The user research highlights a collective desire for an Website that seamlessly integrates the essential functionalities of a beer garden experience. Users prioritize convenience, efficiency, customization, and a user-friendly interface. The key features desired are comprehensive menu information, easy ordering processes, online tab management and payment, reservation capabilities, and the ability to order food for pickup. Moreover, privacy and security in handling personal and payment information remain critical for user trust and adoption. The ideal app would balance these elements to cater to the diverse preferences and needs of beer garden patrons, ultimately enhancing their overall experience.
User Research Pain Points
1. IA: Difficulty with menu information and specifications as well as unreliable photographies of products
2. Accessibility: Complicated user flow for ordering through a browser
3. Cyber Security: Data security unreliable for online payments
4. Waiting Times: Long waiting periods from order to delivery
Personas
Customer journey map
Sitemap
Lo-Fi Prototypes
Hi-Fi Prototypes
Going Forward
Impact:
The project reinforced a lesson that's easy to overlook: starting from a familiar pattern isn't a weakness, but staying there is. The most meaningful design growth happened when I moved past the reference and found a solution that actually fit the specific context — a beer garden, not a delivery app. El Patio was also my first project in Figma. Coming from Adobe tools, the transition came naturally — many commands translated directly — and within this single project I was already working across components, multi-device prototypes, and interactive flows.
What I Learned:
I've gained valuable insights into Figma, discovering ways to simplify the prototyping process and enhancing my understanding of user research. The realization that individual opinions may not be representative emphasizes the significance of listening to users and adopting a user-centered design approach.
