Optimizing check management workflows

There were no role-based permissions on the POS devices, meaning that any employee could perform all actions available. There are sensitive check editing actions that not all employees should have access to perform. I made a chart to understand who should be able to perform which actions when editing.

I tested two versions of the experience with current and former restaurant employees, including servers, bartenders, and managers to get feedback from employees with different levels of device permissions. Version A was a stepper experience through each update and version B was inline editing for all functionality. Participants were asked to complete six tasks that included updating server assigned, diner count, changing tables, combining checks two different ways, and adding a note. The majority of participants preferred version A, the stepper experience, despite the increased number of taps to complete an action. However, users had difficulty finding the option to add and edit notes, and they didn’t like landing back on the check details screen after making an update. Multiple participants also tried tapping directly on the check header information to edit before finding the edit menu.

The stepper experience was the preferred version for participants during testing, but it still needed some work. Users needed to have the ability to make multiple check updates at once and an easier way to find and edit notes.

The final solution featured an inline editing option for notes directly in the check header for easy discoverability and quick edits. The rest of the check actions were kept inside the edit menu and followed the stepper pattern participants preferred during testing. After confirming an edit, users were returned to the edit menu to allow for multiple changes in one session. Check voids and server changes were blocked by a PIN input during the update to handle the lack of permissions on the shared devices.

This solution created a scalable editing framework that would allow for future check header shortcuts, limited employee access to updating critical check functions, and decreased mental load required for employees to make quick changes. Based on the testing observations of users attempting to access check editing features directly from the check header, I would like to explore creating more check header shortcuts to further improve the editing workflow.