Improving User Experience in Food Delivery Apps: Recommendations for Clarity, Customization, and Engagement
UX in Food Delivery Apps
Nicolletta Rothschild
5 January 2025
Dun Laoghaire Institute Of Art Design + Technology
Abstract
This study examines user experiences with popular food delivery applications. It focuses on pain points, positive features, and behavioral patterns. By analyzing survey and interview feedback, from users of platforms such as DoorDash, UberEats, JustEat, and Deliveroo, the study identifies critical factors influencing user satisfaction and engagement. Findings highlight recurring challenges, including poor labeling, disorganized categories, limited dietary filtering, and inconsistent visuals, all of which can contribute to inefficient decision making. Users also expressed frustrations with a lack of group ordering features and lengthy ordering time dealing with many different food preferences.
Despite the issues, real-time order tracking, order customization, and reorder buttons were often praised, which emphasizes their importance to user experience. The study suggests that enhancing navigation, improving personalized user experiences, and other changes could significantly improve user satisfaction.
Future research could expand the demographic groups to learn more about a wider range of user behavior. This study provides actionable improvements for UX designers to consider when redesigning food delivery applications.
Introduction
Food delivery applications are widely used and impact how individuals access meals. They offer convenience, variety, and accessibility. However, despite their widespread adoption, these platforms are not without challenges. The aim of this study is to uncover key aspects of their interactions. The team is focusing on pain points, positive features, and user habits to inform a more user centered design. By understanding these factors the team will identify opportunities for improving the user experience of food delivery applications.
This study seeks to address six key questions:
- Where the main pain points/ frustrations are for users?
- Where the main positives of using these apps are for users?
- Which features are the least problematic?
- What are user habits when using the apps?
- Which apps do they gravitate towards most and why?
- How do users solve issues that they are faced with on these apps?
To explore these questions, the research team used a mixed-method approach, combining surveys, interviews, and usability tests. This methodology enabled a comprehensive understanding of user experiences, capturing both quantitative data and in-depth qualitative perspectives.
The survey gathered data from a diverse group of people over two weeks. It addressed topics such as user demographics, food delivery preferences, app choice, and features that are used commonly. Open-ended responses provide additional context to user desire and frustrations. To compliment the survey, interviews and usability tests offered a more nuanced look at individual experiences. It captured real-time interaction with food delivery apps and challenges that are presented to users.
There are four apps the team focuses on including DoorDash which is an American company. According to [1], it has a 67% market share which makes it the largest used food delivery platform in the United States. Another app is UberEats. Deliveroo is a British company with a presence in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar according to [2]. The fourth app the team focuses on is JustEat which is available in some European countries, according to their site, [3].
With the findings, this research aims to contribute insights for enhancing food delivery app interfaces that increase user satisfaction. The next sections will elaborate on the methodology, key findings, and discuss recommendations for application redesigns.
Methodology
Survey
The team created a survey to gather data relating to the following goals. The survey was open for around 2 weeks and had an average time to complete of 5 minutes and 24 seconds. This was a remote survey sent out online. Research was completed by Nicolletta Rothschild and Klaudia Broda.
This survey was designed to gather insights into user demographics, food delivery habits, preferences, and pain points to inform a better designed food delivery app experience. Participants are asked general questions about demographics such as country of residence, age, and work study situation. This is followed by questions about frequency of home and workplace food deliveries, preferred ordering methods, and most commonly used delivery apps. The survey delved into reasons for app choice including restaurant selection, price, and usability. Responses go into ordering behaviors for solo, small groups, and larger group ordering scenarios. Questions on common feature usage like real-time tracking, customization, and loyalty programs are included alongside questions about commonly encountered issues and the steps taken to resolve them. The last two questions are open ended where participants provide feedback on what features they wish their apps had and an optional email should they want to participate further in future user research.
You can find the full list of questions in the appendices.
Participants
The team utilized social media, classmates, and friends to fill out the survey. 86 responses were initially received before filtering out 13 responses who answered that they never order food for home delivery. This was important as the team wanted users who have gotten food delivered to their home. The participants are primarily from the USA and Ireland. Over half of responses indicate an on-site working/studying situation.
Results
In regards to what app users gravitate towards, DoorDash (30 responses) is the most popularly used app followed by UberEats (19 responses), JustEat (17 responses), and Deliveroo (17 responses). Main factors that influence that choice of app are restaurant selection (ranked 1) and price (ranked 2).
Most users primarily order for just themselves and only rarely order for more than 2 people. Slightly less than half (31) of the responses said that ordering for a group is a more frustrating experience.
Features that were highly ranked as ones that are used every time include order customization (46%) and real-time order tracking (64%).
| Every time % | Sometimes % | Rarely % | Never (No need) % | I’ve never seen this feature before % | |
| Real-Time order tracking | 64 | 26 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Search and Filter Options | 31 | 34 | 16 | 12 | 0 |
| Order Customization | 46 | 35 | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| Restaurant Ratings and reviews | 14 | 41 | 29 | 15 | 0 |
| Order History | 10 | 37 | 44 | 8 | 3 |
| “Re-Order my last order” | 7 | 51 | 23 | 15 | 4 |
| Schedule a delivery for later | 5 | 16 | 34 | 37 | 7 |
| Customer Support | 5 | 20 | 52 | 20 | 1 |
| Loyalty Schemes/Discounts | 15 | 33 | 31 | 14 | 7 |
| In-App Chat with Delivery person | 7 | 26 | 23 | 37 | 7 |
| In-App Chat with Restaurant | 4 | 11 | 25 | 37 | 23 |
| Dietary filter and allergens information | 7 | 16 | 19 | 49 | 8 |
| Save favorite restaurant | 11 | 26 | 25 | 23 | 15 |
| Save favorite food | 11 | 29 | 20 | 23 | 16 |
Figure 1: “How often, if at all, do you use the following features of food delivery apps?”
Slightly over half (52%) of the responses indicated that it took between 5 and 10 minutes to pay. Of the listed issues, the most frequently reported one is “No images of food on the menu” which had 16% of responses saying “every time” and 63% responding “sometimes.” The least frequent issue encountered was “Cart/Basket accidentally emptied before placing the order” and “inaccurate address information.” Both of these responses received 20% of responses being sometimes or every time.
Users tend to solve their issues most frequently by contacting customer support (41 responses). They also request a refund or call the restaurant at about half the rate of contacting customer support (24 responses).
Users requested features like “faster delivery,” “adding notes for the restaurant,” “adding images,” “cheaper prices,” “more customization options,” “easier interface,” and “something that makes sure the food is always hot when it arrives.”
Interviews and Usability Tests
Since the interviews were semi structured the team had good flexibility in asking questions. Usability tests [4] were used to see how users interact with an app in a familiar or common scenario. Interviews dove in deeper to learn more about the habits and decision making of individuals.
Participants:
There were 6 usability tests and 5 of the 6 also had follow up interviews. The participants are people who may or may not frequently use delivery apps.
Usability Test #1: DoorDash
The usability test for DoorDash was done early into desk research. It was in a casual setting with the food selection being discussed prior. The test was completed in person with a voice recording while watching the participant use the application. The participant was directed to use DoorDash as the application to test and is based in the USA.
Usability Test Tasks:
There were three tasks for the participant:
- Select India Chaat Cafe
- Order lamb biryani and masala dosa
- Pay using card
Results
This usability test revealed several pain points in the journey, specifically in navigation, search functionality, and checkout processes. This participant had confusion with unclear labeling, category organization, and late promotions, which disrupted their flow and created worries about losing their order progress. Some issues stemmed from the restaurant, but many others reflected app-level challenges. The user successfully placed their order but showed a need for more clarity and reduced cognitive thought load.
Interviews and Usability Test #2: JustEat
The interview and usability test were completed in person. The interviewee is located in Ireland.
In the interview, the participant was asked a range of questions to explore their experiences and preferences in food delivery apps. The beginning of the interview started with obtaining consent and collecting demographic information including age, occupation, and place of residence. Subsequent questions focused on usage frequency, preferences, and behaviors, such as reasons the participant used delivery apps. The interviewer asked which delivery app they use most often and if they usually order for just themselves or for a group of people. The participant was asked to describe scenarios where they decide to order through a delivery app and how they would go about it. The interview also looked into different interactions with the food delivery apps. It addressed their process for finding information about unfamiliar menu items. Questions addressed what issues tend to arise and how participants deal with them. Additionally, the participant was asked about desirable app features like food images, reviews, descriptions, and other factors that influence restaurant and food choices. The logistics of group orders is also a focus point including questions about food choices and payment.
You can find full interview transcriptions in the appendices.
Usability Test Tasks:
- “Its a Wednesday evening, the last thing you want to do is cook but you don’t wanna order the same thing you usually do, you want to explore and find something new. Show me how you would do that.”
- “It’s a Saturday night and you have 5 friends at your place. You always like to order everyone some food. You take everyone’s order and everyone orders something different”
Results
This participant enjoys exploring food options but finds it too time consuming without clear categorization. They like that categorization narrows down choices quickly. Descriptions with specific triggers (mustard and mushrooms) heavily influence decision making.
Lower mental steps to complete an action is highly valued. Streamlined paths to relevant choices are preferred. The participant dislikes excessive scrolling. A clear dietary search filter was absent.
When ordering for a group the participant looked for crowd pleasing options (burgers, pizza) to minimize complexity of the order. There is also high value placed on easy identification of deals for this scenario.
When the order was delivered to the wrong location the participant contacted customer support.
Interview and Usability Test #4: Ubereats
This usability test and interview was done virtually [5] using a screen sharing software and voice call. The participant was allowed to select the application to do the test on. This participant is based in the USA.
The interview questions focused on understanding this participant’s usage patterns, preferences, and challenges with food delivery apps. Initial questions include delivery app usage frequency and if they favor a particular application or use multiple applications equally. Questions explore the clarity and usability of menu interfaces. The participant was prompted to share if they had any confusion or difficulty using the apps. The interview questions asked about whether the user usually orders for themselves or a group and if that is a frustrating experience. Lastly, the participant is asked to suggest any features they think are missing from their delivery apps.
You can find full interview transcriptions in the appendices.
Usability Test Tasks:
Talk through the process of making an order.
Results
This participant primarily uses UberEats and orders from apps approximately once a week or less. They typically order for a group and consider vegetarian or non-spicy options for family members. The participant will switch restaurants if unable to find suitable options for everyone. They will spend their time browsing menus to make sure they don’t miss potential items, often feeling unsure if there aren’t pictures or poor descriptions. Customization is straightforward when restaurants have it enabled but some require challenging manual input. They mostly use scrolling to browse options but will occasionally use the search feature. They feel confident that the cart provides them with the necessary details to confirm the order when checking out. Ordering for themselves takes between 5-10 minutes but group orders take much longer to accommodate everyone and can be frustrating.
Interviews and Usability Test #3, 5, & 6: Deliveroo
These three participants used Deliveroo most commonly and are based in Ireland. These interviews and usability tests were done in person.
In the three interviews, participants were asked a series of open-ended questions designed to understand their experiences with food delivery apps. The questions explored general habits like how often they used delivery apps and their reasons for choosing them. Specific questions focused on pain points during the ordering process such as difficulties with app navigation, order customization, and dietary specifications. Participants were asked the importance of specific app features like descriptions and pictures on foods. More questions were asked about issues that may have interrupted user flows. Participants were encouraged to share suggestions for improving their experiences.
You can find full interview transcriptions in the appendices.
Usability Test Tasks:
- “Its a Wednesday evening, the last thing you want to do is cook but you don’t wanna order the same thing you usually do, you want to explore and find something new. Show me how you would do that.”
- “It’s a Saturday night and you have 5 friends at your place. You always like to order everyone some food. You take everyone’s order and everyone orders something different”
Results
All users put a lot of emphasis on the importance of straightforward and easy-to-navigate interfaces in Deliveroo. Pictures play a big role in food choices and clarity about what they are ordering. Clear prices, descriptions, and pictures help avoid confusion.
One pain point for users was adding special requests to foods. The app doesn’t clearly communicate options and the user cannot communicate directly with the restaurant. Multiple participants mentioned the leave a note feature but rarely use it because it wasn’t easily accessible during their ordering flow.
Communication in customer service is also an issue and it would be better for the users to be able to speak to a person directly. Location accuracy was an issue for some users when they had their order delivered to the wrong address or the driver could not find the house. Not being able to contact the driver in some apps adds to this issue.
Some users ordered regularly but others only ordered as a treat or when scheduling made it impossible to cook. Most participants preferred sticking to restaurants and dishes that they knew they liked but appealing photos and descriptions can help them branch out. The reorder feature is frequently used.
All users preferred using the delivery apps over calling restaurants or going in person because it was faster and allowed them to see the different food options. It can allow users with demanding jobs to save time.
Overall, Deliveroo users emphasized convenience and clear food information as highly important to them. Unclear customization, poor customer service, and location accuracy are recurring pain points. The participants desired the app to have better communication tools, ordering processes, and a more robust order customization option.
Analysis
Summarizing the team’s key findings, there were many challenges for participants in the usability of delivery apps. Particularly in regards to unclear labeling, confusing category organization, and the promotions which were hard to find. The issues disrupted users’ ordering flows and created worry about losing order progress. Though some of the issues were the fault of the restaurant, many were rooted in the app’s design, which indicates room for improvement in clarity and navigation. Users want a more straightforward experience with less cognitive effort.
Although many participants expressed a desire to explore new foods, they found it too time consuming to navigate the app with the lack of clear categorization. This leads to them re-ordering the same order frequently. The reorder button is useful but may be hard to find, loses order details, or is missing. Features that narrow down categories are highly valued. Excessive scrolling without a clear or functional dietary search filter was seen as a hindrance. Quick identification of deals and easy customization options for larger orders are seen as essential.
In the interviews, search and customization features were seen as incomplete or difficult to use. This aligns with survey data where a significant portion of users highlighted the need for more robust customization options. Particularly, adding notes or special requests is an important feature, but it is not very accessible or effectively integrated into the ordering flow.
The results indicated that there is a huge emphasis on visuals. Clear images of food and detailed descriptions are strongly favored as they aid in the users’ choices and reduce confusion. Inconsistent access to food pictures along with the lack of a dietary search filter causes uncertainty about what the food they might get will be like. The cart was generally seen as a reliable source of information when confirming an order before checkout. These findings are consistent with the survey results where a significant portion of users ranked food images and descriptions as critical for making their selection. Users in the US seemed to have less issues, this may be because apps like DoorDash and UberEats, which are popular in the US, have addressed more of the issues found in delivery apps.
When it comes to customer service and communication, the study revealed that users constantly found communication inadequate. Better interactions from the service team are required to deal with issues like deliveries going to the wrong address. Adding communication options in the app can enhance user satisfaction.
The open ended question in the survey “What feature would make your food delivery experience better?” has answers that can be categorized into specific groups including delivery/driver, communication, food images/information, price, customization (food), app design and features, and one other response that doesn’t fit into these categories. This aligns with what was found in other questions and in the interviews.
The survey data revealed that DoorDash is the most commonly used app, followed by UberEats, JustEat, and Deliveroo. This is likely due to the high number of US and Ireland based participants. Restaurant selection and pricing are the primary influences in app choice. While most users order just for themselves, a notable portion of users reported frustration when ordering food for a group. This aligns with participants’ feedback where ordering for a group is a more complex and time-consuming process. Real-time order tracking and order customization were features that are used frequently but more customization options were heavily requested.
Discussion
The UX recommendations are mostly categorized into personalized experience, user engagement, and ease-of-use.
Simplifying the app’s navigation, particularly the categorization of items and clearer labeling with images, could reduce user frustration and cognitive load. According to [6], reducing cognitive load can lead to increased usability. It may also reduce time spent ordering as users will begin to learn the icons that lead them to foods that they like. To improve the user journey, implement a streamlined and intuitive layout.
To further improving the categorization, add a dietary filter for it. This would also create a more personalized experience for users who need dietary adjustments. Helping to narrow down choices with this new system reduces time spent scrolling and will help the group ordering process. An example of this is where [7] remarks on how breaking down the task narrows down the process and helps with ordering.
More customization improvement in the form of changing the accessibility and visibility of customization options will be appreciated by users. For example, the ability to add special requests or make detailed modifications to orders or individual items. Providing these changes will help not break up the user flow by forcing the user to look for these special request options and reduce frustration.
Adding a review system that allows user uploaded photos can be a great solution to the problems with a lack of visual clarity about some menu items. This can help users make informed choices about foods they may not normally have chosen. Examples of this flow can be found on sites like Amazon.com. According to [8], 75% of users look at reviews for local businesses regularly or always.
To increase user trust in the app, communication tools, including support features like the ability to contact the restaurant or driver directly, can be added. This will help in cases of incorrect deliveries or location issues. They should also be upfront about fees for delivery to build trust with consumers as noted by [9].
The findings indicated that users value clarity, customization, and ease of use in their food delivery apps. Addressing key pain points like navigation issues, lack of food images, and unclear customization options will provide users with a much less frustrating and confusing process.
Limitations
Due to time constraints, follow-up interviews have not been possible. There may also be a bias as these participants are people who may be close to the team and wish to answer as expected.
The participants are primarily from the USA and Ireland which ends up leaving out apps used in other countries. Participants may also be in a similar age group due to convenience of who the team could get the survey out to.
Conclusion
The research highlights important insights into user experiences with food delivery applications focusing on pain points, positive aspects, and behavioral trends. Users value conveniences and functionality. They gravitate towards apps like DoorDash, UberEats, JustEat, and Deliveroo for their large restaurant selection and good pricing according to the findings. However the research findings reveal that some of the design and shortcomings disrupt user flows and impact satisfaction.
Key issues include poor labeling and category organization in menus. Additionally, the apps over limit customization for orders and make it difficult to navigate with dietary restrictions or preferences. Visual elements, for example images of the dish and detailed descriptions, significantly impact decision making and not having these features frustrate and discourage users from ordering new dishes.
Another problem area is ordering for a group. Users express frustration over long order times, difficulty customizing orders, and difficulty identifying deals when appropriate. The research shows the need for apps to reduce cognitive load, enhance usability, and provide more tools for users to manage their orders.
To improve the overall user experience, food delivery apps should focus on personalized experience for different users, ease of use and accessibility, and creating more visual descriptors using a photo review system like other types of delivery apps (other than food). These suggestions would alleviate frustrations and create brand loyalty.
Future studies may benefit from a broader range of participant demographics. Specifically users from regions beyond the USA and Ireland would help gain a better understanding of global behavior in food delivery applications. Other demographic ranges would help including different age groups and economic factors may provide further insights and allow for solutions that can help a broader range of people.
By addressing these insights, food delivery apps can enhance user satisfaction, improve user flows, and better meet the needs of their large customer base.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Klaudia Broda, John Dempsey, and IADT.
References
[1] Lynn Beyrouthy. 2024. U.S. online food delivery market share 2024. (May 2024). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1235724/market-share-us-food-delivery-companies/
[2] Paul Sawers. 2017. Food courier Deliveroo launches platform for restaurants to open delivery-only kitchens. VentureBeat (April 2017). Retrieved from https://venturebeat.com/mobile/food-courier-deliveroo-launches-platform-for-restaurants-to-open-delivery-only-kitchens/
[3] Our Markets. JustEat Takeaway.com. Retrieved January 5, 2025 from https://www.justeattakeaway.com/our-markets
[4] Kate Moran. 2024. Usability (User) testing 101. Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/usability-testing-101/
[5] Amy Schade. 2019. Remote usability tests: moderated and unmoderated. Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/remote-usability-tests/
[6] Kathryn Whitenton. 2024. Minimize cognitive load to maximize usability. Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/minimize-cognitive-load/
[7] Kim Flaherty. 2017. Instilling confidence in online shoppers: I bought a sofa online and good UX sealed the deal. Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-design-ecommerce/
[8] Sammy Paget. 2024. Local Consumer Review Survey 2024: Trends, Behaviors, and platforms Explored. BrightLocal. Retrieved from https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/
[9] Raluca Budiu. 2020. Online shopping for food and groceries during COVID-19: Workflow issues impact the ecommerce customer experience. Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/food-shopping-covid19/
Appendices
- Case Studies
- Research Plan
- Interview Data & Analysis
- Survey Data
- Survey Form