Eat·in was the result of an international study aiming to improve the tourist dining experience in South Korea and the UK. Research was conducted in both countries in order to explore the restaurant experience abroad, the ways to overcome the language barrier and the need for a universal visual language to assist communication. An app demo was produced in order to give diners more information about the menu, ingredients and etiquette.
The application was developed to inform tourists when dining in foreign countries and at foreign restaurants in their own countries, in order to provide them with more information about the menu, the ingredients and the cultural etiquette of the meal. Utilising photographs and elements of a universal visual language, the app aims to clearly outline key information to ensure the dining experience is not a worrying issue for a visitor to a new country. The purpose of the design was to be very clear and easy to operate. The UI itself went through user-testing and feedback where iterations were presented to potential users for their views and opinions, becoming a collaborative design experience between designer and end-user.
In an ideal scenario, the restaurants would submit their menus for translation and in return would receive a scannable symbol to be display on their menus. The Eat·in symbol can be then scanned by a diner to access multi-language menus at their favourite restaurants at home and foreign eateries when travelling to new places. Detailed breakdowns of the dishes can be viewed, with a specific section dedicated to allergy advice to look out for. The user could input their preferences to receive tailored results and staff recommendations based on their tastes. With the aim of being a personal and social experience, it would be connected to social media in order to read reviews and comments from friends, as well as other app users. Dining experiences could be shared online to encourage friends to visit the places where a positive encounter, great meal or good service has been had. Etiquette information, currency conversion and tipping suggestions would also be available, allowing the service to guide you from choosing a restaurant, selecting a dish, eating your meal and then completing the transaction.