Don't you just love the smiling face of the McDonald's counter order-taker? They're always smiling and happy to hand to you that large cup for $1 soft drinks as you wait for your hot fries to arrive. The first thing I always do is grab a fry. I can smell them right now as I type away. Can't you? Anyway, back to the order-taker.
Even though the menu is right there, I always have a question: "can I get an extra pickle or more tarter sauce?" They are always ready to help and always happy to customize my order. Am I ready for McDonald's without the smiles? I do not know just yet. Who doesn't recognize Ronald McDonald's huge smile?
In this new McDonald's Universe, the sight when I walk into the restaurant is not as I remember. There was something missing. Can you guess what it is?
Order-Taker?
Orders taken at kiosks
Though we like high tech, we were surprised by this sight when we walked into our familiar happy space. There was more tech than people. Not a bad thing, just a surprise.
Kiosk Order-Taker
McDonald's Restaurants Super Sized Services
Not too shabby. The system is inviting--I mean it is right there for everyone to see. There is no misunderstanding about what it is there for and absolutely no question as to what we customers are suppose to do next: order our food and take a seat.
So the Order Screen is large enough for all ages. The steps required to complete an order are really straight-forward. Nice white background and large images of food items. Since I always order my fries without salt, I am pleased to see an option for "no salt".
Easy Orders
McDonald's Kiosks
As you can see, it is pretty simple to order burgers, fries and soft drinks. McDonald's gets a 10 out of 10 from me here. It's a touch screen so that makes life as simple for me as it is for counter-based order takers (though never worked here before). According to McDonald's "the touch-screen technology is meant to speed up the ordering process" and give people more control for food customization.
So, this new approach is to speed up the process. Not sure if I agree. I mean my cup for the soft drink wasn't waiting for me. It was delivered to me several minutes later. I couldn't reconcile the soft drink ordering process, because my cup arrived empty--after I went through the process of ordering a large coke. Not sure if this is a benefit to me or inventory management.
There were a number of glitches in the process, but overall I was impressed by the tech. McDonald's says the roll-out has nothing to do with reducing the number of actual human order-takers. What do you think? Wall Street loves the idea (because of the human/tech replacements). Anytime Wall Street loves something, you know it has something to do with lowered HR costs. We'll see.
I want to hear your thoughts.