Chipotle web design sort of backfires
I’ve always believed that good web design should be easy to understand, and part of this comes from designing something that looks less like raw layout, and more like a recognizable object of some sort. People understand objects when they look at them. Layout, however, isn’t always obvious.
You’ll notice I fail miserably at complying with this rule with the current layout of this website. At best, I’ve achieved half-compliance with some of my link rollover effects. Oh well.
Recently, I had the pleasure of ordering a burrito online from Chipotle, and honestly, as much as I’m not usually a fan of flash-based design, I had an enjoyable experience ordering my burrito.
Burrito-building made easy
Perhaps you’re not familiar with Chipotle. When you walk into the restaurant and order a burrito, an employee steams up a tortilla, puts it on a plate, and walks the plate through an assembly line of rice, beans, meat, cheese and salsa. It’s kind of like a cafeteria, except someone else puts the food on the plate for you.
So, if this is the way you order a burrito in the restaurant, how do you translate that experience to the internet? Many other websites would offer users a text list like the following:
What kind of beans would you like?
- Black
- Pinto
However, Chipotle decided to follow that rule I talked about earlier, where you make things look like real objects that people understand. Instead of building a burrito through the use of text-based menus, users at Chipotle’s website are presented with a flash-based representation of the workspace you’d probably see if you walked into one of their restaurants.
On the positive side, this means you know where everything is, and what everything is. On the negative side, however, you end up basically building a burrito by point-and-click. And when I did this, I thought to myself: Is making a burrito really this easy? Why am I spending six bucks on this?
Welcome to Distantly Yours: The Burrito Shop
I know how to cook chicken. I know how to make rice. I’ve got some amazing salsa I bought from the grocery store. And beans? Give me a break! If making a burrito is this easy, then why am I spending six bucks on this?
Even worse, why am I spending ten minutes to drive to the restaurant, a few minutes at the store, and then ten more minutes to drive back?
With only a little bit of planning, I can arrange make a burrito of my own—just like I did on Chipotle’s website.
Not only that, but I can make a smaller burrito—you know, one that has less than half a day’s worth of calories?
Nice try, Chipotle
Really, though, I haven’t seen an online food ordering system that was this fun to use before. It’s a clever design concept. But for someone with even rudimentary cooking skills, it just makes me think it would be easier, cheaper, less time-consuming, and healthier to prepare my own burrito at home.
Whitney