"# buffeter"
Buffeter is an app that allows users to search for buffets and latest buffet deals available in Singapore. It also allows users to give reviews and suggest new buffet restaurants.
Food lovers, buffet lovers in particular
Project Gemini
Ever felt frustrated that food apps such as HungryGoWhere and Burpple are cluttered with all kinds of food reviews? Or irritated by the difficulty of finding reviews just about the buffets in restaurants? Unaware of the various buffet promotions that is available? This is what our webapp will solve - it is simple, user-driven and buffet-specific.
- User-driven but not contributing to spam or giving inaccurate info
- Easy to use, easy to find (popular) buffets
- Provide ways for user to contribute constructive reviews (with pictures) and reward them as an incentive
We aim to build a web-app. We are considering technologies such as AngularJS, PHP / MySql for database, and Parse to work along with it.
Here are some ways that Buffeter can come in handy
- Facilitate buffet outings
- Discover new and popular buffet restaurants
- In the buffet restaurant's perspective, help better buffet restaurants to be promoted
- As a user who is looking for buffet restaurants, I need to be able to search for buffet restaurants. To do this, the web app should allow me to search for buffet restaurants and filter the results by price, location, type of cuisine, promotions available etc.
- As a user who wants to review a buffet restaurant, I need to be able to submit reviews. To do this, the web app should allow me to create, update and delete my reviews.
- As a user who wants to suggest a new buffet restaurant, I need to be able to submit my suggestions. To do this, the web app should allow me to create, update and delete my suggestions.
- As a user who wants to tell a friend about the buffet restaurant, I need to be able to share the information through social media. To do this, the web app should allow me to share information about the buffet with my friends on Facebook, Whatsapp etc.
- As a user who wants to manage the contents, I need to be able to manage the reviews and suggestions submitted by the public. To do this, the web app should have an admin’s panel.
For the next sprint, we will do features 1, 2 and 3. We will save feature 4 and other fixes that the peer teams suggest in July during sprint 3.
Mock up of main menu
Mock up of buffet search
Mock up of extended panel when user taps restaurant name
Mock up of buffet reviews page. Double tapping on panel brings you to an instagram-like scrollable view of photos and reviews of the buffet place.
Please click here to view our web app prototype
List of Features Implemented (refer to the above for full user stories)
- User Story #1 - User looking for buffet restaurants
- Search for buffet
- Filter search results by location, type of cuisine
- User Story #2 - User reviews buffet restaurant
- Add, update, delete review
- View review submitted
- User story #3 - User suggest new buffet restaurant
- Add, update, delete buffet suggestion
As mentioned in Milestone 1, we will be working on Features 4, 5, 6 and other fixes that the peer teams suggest in sprint 3. We would improve on features 1 to 3 too, by allowing the uploading of photos, having a better user profile and better user interface suited for mobile. Users should have points and a profile page. We should also make it easier to add buffets, with locations linked to Google Map (extensions!)
Here are the user stories:
User Story #4
As a user who wants to tell a friend about the buffet restaurant, I need to be able to share the information through social media. To do this, the web app should allow me to share information about the buffet with my friends on Facebook, Whatsapp etc.
User Story #5
As a user who wants to manage the contents (moderator status), I need to be able to manage the reviews and suggestions submitted by the public. To do this, the web app should have an admin’s panel.
User Story #6
As a user who wants to manage my account, I need to be able to edit my user profile and see my points. To do this, the web app should have an editable profile page.
Please click here to view our web app prototype
List of Features Implemented
- Filter by location and type of cuisine
- Search bar to search for buffets
- Share on social media
- Promotions carousel
- Recommend a buffet
- Review a buffet
- Users profile page
Filter by location and type of cuisine
Consist of 2 drop down list; One which filters the buffets based on location and the other filters based on the cuisine type.
Search bar to search for buffets
Users can type the name of the buffet or certain keywords about the buffet in the search.
Sharing on social media
Users can share information of the buffet on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.
Promotions carousel
Consists of the latest and on-going promotions of different buffet restaurants.
Recommend a buffet
Users who wish to suggest a buffet restaurant which is not already in the list may do so.
Review a buffet
Users who have been to the buffet restaurant who wish to give their feedback may do so.
Users profile page
Allows users to add a profile picture and other details about themselves.
User Story #1
As a user who is looking for buffet restaurants, I need to be able to search for buffet restaurants. To do this, the web app should allow me to search for buffet restaurants and filter the results by price, location, type of cuisine, promotions available etc.
User Story #2
As a user who wants to review a buffet restaurant, I need to be able to submit reviews. To do this, the web app should allow me to create, update and delete my reviews.
User Story #3
As a user who wants to suggest a new buffet restaurant, I need to be able to submit my suggestions. To do this, the web app should allow me to create, update and delete my suggestions.
User Story #4
As a user who wants to tell a friend about the buffet restaurant, I need to be able to share the information through social media. To do this, the web app should allow me to share information about the buffet with my friends on Facebook, Whatsapp etc.
User Story #5
As a user who wants to manage the contents (moderator status), I need to be able to manage the reviews and suggestions submitted by the public. To do this, the web app should have an admin’s panel.
User Story #6
As a user who wants to manage my account, I need to be able to edit my user profile. To do this, the web app should have an editable profile page.
- Django
- Regex expressions
- Python / PIP
- Bootstrap and Jquery
- HTML
- CSS
- Github
- Sqlite / SQL
Expert/ Self Evaluation
Our mentor commented that the search was good. Suggested us to add photos to buffets on the homepage. He also suggested to add the number of buffets in the different filters on the drop-down box and to make search terms clearer while searching.
Overall, he felt the app could have more of a "wow" factor if we had a main selling point. We wanted to focus on promotions, so we added a promotions page. If we had more time, we would like to do a review voting system and user reward system for giving good reviews and suggesting good buffets.
User Stories
We believe that we have fulfilled all the user stories :)
Usability Testing with Potential Users with High-Fidelity artefacts
Through our live and deployed app, we asked our friends aged 20 to 23 to try out our app. One commented that the mobile version looked lacking compared to the desktop version. Another commented that she could imagine using the app
especially if there are enticing promotions on the site.
We asked each of them to complete some tasks using our web app. The tasks are as follows: Add a review, Recommend a Buffet, Add/change profile picture, Search for Buffet, Filter Buffet List, Create a new User Account and Log In.
Two of them felt that the form on Recommend a Buffet page was too long and tedious to fill in. One felt that the location filter for the buffet list had too many locations with no buffets but the search bar was okay. One feedbacked that the number of images allowed in reviews could be increased. Most of them found the creating of new user account and logging in hassle-free. Generally, they were satisfied and pleased with using the BUFFETER web app.
Active users can even be rewarded with real discounts such that more people will help to update the buffets on the site. Plus, it could promote certain restaurants and buffets (commercial value)