The Fully-Networked Canteen Kitchen

In the field of gastronomy, large scale cooking can often prove to be a logistical nightmare. Which stove is free and when? Which employee is available, what tasks are they capable of and again, when? The solution is Welbilt KitchenConnect.
Once activated, the app becomes the digital centre for the modern commercial kitchen. By networking the entirety of a kitchen’s equipment, resources and time can be efficiently planned and used in the day-to-day running of commercial kitchens. Whether it's a small burger snack bar, a home-style restaurant or a fast food chain, the KitchenConnect app meets a wide range of catering requirements.

Welbilt - Kitchen­Connect App

A tablet screen in the foreground shows the view of several kitchen appliances. In the background a potential user in his catering kitchen.
Kitchen­Connect App Client: Welbilt Disciplines: UXD - IFD

THE TASK

What capabilities must the app possess and what does it have to look like in order to be just as suitable for a one-man operation as it is for a globally active fast food company with over 20,000 branches?

THE SOLUTION

In order to offer the users different ways of access, depending on their specific needs and individual preferences, the app may be accessed via lists, maps or visual tiles. Clear graphics and a distinct iconography facilitate navigation and carefully guide the user through varying locations, kitchen appliances and products. They also enable the user to play advertising material on the appliances and clarifies any error codes the user may encounter.

The start screen of the KitchenConnect Application from Welbilt shows an illustration of users and kitchen appliances in action.
A screenshot of the user interface of the Welbilt KitchenConnect Application shows an evaluation of the use of individual kitchen devices.
A screenshot of the user interface of the Welbilt KitchenConnect Application shows the networking of the individual catering companies of the user.
A screenshot of the user interface of the Welbilt KitchenConnect Application shows an overview of the individual catering companies of the user with various evaluations.

Collaborating across three continents

Whilst the client was located in America, the app was programmed in India and we, here in Germany took care of its design and usability. The distance naturally didn't make the cooperation any easier, with regular meetings and arrangements having to be organised and coordinated across the span of three continents and multiple time zones. In order to stay on schedule, we allied an agile structure for the project and implemented individual tasks in completed sprints.

Icons of the Welbilt KitchenConnect Application are shown on a blue background, which clarify the design language.

Testing, testing and retesting - no problem with our prototypes!

People in commercial kitchens are often under considerable pressure and as such, have no time to play around with an app. The operation needed to be simple, fast and clear, so throughout the course of recurring test loops we progressively improved the usability of our prototypes until we found the perfect UX design.

Several screenshots show the view and interaction variations of the IoT Application KitchenConnect from Welbilt.

Uniform device iconography

The Welbilt product cosmos contains a wide range of different appliances for the professional kitchen. In order to create an homogenous appearance on the product overview pages, we have standardised and created a canon of the appliance illustrations.

Several illustrations of individual kitchen devices show the applicability of the Welbilt KitchenConnect Application to many different appliances or families of appliances.
IMAGO DESIGN