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Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
A Development of Electronic Menu (E-menu) Application
for Restaurant on iPad
By Traitet Thepbandansuk, Student ID 20043132
MSc. Enterprise Systems Professional, Sheffield Hallam University
1. Introduction
Development of technology enables people to become more comfortable in most areas
of our lives. The restaurant industry is an area which has remained behind the technical
advances until recently, when the electronic menu (e-menu) started being used to
improve catering services and increase revenue. Nowadays, the e-menu is becoming
popular and changing the concept of food ordering by paper-based menus. As can be
seen in figure 1, restaurant customers are able to view the items listed on the menu as
well as being able to order directly from tablets or touch-screen monitors located on
tables, which offer customers a full range of ordering choices (Azilen 2011).
This research will conduct an inductive approach by case study methodology at a Thai
restaurant to develop a software prototype and evaluate users’ perceptions. This
research will employ qualitative methods, such as passive observation to gather system
requirements and test the prototype, and group interviews to evaluate users’
perceptions. To conduct this research, this paper proposes research design divided into
six main sections: Research question and objectives, Critical evaluation of literature,
Research methods, tools and techniques, Research process, Potential outcomes, and
Issues of access and ethics.
Fig. 1 - E-menu on iPad tablet (Conceptic no date)
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 1 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
2. Research question and objectives
The aim of this research is to study that how to develop e-menu application for casual
restaurants to meet their business requirements. The research question, objectives and
limitations of research are summarised below.
2.1 Research question
How can a prototype of an electronic menu (e-menu) application be developed for
the casual dining restaurant industry to meet business requirements?
2.2 Research objectives
1. To identify the key issues relating to the development of an e-menu application
for the casual restaurant industry.
2. To investigate the system requirements, and analyse, design and develop an e-
menu prototype to meet business needs.
3. To evaluate users’ perceptions on the final prototype of the e-menu application
from stakeholders such as restaurant customers, owners and waiting staff.
4. To make recommendations regarding the development of the e-menu
application based on chosen software development methodology.
The first objective begins with the critical evaluation the range of literature to find
out the potential issues relating to the development of the e-menu application,
such as the current use of paper-based menus and e-menus at restaurants, and the
software development methodology.
The second objective is to gather system requirements to design and develop the
e-menu prototype, and produce software development documents. In addition, to
delivering software to meet business needs, Hanafiah (2007) suggests that the
software development approach should be compatible with customer requirements,
project team and time of implementation.
The third and final objectives are focused on data collection and analysis. Group
interviews will be used for data collection to analyse users’ perceptions, which are
expected to answer the research question in terms of developing an e-menu
application to meet business requirements, whereas the software development
processes will be reflected to make recommendations regarding the development
of the e-menu application to meet business needs.
2.3 Limitations of research
The proposed dissertation is a product-based project involving the application of
software engineering techniques to analyse, design, and develop of a piece of
software (University of Oxford no date). The software prototype for this research
includes only some specific features such as ordering food and beverages,
previewing order information, calling for services, and transferring information to
the kitchen. Therefore, other functions, e.g. booking, billing and integrating with a
point of sale (POS) system, are excluded in this project.
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 2 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
3. Critical evaluation of literature
This critical evaluation explores potential information to identify current knowledge and
key issues relating to development of a prototype of an e-menu application for the
casual restaurant industry, which are divided into four sections: E-menu for restaurants,
Restaurant service processes, Software usability and human-computer interaction (HCI),
and Software development methodology and prototyping techniques.
3.1 Electronic menu (e-menu) for restaurants
The e-menu system is a new technology for restaurant ordering solutions. The
system includes touch-screen devices installed with a piece of software to show a
restaurant menu with actual photos of the dishes (Emenunyy 2012). The touch-
screen devices are not only used to display the list of food and beverages, but also
to process the restaurant services, from ordering to payment (Jenie 2011). In
general, an e-menu is used in three different ways: tablet menu, table side touch
screen menu and a touch screen menu for waiting areas, as shown in figure 2
(Emenu USA 2011; Conceptic no date). However, Chen, Lin, and Yen (2011) indicate
that interactive restaurant tabletop menus can also be implemented by using
interactive surface technology to enlarge the size of menus and increase customer
attraction.
Fig. 2 - E-menu (Emenu USA 2011; Conceptic no date)
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 3 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
3.2 Restaurant service process
To investigate requirements of a restaurant system, logistics and information flows
are of importance to analyse the system. As can be seen in figure 3, the dotted
lines show that a customer has to wait for a waitress in order to give the order and
make payment. Therefore, these processes can be greatly improved by using an e-
menu system (Crowston, Rubleske and Howison 2006). Furthermore, e-menu
enables information to be sent directly from a table to the bar or kitchen. Although,
the e-menu system can bring several benefits, e.g. enhance the dining experience,
increases restaurant revenue, and reduces waiting time (Chirag 2012), they are
much more expensive than printed menus, and tend to decrease personal contact
between customers and waiting staffs (Studentwebstuff 2009).
Fig. 3 - Basic process flow diagram of restaurant system
(Crowston, Rubleske and Howison 2006)
3.3 Software usability and human-computer interaction (HCI)
In a software engineering perspective, the usability has been recognized as an
essential key factor to evaluate software quality (Gulati and Dubey 2012). Majid
(2011) similarly describes that effectiveness of software can be measured based on
its usability in terms of a HCI design and users' experience in using the software.
Therefore, consideration of HCI is an essential factor in delivering high usability
software following business needs.
In addition, because HCI deals with the way that people interact with information on
electronic devices, a HCI design should help non-IT proficient users to use the
software without specialized IT knowledge (Edexcel 2010). For example, effective
graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on e-menus should be easy to use without a user
manual. Therefore, to answer the research question, HCI design should be
considered and evaluated by both users and developers in all development
processes to produce the quality of the software prototype (Adikari 2009).
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 4 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
However, Hussain et al. (2012) and (Gulati and Dubey 2012) similarly suggest that
successful software development is not only associated with HCI and software
usability, but is also dependent on how software development processes fit
solutions into problem areas required by customers or businesses. The software
development methodology is reviewed in the following paragraph.
3.4 Software development methodologies and prototyping technique
There are several methodologies for software development to meet customer
requirements, e.g. waterfall, Agile and RAD (Rapid Application Development). The
waterfall model is a traditional approach which clearly separates development
projects into four separate stages: analysis, design, implementation and testing
(Khan et al. 2011). Although the waterfall model is an effective way to control
deadlines and outcomes in each process, it has a high cost when requirements are
changed. On the other hand, the Agile and RAD approaches are more flexible to
change requirements at any stage. With an iterative process, the requirements are
fulfilled to increase customer satisfaction (Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008).
Prototyping is an effective development technique that allows analysts to know how
users react to work with the prototype and how good the fit is between their needs
and the prototyped features (Kendall 2011). In addition, after the analysts get the
users’ feedback, they then make a new version to test with users again. This
iterative process continues so that users are relatively satisfied. Therefore, the final
product can be developed in a short time following the customer requirements
(Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008). However, Khan et al. (2011) claims that the
RAD approach with prototyping concentrates mainly on experimenting with the
customer needs. It may results in insufficiently understanding of the overall
business requirements.
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 5 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
4. Research methods, tools and techniques
The objectives of this section are to describe selected research methodologies, tools
and techniques based on the research objectives in order to answer the research
question, as well as to evaluate the chosen methods by comparing with other possible
alternatives.
As can be seen in table 1, there are several approaches to archive the research
objectives. Some essential methods, such as case study methodology, direct
observation, group interviews, and rapid software development (RAD), are evaluated
and justified in the following paragraphs.
Table 1 - Matching objectives to methods and outcomes, and summary of chosen methodologies
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 6 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
4.1 Case study methodology
This study conducts an inductive research. The proposed methodology to
accomplish the aim and research objectives in this research is a case study
approach. This is divided into four main stages: design, conducting, analysis the
case study evidence, and developing the conclusions and implications (Yin 2010).
The case in this research is the development of an e-menu prototype at a selected
Thai casual dining restaurant. The type of research design is a single-case study
with two analysis units, which are the evaluation of the software development and
users’ perceptions. The case study method is not only suitable for conducting
evaluation research, but is also appropriate for a descriptive question, such as what
or how. It is better than a quantitative approach in terms of providing holistic and
in-depth explanations of the behavioral problems (Kemanusiaan 2007). However,
Baxter and Jack (2008) claim that it can also be extremely time consuming.
To conduct this case study, qualitative approaches by direct observation and the
group interview methods are selected to collect data.
Firstly, direct observation for requirement analysis is a straightforward activity that
can provide insight into the users and their tasks, whereas indirect observation by
video recording can create more distance between observers and users, and that
by interviews only can be difficult to clearly understand all problem areas
(Kriwaczek 2006).
Secondly, although collecting data by a questionnaire method is cheap, convenient
and has no bias by an interviewer, evaluating users’ perceptions of the e-menu
system by group interviews enable an interviewer to make clear in unambiguous
question as well as prevent missing important data (Slack 2012a). It can also
provide both detailed information and some fascinating contextual or other
information (Wisker 2008). The comparison among observation, interview, and
questionnaire methods are summarized as following table.
Table 2 - Comparison table among observation, interview and questionnaire methods
(Slack 2012b)
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 7 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
4.2 Software development methodology by RAD with prototyping
Regarding literature evaluation, Agile and rapid application development (RAD) are
iterative software development methodologies to react to the problems with the
traditional waterfall methodology. Agile approach starts from analysis requirements
and design specifications, then directly to code and test software, whereas the RAD
approach uses a prototype to get feedback from customers in order to enhance the
prototype until the users are satisfied. This continuous feedback loop enables an
RAD prototype to correspond exactly with customer needs (Meso and Jain 2011).
Moreover, RAD is appropriate for a small project which has a shorter delivery time,
but Agile is suitable for a larger project (Khan et al. 2011). Finally, the RAD
approach can enhance the features of the prototype more rapidly to deliver a
workable and satisfactory system. However, using RAD with prototyping may make
a system inadequate for overall business needs if the system is accepted by only
specific groups of users (Hoffer, George and Valacich 2008).
This research proposes RAD as a development methodology to develop a prototype
for several reasons. Firstly, RAD is an incremental software development process
model by using customers’ feedback. Therefore, the quality of the prototype will be
improved throughout the life cycle as shown in figure 4 (Sommerville 2004).
Secondly, Hoffer, George and Valacich (2008) point out that system developed by
the RAD model both spend shorter time and is closer to the business needs than
that by the Agile and traditional models. As a result, the prototype fulfilled
requirements can be and developed rapidly. Finally, Gantthead (2010) mentions
that RAD is more effective than Agile for a narrow project scope with a small
implementation team. Therefore, a prototype which implements only some features
by one person is more suitable for implementation by RAD than Agile approach.
Fig. 4 - RAD Prototype model (Sommerville 2004)
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 8 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
5. Research process
There are four main research stages of this case study, which are design, conducting,
analysis and conclusion, as shown in figure 5 (Yin 2010). In the second phase, a
prototype is developed following the RAD approach to analyse, design, develop and test
the system (Khan et al. 2011). Data are collected and analysed in the conducting,
analysis and conclusion stages as follows.
In the conducting stage, requirements are gathered at a selected restaurant by direct
observation of the service processes and interviews with related users such as the
owner, chefs and waiters. Then, requirements are analysed to design user interfaces
and new restaurant service processes. Lastly, requirements are confirmed and an initial
prototype is developed, respectively.
After the first prototype is developed and tested by users, feedback data is collected by
direct observation again in order to analyse and create a new prototype version. As can
be seen in figure 5, the life cycle of developing the prototype is an iterative process
repeated until the users are satisfied.
In addition, after the final prototype is completed and tested by waiting staffs and
customers, data is then collected by group interviews from the restaurant owner and all
waiting staff, whereas a non-probability sample of around ten customer groups are
selected to interview.
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 9 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
Fig. 5 - Proposed research process framework (Yin 2010; Khan et al. 2011)
In data analysis process, the approach for interpreting qualitative data is a content
analysis method. This method can analyse data for the objective and systematic
description of manifest content of communication. It is an effective technique that helps
analyst reducing time and the effect of bias (Kohlbacher 2006).
In conclusion, collecting data by direct observation in their natural habitats is an
effective way to understand business processes and requirements, especially implicit
requirements. It is also an effective way for getting feedback about the prototype to
refine requirements so that it satisfies users (Sehlhorst 2006), whereas qualitative
group interview approach is a good method to capture the subjective comments of
participants and find out the perceptions of users (Blom 2006).
6. Potential outcomes
This research is expected to design and develop a prototype of e-menu application for a
Thai casual dining restaurant. The potential outcomes can be defined in terms of
software development artifacts, users’ perceptions and recommendations regarding
development of the e-menu application.
Firstly, a prototype of e-menu application, system analysis and design documents, such
as database design, use case, class diagrams, and feedback from development of the e-
menu prototype can be of benefit to software practitioners and developers who are
interested in software development, especially for mobile application, restaurant system
and RAD methodology. Furthermore, the prototype and system design documents of
this case study will be useful to produce the final product of an e-menu system in the
future.
Secondly, the summary of users’ perceptions on using e-menu application can be
information for restaurant owners and people who would like to start a restaurant
business. It can help them to make decisions with regards to implementation of the e-
menu system to improve their service efficiency and customer satisfaction. In addition,
this case study can also generalize the result to other types of restaurants, e.g. fast
food restaurants, cafes and pubs, because most restaurants use menus for ordering
food and beverage as a basic function.
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 10 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
7. Issues of access and ethics
There are some ethical issues that need to be addressed in this research. Firstly, in the
direct observation process at a selected restaurant, a researcher must request formal
permission to observe activities, and must not disclose business information without
permission, e.g. revenue and number of customers. Moreover, all information has to be
reviewed by the restaurant owner and related people before submission. Finally, in the
interview process, the researcher must explain the objectives of the research to
participants and request permission to record sound or video during the interviews
(Wisker 2008).
8. Conclusion
To sum up, this inductive research will employ a case study approach to answer the
research question that is how can a prototype of an electronic menu (e-menu)
application be developed for the casual dining restaurant industry to meet business
requirements? The case study will use qualitative approaches i.e. direct observation to
develop a software prototype, and group interviews to evaluate users’ perceptions.
Finally, this research is expected that the software prototype, system design documents
and suggestions in this development will be of benefit to software practitioners and
developers who are interested in the development of mobile applications, especially for
the restaurant industry. It is also hoped to be of a particular interest to restaurant
owners who are looking towards improving their service efficiency and customer
satisfaction by using an e-menu system.
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 11 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
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Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 12 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 13 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal
Mr Traitet Thepbandansuk Student ID: 20043132 Module: RPP
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Course: Enterprise Systems Professionals Page 14 of 14 Assessment 2 – Individual Research Proposal