McDonalds vs Burger King Usability Study

Situation:

Directed a comparative usability study between two high-traffic fast-food mobile applications to evaluate how their digital interfaces influenced the food ordering process and overall user satisfaction.

Task:

Evaluated and compared perceived usability, pragmatic quality (task-oriented), and hedonic quality (visual appeal) to determine which application provided a more efficient and transparent ordering experience.

Action:

• Study Design: Implemented a between-subjects design with 112 participants to minimize cognitive overload and eliminate comparison bias.
• HCI Methodologies: Utilized standardized tools including the System Usability Scale (SUS) for general usability and the User Experience Questionnaire - Short (UEQ-S) to measure both pragmatic and hedonic qualities.
• Custom Task Analysis: Developed six custom Likert-scale questions specifically targeting the food ordering flow, such as navigation efficiency and customization transparency.
• Quantitative Analysis: Performed statistical analysis in R, conducting Welch Two-Sample t-tests to validate mean differences, Pearson correlation to assess the relationship between SUS and UEQ scores, and Linear Regression to predict usability based on usage frequency.

Result:

• Statistically Significant Findings: Identified that McDonald’s holds a significant advantage in overall usability (SUS score 77.37 vs. 63.88, p < .001) and pragmatic quality (1.28 vs 0.67, p = .01).
• Ordering Process Impact: Discovered that McDonald’s significantly outperformed Burger King in the food ordering process (OF mean 4.08 vs 3.59, p = .0004), particularly in finding nutritional information (p < .001) and customizing items (p = .002).
• User Preference Insights: Regression analysis proved that user preference for the McDonald’s interface was a stronger predictor of high usability scores than the actual frequency of app use.