Why does menu design matter for coffee shops?

A long-time Manner customer who brings their own cup recently complained on social media that the chain's mini-program menu is hard to navigate, and the post resonated with many users. The customer built an Excel sheet to sort the products, noting that one drink can appear as several cards split by cup size and hot or iced options, scattered across separate categories. Some Manner staff also find the ordering system confusing.

The complaint points to a broader issue for coffee for coffee shops: ordering flow shapes how quickly customers find a drink. On Manner's mini-program, a single Americano appears as six specifications under three categories, and store sorting is not by distance, while agreement checkboxes add steps. As specialty coffee chains rely on mini-programs, menu clarity affects both purchasing efficiency and staff workload.

Today, when chain coffee brands commonly use mini-programs for ordering, the clarity of the menu interface directly affects consumers' purchasing efficiency. However, recently, a long-time Manner user who brings their own cup complained on social media about the messy layout of its mini-program menu, which quickly resonated with a large number of users. The user even made their own Excel spreadsheet to compare and organize product information, pointing out that the same drink is split into multiple product cards due to factors such as cup size and hot/iced options, and scattered across different categories, making it difficult to find. Not only are customers troubled, but some Manner employees also admit that the ordering system is confusing. In addition, the mini-program also has issues such as store sorting not being by distance and cumbersome agreement checkboxes. This article will detail the specific content of this user feedback and the reactions from various parties, and explore the impact of menu design on the coffee consumption experience.

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Now, the vast majority of chain coffee brands support ordering through mini-programs, and consumers can also use mini-programs to browse store menus in advance and choose drinks that suit their taste preferences. But just recently, a netizen posted on social media a post titled "I have never seen a menu messier than the Manner mini-program," which unexpectedly struck a chord with many Manner users.

The poster said they are a long-time Manner user who brings their own cup and occasionally opens the mini-program to browse the electronic menu to decide which drink to have that day. But during actual browsing, the poster felt that the product arrangement on the menu was dizzying and made it hard to quickly locate the drink they really wanted, so they simply organized a Manner product list themselves using Excel.

When this concise and clear spreadsheet is compared with the mini-program menu, the netizen noticed that some drinks in the Manner menu generate separate product cards according to cup size and hot/iced differences, and the same product is also scattered into different categories, making the entire menu appear especially bloated and visually messy.

Take the most familiar Americano as an example. On the Manner mini-program, a total of 6 Americanos with different specifications can be found, and these 6 drinks are placed under three categories: Reserve Series, Seasonal Limited, and Espresso, and the product names differ very little from one another, so without careful identification, it is impossible to tell what the differences are. Some netizens directly said that if they were new users just getting to know Manner, faced with such a mini-program menu, they would probably really not know where to start ordering.

In addition to Americano, other drinks also more or less have similar situations. For example, some users reported that "large and extra-large are not next to each other, and hot latte and iced latte are split into two," and "Clear Light Butter Salted Cheese is one product card where you can choose hot or iced, but Light Cheese is two separate product cards for hot and iced."

Regarding this complaint, many Manner users who saw the post called the poster their "mouthpiece," speaking out the feelings fans have long had about the official mini-program. Some commented, "So I'm not the only one who feels this way... it's really annoying... hot and iced are two separate items... and the categories are also a mess," while others said, "Finally someone said it. J people have really had enough," and still other users complained, "First find hot or iced, then find extra-large. With that spare time, other shops would have already made it."

Interestingly, Manner store employees also have similar troubles. Some joked, "I don't know which genius designed this, as if afraid I'd understand it," and some part-time employees also mentioned that some drinks on the menu with names and product images very similar to each other are especially easy to confuse, and with a moment's inattention one may place the wrong order. When they first joined, it took some time to become proficient in operating the tablet to place orders for customers.

In addition, some fans also pointed out other shortcomings of the Manner mini-program, such as "store search is by district, not by distance. I live on the border of two districts, and if I want to order from whichever has fewer people, I have to search twice," and "I really can't stand having to re-check and agree to a bunch of agreements every once in a while. They're small and hard to tap, and there's no one-click agree."

In the eyes of netizens, after most people open the mini-program, they expect to see a clean and clear menu that can quickly help them find their target drink, but Manner's interface design clearly fails to do this, and instead adds a lot of trouble for users. Therefore, many people suggested that the official side pay attention to user feedback and adjust the menu content, so as to bring customers a smoother experience.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.