{"id":6829,"date":"2015-07-07T15:49:49","date_gmt":"2015-07-07T22:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/proxystudio.uxpin.com\/?p=6829"},"modified":"2026-05-08T00:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T07:52:20","slug":"super-size-uxui-design-lessons-fast-food-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uxpin.com\/studio\/blog\/super-size-uxui-design-lessons-fast-food-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Supersize Your UX\/UI: Design Lessons From Fast-Food Sites"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo Credit: George<\/a>, Creative Commons 2.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Fast-food websites are an interesting mix of user experiences. They aren’t hard to land upon since fast-food joints register every domain name imaginable that relates to their name and menu items. This assures you’ll be enticed \u2014 brainwashed to run right out for a meal. A perfect mix of UI and UX, images are bold and navigation is obvious to the user.<\/p>\n

In this piece, we’ll discuss how you can look at fast-food sites to supersize your UX and UI.<\/p>\n

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Build Trust With Consistency and Familiarity<\/b><\/h2>\n

McDonald’s<\/a> has been serving up hamburgers longer than they’ve been serving up a website. However, the fast-food chain’s website is a powerhouse of UX and UI design.<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: McDonald’s<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The site may always be changing \u2014 depending on campaigns, etc. \u2014 but the UI is always consistent. Same look, same place, same function. This consistency helps to build trust and familiarity. That consistency is carried throughout Mickey Dee’s site as you delve deeper into it.<\/p>\n

The interior food pages continue to sell the product as well as tease with other products available. At the same time, they maintain a similar look and feel to the main landing page.<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: McDonald’s<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

With familiarity, users are more likely to come back. According to ZURB’s Design Triggers entry on “familiarity<\/a>,” research shows that the more times users are exposed to something, they more they’ll like and trust it.<\/p>\n

Meet a User’s Desired Need <\/b><\/h2>\n

But maintaining visual consistency isn’t all that’s happening here. McDonald’s demonstrates that it understands its users and their needs, baking that into the user experience.<\/p>\n

At the click of a button, a user can call up the nutritional information on any McDonald’s menu item.<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: McDonald’s<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Being transparent about their nutritional information also mimics the experience in McDonald’s brick-and-mortar restaurants<\/a>. A user can then add any item into a “meal builder,” which will tally the nutritional numbers so that he or she can know what exactly how many calories, salt, etc. they are about to down.<\/p>\n

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Photo Credit: Chipotle<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Anticipating user needs starts with having an understanding of who will actually come to the site. McDonald’s isn’t the only fast-food chain to grasp this. Chipotle also presents nutritional information to users. However, they take it a step further and use storytelling<\/a> and clever copywriting to showcase how their food is actually made, from marinade to grill. If a user wanted more information on the quality of Chipotle’s food, there’s a link that’ll whisk them away to another page, which future satiates a user’s desire to understand what it is they’re putting in their mouths.<\/p>\n

You can anticipate your user needs in a few ways:<\/p>\n