El Burro: Restaurant Operations & Ordering Platform

Project Brief

When this project kicked off, things were pretty messy. El Burro was growing fast, juggling multiple locations, and relying on a patchwork of manual processes. Everyone agreed they needed a centralized system, but no one really knew what it should be yet.

My first job was to untangle all the confusion and turn scattered ideas into something simple and workable. Once the foundation was clear, the rest of the design process started flowing much more smoothly.

The goal: build a fully custom internal platform (instead of using Square, Clover as point-of-service or Squarespace as a CMS) that would:

• Modernize manual workflows
• Reduce employee workload and mistakes
• Support delivery & pickup ordering
• Unify menu management across locations
• Keep the brand experience consistent end-to-end

The Team & My Role

I worked as the Lead Product Designer, handling everything from UX flows and IA to UI and component design. I partnered closely with the founder and product manager to turn big, fuzzy goals into something clean and actionable.

Since there was no existing system to build from, I designed the entire product ecosystem from scratch: the admin dashboard, POS tools, and both desktop and mobile ordering experiences.

Customers & Their Needs

1. Restaurant Admins

Admins needed one place to manage menus, pricing, employees, and orders across multiple locations. Bringing everything under one roof gave them the clarity they were missing.

2. Restaurant Employees

Employees needed a POS flow that was fast, clear, and left little room for errors, especially during busy hours.

3. Customers Ordering Online

Customers wanted a smooth, no-nonsense ordering experience: browse, customize, check out, and get updates on their order. Straightforward and reliable.

Approach

How I Tackled the Problem

• Turned unclear requirements into structured flows and priorities
• Mapped journeys for admins, employees, and customers
• Created a scalable information architecture for multiple locations
• Built reusable UI components to keep things consistent
• Designed annotated flows for desktop and mobile

Key Design Decisions

1. A Centralized Menu CMS

One menu system powers all locations, but in case there were any individual updates or product that needed to be moved for that location, I added the ability to update the menu of an individual location.

2. Separate Delivery & Pickup Flows

Delivery and pickup behave differently in the real world, so I designed dedicated flows for each instead of forcing them into the same experience.

3. Clear Error States for Employees

Employees needed error messages that were unmissable and easy to act on, so I redesigned the POS error states to be much more direct.

Iteration

Feedback loops were steady and practical, leading to improvements like:

• Clearer multi-location overview for admins
• More helpful error handling for employees
• Backup flows for customers who denied location access

Constraints

• Building a fully custom system from scratch, no Square/Clover shortcuts
• Complex multi-location menu and employee logic
• Address validation and delivery edge cases to handle
• Pickup needing both location permissions and fallbacks
• Store-hour constraints → I designed (and illustrated!!!) a modal letting the user know that the store was closed.
  

Impact

I unfortunately was not able to access formal metrics, but the improvements were clear:

• Employees processed orders faster
• Online orders increased after delivery/pickup launched
• Menus stayed consistent across every location
• Admin overhead dropped significantly

Reflection

If I revisited this project, I’d:

• Run earlier usability testing around address/location flows
• Document feedback more formally
• Create an even more robust site map