Serving Up Fresh Insight to Reconnect with Guests

The Starting Point

A national fast-casual restaurant brand had noticed fewer people walking through their doors—and wanted to understand what was behind the shift. While they had a solid research tech platform in place, they were missing the human nuance. I was brought in to quickly design conversations and exercises that could dig beneath the surface—to uncover what had changed in customer expectations and explore reactions to new menu ideas.

The Route We Took

We kicked off with contextual inquiry and focus groups, designed to explore not just behaviors, but customer perceptions and unmet needs. I used metaphor-driven discussions and lightning demo exercises to encourage honest, imaginative responses.

To keep the internal team closely connected, I set up a shared MURAL board where they could observe and document insights in real time. Once the conversations wrapped, we hosted a retrospective workshop to synthesize learnings and align on next steps.

Moving Forward with New Concepts

The team gained sharper visibility into what was no longer resonating with their guests—and what was still craved. They uncovered missed moments, subtle customer signals, and opportunities that hadn’t been fully considered.

This clarity sparked a new round of menu concepts—several of which are now moving into A/B testing. The team also left with a renewed sense of focus and momentum.