Digital Menu Board Scorecard – The Budlong Southern Chicken

The Budlong Southern Chicken is a relatively new entry into the chicken sandwich QSR market. The chain was started in 2016 in Chicago with the mission of bringing customers “authentic Hot Chicken to you fast, fresh and delicious”. The following digital menu board scorecard is based on their location in Oak Brook, IL.

Creative Design (7/10)

Branding – The simplistic yet bold design approach works well for this digital menu board. The prominent use of the deep red branding color creates an impactful, recognizable visual identity. The white background provides a nice contrast, allowing the text and logo to pop out effectively. The colors of the digital menu compliment the brand and the physical design of the restaurant. The branding elements like the logo and name styling are consistently applied throughout, which is a strength. However, some subtle branding motifs or design accents could have been incorporated more comprehensively to further reinforce the restaurant’s identity and theme.

Visual Appeal – The use of negative space is judicious, preventing the menu from feeling cluttered or overwhelming. However, the lack of any supporting imagery or graphics beyond the logo is a missed opportunity to make the design more visually engaging and appetizing. The all-text layout may come across as a bit sterile or generic to some diners. The Budlong website https://www.thebudlong.com shows a large assortment of beautiful photography of the food. It would be nice to have brought some of these visuals into the digital menu board. While the menu does utilize contrasting colors like black, red, and white effectively, the overall color palette feels somewhat limited and could have benefited from some additional accent colors to add depth and vibrancy.

Typography – The typography choices are clean and legible, which is essential for quick readability on a digital menu board. However, some variation in font weights, sizes, or styles could have helped create a better visual hierarchy and guide the eye more intentionally. Use of fancy or cursive typefaces is often not a good idea. In this case the choice of the cursive header does work well as the typeface is quite readable and visually interesting.

Overall, the creative design succeeds in establishing a clear, on-brand aesthetic through smart use of typography, color, and branding elements. But it misses some opportunities to be truly exceptional by lacking supporting visuals and not fully maximizing principles like visual hierarchy, depth, and thematic cohesion.

Organization (7/10)

Information Layout – The overall structure and flow of information is quite logical, with menu items sensibly grouped into sections like sandwiches, sides, drinks, etc. This categorization helps diners easily navigate and find what they’re looking for. However, some section headers like “Everything Else” come across as vague catch-alls rather than clearly defined categories. More descriptive or intuitive labeling could improve patron’s understanding of the offering. The layout employs a basic grid format, but the rows and columns don’t always feel optimally balanced or aligned. Some sections have dense paragraphs of text, while others spread things out more. Increased consistency could enhance the organizational flow.

Clarity – The prominent display of pricing alongside each item is a major positive, as this transparency allows customers to quickly evaluate options and make informed decisions. No squinting or searching is required to determine costs. Studies have shown that including dollar signs can often hurt sales as the symbol psychologically connects the customer to money they are spending which inhibits consumption.

Prioritization – While popular items like the Original Budlong and Chicken Tenders are given prime real estate, there isn’t a systemic approach to prioritizing or highlighting signature/bestselling dishes. Some form of callouts or differentiation could help guide customers. This is an area where high-quality images may also help to direct consumers to items the restaurant would like to sell more of. The information hierarchy within each section is also somewhat flat, with all items presented in a similar manner. Judicious use of font sizing, spacing, and typography weights could better emphasize important dishes or details.

While the core organization is quite functional, some fine-tuning of the menu architecture, item prioritization, and micro-layout choices could elevate this design significantly in terms of user-friendly information organization.

Physical Setup (8/10)

Displays – The digital menu board displays a clean and polished physical installation. The screens appear to be evenly spaced and aligned (although there is a small gap between two of the screens), creating a cohesive horizontal display that is pleasing to the eye. This consistent spacing and alignment contribute to an overall professional and tidy look. The screens themselves seem to be of high quality, with small bezels (the border around the screen) that don’t distract from the content. The brightness levels across all screens appear to be uniform, with no noticeable variations that could cause visual hiccups when viewing the menu horizontally. Consistent brightness is crucial for an optimal viewing experience.

Details – One aspect that stands out negatively is the highly visible outlet and cables. This could have been easily avoided by putting the outlet behind the screens and out of sight. The mounting of the display is quite far from the wall which brings the displays closer to the customers but is creating odd shadows below the screens.

Overall, the physical setup showcases is good but can be improved. Simple steps like concealing wiring and avoiding harsh shadows can make a real difference in the overall customer experience.