It seems like every company is coming up with their own app these days, and most of the time, my first thought is “Yeah, right. Who would ever use that?” That was my first thought when I read about the new Taco Bell app, too, but now that I’ve got the details, I’m not so sure.
Taco Bell has tapped into something huge by paying attention to what’s hot in apps these days and how users interact with their digital communities. First off, they know that Instagramming your food is huge. This is most popular with home-cooked meals, but they figured if they could make customers feel like they were the creative minds behind their own meals, perhaps they would want to share them in the same way you would a home-made apple pie. So they’ve given customers control to completely reimagine the menu at Taco Bell, by choosing whatever they want and assembling it on the new app. What comes from the users may even be added to the permanent menu in some cases, which gives customers an extra incentive to be creative and share their creations.
This is an excellent example of a company engaging its customers and inviting them to be a part of the decision-making process, which is extremely smart of them. But beyond that, they’ve also given the app an aesthetic similar to Instagram, which will likely shape the way customers think of the experience — as more creative than if they were simply ordering food.
Additionally, Taco Bell is being very responsive to the way apps have evolved, which will help ensure that customers not only find it easy to use, but can also relate to it:
“Like everything we do in digital and social, we wanted it to look like something your friend would post,” says Jenkins. Images are big and bright, and the UI is largely swipe-based. Don’t want cheese? Swipe left. Want to swap in chicken for ground beef in your Doritos Locos Taco? You can swipe through different protein options as if they were Tinder potentials.
This goes way beyond convenience; they’ve actually tapped into the zeitgeist here.
