In early concepting, the team tried numerous approaches including designing a conversational interface reflecting the personal banter baristas would often have with customers. But with coffee, efficiency is key and the entire flow needed to be ultra fast.

Analysis of an entire year’s worth of customer orders yielded behavior patterns and uncovered opportunities to streamline orders with a predictive model for efficiency. For instance, we learned that there are two main types of customers. The first, “creatures of habit,” order the exact same thing, every day, though not always at the same store. The rest? They like to try something new every few orders. For those ordering the same thing each time, get them right into it by serving up that order as soon as you launch the app. Meanwhile, send the others an occasional heads up about new varieties and drinks to try.

We opted to build the app in ReactNative which, at the time, was new and relatively experimental. Since ReactNative shares 90% source code across iOS and Android, development work for both versions can essentially be done as one. The move allowed us to release to the App Store and Play Store near-simultaneously, and reach more Philz customers, no matter their device. It also proved to be more cost effective and paved the way for future updates and features to be device agnostic.

As Philz Coffee saw exponential growth with new stores across California and in new markets like D.C. and Chicago, ReactiveNative allowed for extra flexibility to help customize the app and dashboard as needed per market.

The logic powers the barista drink dashboard system to keep things behind the counter running smoothly, accounting for an even distribution of labor, sufficient time allocated to each order, and stocked ingredients and products—all of which help ensure orders are perfectly brewed on time, served hot (or icy cold), and done right.