Sometimes simple changes can make a huge difference in usability.
I doubt anyone would argue that the interface design of an application, document, or web site matters. Depending on who the user is, the stakes can range from inconvenience to life and death.
Imagine if buying lunch at a restaurant required the scrutiny of selecting a mechanic or plumber. This is life for people with food allergies.
I have a child with food allergies. I was researching restaurants to see where we could eat and found that very few had websites that were helpful. Food allergy awareness has improved in recent years. As a result, restaurants usually have allergen information on their websites. On some sites I had a hard time finding the information. On others I found the user interfaces (UI)s problematic.
The better websites had allergen links easily located on the landing page. For a few restaurants, I resorted to a web search to find the relevant page. A link at the bottom of the page or a menu option are easy to implement. If you own a restaurant or are an executive for a chain, please fix this. In the United States FARE, a non-profit that provides resources for people with food allergies, estimates that 32 million Americans have food allergies. As you can see, there are a lot of people (customers) looking for this information.
The next problem is how the information is displayed. Some sites use filters, others ingredient lists similar to grocery labels, some sites required clicking on each menu item to get a list of ingredients, and others a chart covering the top allergens. All four of these approaches are problematic. Before I get into presentation, I want to explain cross-contact.
The severity of food allergies can vary. The exposure that may cause some itching in one person can kill another. This is why cross-contact is a major concern. For example, if a chef uses peanuts in one dish, and then prepares another without washing hands, utensils, or changing gloves, there could be enough of the allergen to trigger a reaction, possibly LIFE THREATENING.
Cross-contact risk is why I liked the chart and whole-menu ingredient lists over the filters. With the chart, I put my mouse pointer over the column of the allergen and page down. I can somewhat easily know to what extent they use the allergen. If a particular allergen is used, charts allow me to easily see the extent an allergen is used. This becomes a bit unwieldy with multiple allergies or large menus. With the whole-menu ingredient lists, I am able to search the text for the applicable allergens.
A few prepackaged items and a one off desert aren’t a big deal. When it is a staple to the menu or in major or popular dishes, it is. This why the filters fail. Filters make it difficult to see the extent an allergen is used in the restaurant. Unfortunately, the filters seem to be one of the most common.
A great interface, which I haven’t seen yet, would be a filter that shows everything with major allergens. This type of filter would provide a fast and accurate way to assess if a place is safe to eat at or not. The best interface would allow for both types of filtering. A link on the landing page to a filter like this would make a huge difference to people with food allergies.