Restaurant POS for hardware and software
CAKE POS Restaurant OS Redesign
Redesigning the checkout, menu, and ordering flows for the CAKE POS and Kitchen Display System.
Role
Senior UX Designer
Timeline
May 2022 to Feb 2026
Company
MAD Mobile, CAKE
Tools
Figma · Miro · Jira
01 · Overview
The story in short.
CAKE is a restaurant POS used by independent and multi-location operators. I designed and improved flows for the POS terminal and Kitchen Display System, keeping the experience consistent across tablet, desktop, and POS hardware that restaurant staff use every day.
Problem
Restaurant staff and clients were dealing with day-to-day friction in checkout, menu, and ordering flows. Speed and clarity matter during service hours, and inconsistency across screens cost time and confidence.
Context
CAKE serves restaurants of all sizes. Staff move quickly between order entry, the kitchen display, and payment, often under pressure. The system also had to stay consistent across tablet, desktop, and POS hardware.
Design challenge
Cut friction in the most-used flows without removing power features experienced staff depend on, and keep the product visually and behaviourally consistent across surfaces.
02 · Research
Listening before deciding.
I started by understanding both the users and the business context.
- Looked at user pain points across checkout, menu, and ordering flows
- Mapped day-to-day workflow issues with the product team
- Reviewed sprint-cycle feedback from product managers and engineers
- Studied tablet, desktop, and POS hardware constraints
Key insights
Most service-time errors happened in modifier and split-payment flows.
Optically similar buttons with different consequences caused mis-taps during rush.
Reusable components were the fastest way to align teams and reduce engineering rework.
Research artefact · Affinity map
Speed
- Cuts in line break flow
- Too many confirmations
- Split-pay friction
Clarity
- Buttons look alike
- Status not visible
- Modifier overload
Training
- Muscle memory wins
- New staff get lost
- Tooltips ignored
03 · Users
Who I designed for.
Primary persona
Mia
Server · 24
“I want the POS to feel like an extension of my hands — not a tool I have to think about.”
Goals
- Move between tables fast
- Avoid mis-taps during rush
- Close out cleanly
Frustrations
- Modifier walls
- Split-pay friction
- Tiny touch targets
User journey
Open table tab
Quick — they're hungry.
Emotion
Focused
Add items + modifiers
Don't tap the wrong tile.
Emotion
Tense
Send to Kitchen Display
Did it actually go?
Emotion
Anxious
Split + close out
Please don't loop.
Emotion
Hopeful
Reset for next guests
Already turning the table.
Emotion
Relieved
Pain points
- Modifier screens felt like walls of similar buttons.
- Split payments required several confirmations and back-and-forth.
- Inconsistent components slowed both staff and developers.
Design goals
- Cut order completion time on high-use flows.
- Make destructive actions clearly distinct.
- Create reusable components shared between design and engineering.
- Keep the experience consistent across tablet, desktop, and POS hardware.
04 · Design
From idea to interface.
Ideation
Worked with product managers and engineers during sprint cycles. Took features from idea to release with tight feedback loops and shared component thinking.
Mid-fidelity wireframe
UI direction
Higher contrast, larger touch targets, calmer surfaces, and a stronger sense of hierarchy. Reserved colour for primary actions and status.
Final UI · CAKE POS — Order screen
Table 12 · 4 guests
Server: Mia
Main
SyscoClassic Burger
$14
Main
Truffle Burger
$18
Main
Caesar Salad
$11
Main
Iced Tea
$4
Main
House Red
$12
Main
Cold Brew
$5
Ticket #4218
● Sent to KDSNo onions
Dressing on side
Avg. task time
↓ 32%
Touch targets
+1.4×
Mis-taps
↓ 41%
Surfaces unified
5
05 · System
Reusable, documented, shippable.
Built and improved reusable UI components for the product team. They were shared across the CAKE POS terminal and the Kitchen Display System and cut developer rework by around 70%.
Cross-surface system · POS · KDS · Kiosk · Handheld
POS terminal
Front of house
- Shared tokens
- Shared components
- Same order model
KDS
Kitchen display
- Shared tokens
- Shared components
- Same order model
Kiosk
Self-service
- Shared tokens
- Shared components
- Same order model
CAKEpop
Handheld
- Shared tokens
- Shared components
- Same order model
One design language across every restaurant surface — POS, KDS, kiosk, handheld, online ordering, loyalty, and admin web.
06 · Validation
Testing what actually works.
Prototype: Interactive Figma prototypes for staff-training scenarios and edge cases like voids, refunds, splits, and kitchen routing.
Testing: Validated with the product and engineering teams during sprint reviews, against real CAKE hardware.
07 · Impact
What changed after the redesign.
A faster, calmer POS interface with clearer hierarchy in the busy screens, reusable components shared with engineering, and consistent behaviour across the POS and Kitchen Display System.
Outcome 01
Order completion time cut by 30%.
Outcome 02
Developer rework reduced by around 70% through reusable UI components.
Outcome 03
High-use store-staff tasks simplified for speed, clarity, and fewer mistakes.
Outcome 04
Consistent experience across tablet, desktop, and POS surfaces.
08 · Learnings
What I'd take into the next one.
In high-pressure tools, hierarchy and visual feedback matter as much as features. One removed tap can be worth more than a new screen.