Next generation restaurant point of sale

Square prioritized speed by letting each vertical build independently, but that created silos and slowed growth long term. Each team came together to build a single unified orders backend that shared features, improved seller experiences, and unlocked more complex partnerships. This was the biggest team and company priority along with Kiosk being the second team priority.

Design lead for : 4 restaurant designers, 1 order manager designer

Teams : 5 restaurant teams, 8 vertical teams

Number of features : 15

Timeline : ~1.5 years to complete

Contributed : Strategy, research, designs, marketing, success metrics, beta planning, management

The problem

Square grew by letting each vertical move fast on its own. That worked for a while, but as Square products scaled, it created friction. Features weren’t shared, partnerships were harder to maintain, and customers were left wondering why one business type had certain functionality while another didn’t.

The solution

We fixed this by building a unified ordering platform that all teams can use as a foundation. Orders are core to the point of sale, and every vertical depends on them. So instead of rebuilding the same thing multiple ways, we’re rebuilding it once, together.

Why it matters

Sellers notice. When one business has access to something and another doesn’t, it erodes trust. They don’t care how we’re structured, they just want the POS to work.

My role

I led design for this project. I partnered with the orders leads and worked across teams to define what this new platform needed to be. Since one team couldn’t do it all, I focused on building features specific to restaurants and mapping out the order of what we’d deliver first. At the time, I was the only designer.

How my role evolved

As we brought on more designers, I stepped into more of a leadership role. Taking a step back to mentor the team, set standards, and guide the strategy. I still designed some features, but now my goal was to make sure what we were building was cohesive and clear across teams.

Target audience

Restaurant next gen projects

Positive feedback

We recently launched this latest version, and received some feedback from sellers.

“The name pulled from card is super helpful during the morning service as they don’t run drinks to tables then, they will call out the customers name when the order is ready.”

“The beta screen design is more intuitive.”

“We appreciate being included in your beta test of the pre-auth functionality, it’s been a HUGE improvement in our ability to serve our customers with Square.”

“Swiping to start a check works great and is a great feature. Love the new order manager, nice clean look with great details.”

Opportunity areas

”When they add the tip, they tax the tip. 4-7 chargebacks per week, because the charges don’t match up to what people charge, because the tip is being charged. Getting at least two chargebacks a week.”

“When multiple tabs are open, and pre-auth is taking place, the closing process is slow. It takes anywhere from 15-30 seconds for a check to close and for the receipt to print.”