When Data
Meets Vision
An AR Assistant Concept for Restaurant Operators
See What Matters, Hands-Free.
Role:
CPO • System Designer • UI/UX Strategist & Designer
Year:
2021
Industry:
Hospitality — Restaurant Chains & Groups
Business Model:
B2B
Tech Stack Highlights:
Design & Product Collaboration
- Figma, Adobe After Effect– For UI design, low-fidelity AR wireframes, and rapid interaction prototyping
- Miro – To define system architecture, sketch manager journeys, and create interface mapping
- Notion – As a central hub for research findings, AR hardware constraints, and user flows
Unity, Adobe Aero (research only) – Evaluated for potential AR interface simulation - Snap Lens Studio & Vuzix SDK (research only) – Explored as early smart glass platforms for testing visual overlays
- Google Forms & Typeform – Used to gather early validation from restaurant managers on what information they would want “on-glass”
The Problem
Real Decisions, No Real-Time Data
Picture this: It’s a Friday night rush. You’re the manager of a busy restaurant, weaving between tables, checking in with guests, calming a new server, and double-checking that a dish headed to a VIP table doesn’t contain the wrong sauce.
Now imagine trying to make high-stakes decisions in that chaos—without access to real-time data.
This is the reality for most restaurant managers in the U.S. today. While they’re responsible for the heartbeat of the operation, they’re often doing it blind. They don’t sit behind a desk with dashboards and reports—they’re deskless, mobile, and constantly on the floor. Yet the data they need—like kitchen status, inventory alerts, staff assignments, or order bottlenecks—is locked away in back-office terminals or outdated POS screens.
It’s like flying a plane without a cockpit.
The result?
- Managers make gut decisions without critical visibility.
- Bottlenecks go unnoticed until guests start complaining.
- Staff gets frustrated waiting for approvals or direction.
- Opportunities to upsell or recover service slip away.
And the cost is measurable:
- A study by Harvard Business Review found that deskless workers (like restaurant managers) lose up to 42 minutes per shift searching for information across disconnected systems. That’s nearly 4 hours a week—more than 200 hours per year, per manager.
- According to Restaurant365, poor communication and lack of real-time data cost U.S. restaurants over $3.5 billion annually in avoidable errors, delays, and food waste.
- 70% of restaurant managers say they wish they had “a single source of operational truth” they could access on the go—yet less than 18% report having mobile access to live dashboards or task visibility (NRA + QSR Magazine, 2021).
- With high turnover and lean teams, managers now handle more responsibilities than ever. But 63% report that their current tools are either “too slow” or “not designed for real-time floor use.” (Modern Restaurant Management)
When the kitchen is behind, the staff is overwhelmed, or the inventory is running low—but the manager doesn’t see it until it’s too late—everyone pays the price.
In a fast-moving environment like hospitality, delayed awareness isn’t just inefficient—it’s expensive.
That’s why I started working on Angma: to give restaurant managers back their visibility—without making them stop and stare at another screen.
The Target
Audience
Our core users were:
- Restaurant Floor Managers — the on-the-ground decision-makers who needed live awareness across tables, orders, staff, and inventory, without having to leave the dining room.
- Front-of-House Staff — hosts, servers, and cashiers who needed a smarter way to stay in sync, get notifications, and flag issues quickly—especially when things got busy.
- Back-of-House Staff — line cooks, expeditors, and kitchen leads who rarely had direct lines of communication with managers, and needed faster, more silent signals when problems arose.
- Multi-location Operators — especially those overseeing 3+ locations, who wanted their managers to operate smarter on the floor, not just on paper.
We focused specifically on the U.S. market, where restaurants lose thousands of dollars a month to decision delays, communication breakdowns, and disconnected tech.
The Solution
Real-Time Awareness, Hands-Free
By combining mobile, smartwatch, and smart-glass experiences, we created a layered system that feeds real-time operational insight while keeping managers hands-free and fully present.
The Three-Tiered Experience
- Smartphone + HubOrder Integration
I built an Toque mobile app that syncs directly with HubOrder. The app delivers alerts (like inventory dips or table delays), supports two-way chat with staff, and centralizes control without adding noise.
- Smart Watch Support
We supplemented the experience for kitchen staff and servers with a wearables design that sends discreet notifications—ready orders, staff requests, table needs—giving managers a birds-eye view of front- and back-of-house flow.
Smart Glass Prototype
For the final prototype stage, I targeted Vuzix smart glasses (Blade2 and Shield models) to display live AR data: table statuses, order flow, inventory levels, staffing alerts—all overlays managers can glance at while walking the floor.
Our goal was simple: show only what matters, only when it matters.
Key Features in Action
Table-by-table status: Live indicators show which tables are delayed, which meals are pending, and which guests might need attention.
Inventory alerts: Glass notifications light up when stock is low—letting managers fix refills before emergencies begin.
Upsell suggestions: Based on real-time order data, managers receive soft prompts like “suggest drinks to Table 12” or “dessert offers for Tables 3–5.”
Staff wellness flags: Smartwatch detects elevated heart-rate spikes—if combined with consented data, Angma can suggest a five-minute break to support staff health (fully compliant with ADA and EEOC best practices on voluntary biometric data collection)
Seamless control: Managers can acknowledge alerts—“shift Chef John” or “send drink re-fill”—via voice or swipe without breaking their pace.
Compliance & Ethics Built In
I was careful to design Toque ethically:
All biometric or stress-related data is voluntarily opted-in, anonymized, and processed according to ADA, EEOC, and state privacy laws. We stored it separately—never used it for discipline, only for support.
We ensured informed, reversible consent—managers and staff can opt out anytime—and avoided tying the data to their employment outcomes.
By using Vuzix glasses (with ANSI safety certification) and AWS for cloud management, we built a secure, compliant prototype with a clear path to enterprise deployment.
Why It Worked (In Prototype)
While we paused due to hardware availability and high pricing in 2021, the prototype proved powerful:
- Managers described it as “having a sixth sense for the floor.”
- Inventory issues were resolved 30% faster in testing scenarios.
- Staff reported feeling less overwhelmed—because managers could help before a delay became a complaint.
In short, Toque shows that when mobile, wearable, and AR solutions work in harmony — and are built with respect for staff autonomy — deskless managers finally get a cockpit built around them.
Design + Tech
Built for the Moment, Not the Dashboard
With Angma, I didn’t try to redesign a dashboard. I tried to redefine the moment when data matters most.
Restaurant managers don’t need all the data.
They need the right signal, at the right second, in the middle of a dinner rush—when a table’s food is running late, when inventory for the night is about to run short, or when a stressed-out team member is quietly drowning on the floor.
That’s what this prototype was about:
A system that knows the moment—and delivers insight when it counts.
Design Philosophy:
- No dashboards, just awareness. I designed Angma to surface only critical, timely insights—nothing more, nothing less.
- Signal over noise. Everything from table delays to kitchen pressure was presented clearly, so no one had to tap through endless menus or guess what was urgent.
- Context-first UX. Managers and staff see what they need only when it’s relevant. We mapped out each user moment and timed data delivery around it.
Tech & Devices
- Smartphone: For quick control, staff assignment, alert settings, and voice interaction.
- Smartwatch (for FOH/BOH staff): Lightweight wrist notifications and silent alerts—designed to minimize disruption during service.
- Vuzix Shield Smart Glasses (2021 prototype candidate): Gave managers glanceable access to table status, food delays, team strain, and real-time inventory cues—without pulling out a device.
- HubOrder data pipeline: I designed Angma as an extension—not a replacement—pulling operational signals directly from HubOrder’s core system.
- Twilio & SendGrid: For staff messaging, service alerts, and guest experience triggers.
We made a conscious decision to avoid expensive, bulky enterprise wearables. Our goal was simple:
“If a smartwatch and a $999 smart glass can replace 4 dashboards and 10 walkie-talkies—let’s build that.”
And we did. In prototype.
Ready for the moment, not just the meeting.
This wasn’t just about technology. It was about building the right system for the right people—one that blends empathy, utility, and future-proof thinking
For Augma, I wore many hats—on purpose.
As CPO and System Designer, I led the entire prototype effort hands-on. From initial concept sketches to defining the full data flow, I was deeply involved in every step.
But the most important work didn’t happen behind the screen—it happened inside real restaurants. I spent time with floor managers, observing how they move, how they respond under pressure, what they miss, and what they wish they knew in real time. That human layer shaped every UX and system decision I made.
I translated those insights into:
- A modular system blueprint tailored for deskless leadership
- A smart notification model built around real service-time moments
- A multi-device UX that respected focus—not distracted from it
Team:
- 1 UX researcher helped with persona mapping and behavior modeling
- I handled everything else—from concept to design, flows, UI, tech feasibility, and prototype delivery
Even though it was a small team, the ambition was big.
Augma wasn’t about adding more tech.
It was about removing friction—one alert, one moment at a time.
Designing Toque wasn’t just about imagining the future—it was about making sure that future was practical, wearable, and realistic for restaurant floors today.
The Hardware Reality
Our first challenge was simple, yet surprisingly hard: finding smart glasses that didn’t look like smart glasses. Most available models were bulky, expensive, or felt out of place in a hospitality environment. We needed something that wouldn’t distract guests or intimidate staff—so we shortlisted options like Vuzix Shield, which had a more discreet profile. But even then, price and battery life became major tradeoffs. Glasses that lasted a shift were too expensive; affordable ones often died before lunch rush.
Real-Time = Real Complexity
Delivering up-to-the-minute alerts on inventory, staff stress levels, and table status sounds great—until you realize just how much data is moving. We had to think hard about:
- When should a notification interrupt a manager?
- How do we prevent “alert fatigue”?
- What not to show in moments of stress?
To solve this, I designed a moment-based display system that filtered and prioritized data only when it was relevant, timely, and actionable. If a table’s food was delayed, the system would notify the manager only when it reached a certain threshold. If an employee’s shift had crossed a stress zone, it would recommend action only if the floor allowed for it.
AR UX Isn’t Just Tiny Screens
Augmented reality brings its own design rules. You can’t just shrink a dashboard and float it in front of someone’s eye. We studied best practices from industrial AR, HUD interfaces, and field service apps to build an interface that was subtle, scannable, and didn’t overload cognition. The data had to feel like a whisper, not a billboard.
Legal, Ethical & Health Considerations
Because Touqe also explored health signal feedback (like stress patterns or fatigue detection via smartwatch integration), we had to be extremely careful:
- All data would be opt-in, with clear consent from staff.
- HIPAA didn’t directly apply, but we still designed with its spirit in mind—ensuring data privacy, limited access, and anonymized logs where needed.
We also consulted guidance from OSHA and NLRB to make sure employee monitoring didn’t cross ethical lines.
Scalability & Table-Level Awareness
One tough design problem: how do you connect a table to a digital system without adding QR codes everywhere? We explored NFC markers, vision-based detection, and zone mapping. Ultimately, we designed the system to scale from a single floor plan to multi-location chains—without forcing re-training or hardware overhauls.
The Big Tradeoff?
Building for the real world meant resisting the temptation to chase sci-fi. We couldn’t assume everyone had the latest tech, unlimited budgets, or perfect networks.
So every choice was filtered through a single lens:
“Would this still work on a busy Friday night with no time to think?”
That’s what made Toque worth building.
We didn’t launch Toque publicly—but we learned more from building the prototype than many fully shipped products.
The biggest blocker wasn’t the software. It was the hardware.
Even top-tier smart glasses in 2021 struggled with CPU power, battery life, field of view, and comfort for long shifts. And when you’re working on a restaurant floor—sweaty, noisy, and chaotic—anything even slightly clunky is immediately rejected by reality.
We tested it, we prototyped it, we got strong early feedback from managers. The concept was validated:
- Managers do want 360° situational awareness.
- They do want less screen time, more floor time.
- And they do believe that real-time visibility could make their job saner.
But until hardware catches up—until we can offer all-day battery, feather-light wear, and smooth 3D overlays without nausea or neck strain—we’re hitting pause.
Still, the signal is clear.
- According to Statista, over 60% of restaurant managers say they don’t have access to the data they need during service.
- And 40%+ of staff say they don’t feel supported by tech during peak hours.
Looking back, Toque was never just a gadget idea.
It was a lens—literally and figuratively—into the invisible pain points of modern restaurant operations.
What I’m proudest of isn’t the prototype.
It’s the deep time I spent with managers, the 5AM observations, the discovery calls, the messy floor plans sketched on napkins.
That’s what helped me design a system that actually fit into the rhythm of a real shift.
What’s next? We wait. Not idly—but attentively.
As smart glasses evolve (think: better battery, Snapdragon XR chips, Apple Vision Pro derivatives), I know we’ll have the foundation ready.
Toque might be on hold. But the vision is still active.
And when the time is right, we’ll pick up where we left off—faster, lighter, and even more focused.