KOTORI — Festival Mobile Order

A web-based mobile ordering system that helps festival visitors order and pay in advance and skip long queues at booths.

No app download

Instant browser access via QR code

Cashless and secure

Current payment method

Next plan

Multi-language support

English, Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Portuguese, Bahasa Indonesia

● TL;DR

A faster festival experience, proven live

1,100+

transactions,

Phase 1 → 2

2 → 23

booths across live deployments

Validated

less congestion at scale

¥1.6M+

sales at Vietnam Festival Tokyo 2026

*Data retrieved from KOTORI Phase 1 and Phase 2 user testing sprints.

MY ROLE

Sole End-to-end product design for live festival operations

UX/UI Designer

Product Strategy

Event Execution

Live Web APP

Official Homepage

Tenant Page Details

● Problem Statements

Background

Why we start KOTORI?

CONTEXT

KOTORI began from an opportunity we discovered through Smiles Mobile Remittance. As Smiles grew and became a major sponsor of multicultural festivals across Japan, our team worked closely with event organizers and observed the festival experience firsthand.

Large crowds created long food queues, forcing visitors to spend too much time waiting instead of enjoying the festival. Vendors had limited time and capacity to serve large crowds through traditional physical queues.

First Problem

How might we make festival food ordering faster without adding complexity for visitors or Tenants?

CONTEXT

Popular festival booths can develop long queues during peak hours. Visitors may spend significant time waiting for food instead of exploring the event. At the same time, vendors already operate in a high-pressure environment and cannot manage a complicated additional ordering system.

Following issues

1. Discovery & Wayfinding

QR discoverability

Booth identification

Pickup lane confusion

Trust & adoption

2. Fast & Accessible UX

Limited attention

Crowded environment

First-time user learning curve

3. Order & Pickup Clarity

Multi-order confusion

Missed notifications

Unclear waiting time

4. Menu Info Accuracy

Menu availability mismatch

Physical vs digital menu

discrepancies

5. Technical Reliability

Slow connectivity

Blank or slow-loading web-app

Risk of abandonment due to poor network conditions

6. Checkout Accessibility

Payment accessibility

Credit-card-only friction

SmilesPay integration

*Image created by AI

KEY INSIGHT

Visitors want a fast and easy way to order

Tenants want to increase sales without increasing workload

Tenant Page Details

● Design Process

Design Process

Discovery

User Interview, Feature Mapping, and Competitor Research

Design Exploration

Design Preparation

Hi Fi & A/B Test

Team Communication

● User Journey

From queuing to collecting

Before - Traditional Ordering

Go to booth → See long queue → Wait 20–60 minutes → Order & pay → Receive food

After - with KOTORI

Scan QR → Order & pay instantly → Receive order number → Pick up at booth → Faster queuing

● Design Result

UX Design Result

The customer journey is shown across five essential moments — from secure access to order completion and account preferences.

● Easy to FInd the Access

Easy to FInd the Access

Problem

QR discoverability

Booth identification

Pickup lane confusion

Trust & adoption

Fast & Accessible User Experience

Designed for Outdoor Festival Use

Since the event environment is crowded and the outdoor lighting can be very bright, users are less likely to read long text. Instead, they rely more on visuals, clear icons, and images to quickly understand information at a glance. Customers need a fast, clear, and trustworthy web app for this new app.

Select Store

Select Menu Items

Search by Map

[Select Store] Prioritize images and visual cues so users can quickly understand information with minimal reading in a crowded outdoor environment. [Select Menu Items] Allow users to add items directly from the menu, reducing steps and making ordering faster. [Search by Map] Let users explore and order from stores through the map, while clearly showing where to pick up their orders.

[Log in] Use email-only login to reduce friction while allowing users to save and access their order information.

Multiple Festivals on the Same Day

Managing Multiple Festival Entry Points.

When multiple festivals are held on the same day, users entering from the KOTORI homepage need to select their festival first. Users scanning a festival-specific QR code are directed straight to that festival’s page.

Order & Pick Up Clarity

Distinguishing Orders at a Glance

Customers often order from multiple stores, so they need a clear way to distinguish each store, order status, and menu item.

Ready to Pick Up

Preparing the Order

Order Cancelled

Orders are separated into individual cards for each store, with the store name, booth number, menu items, and order number clearly displayed. Color-coded order statuses—blue for Preparing, green for Ready, and red for Cancelled—help users quickly identify the status of each order, even when ordering from multiple stores.

Order Details

Waiting Time Clarity

History

Users can access complete order details, real-time preparation status, waiting-time alerts, and order history in one place. Detailed menu information and food images help customers quickly recognize what they ordered, especially when ordering many items they may not remember. Clear timestamps, pickup information, and payment details further reduce confusion and make the journey from order to pickup easier to follow.

Check out & payment

Adapting to Different Payment Behaviors

Single-store ordering; Users can only order from one store at a time. Different payment behaviors; International users may prefer cash, while Japanese users are more familiar with cashless payments like PayPay.

Manage order

Select One Store to Order

Users can add items from multiple stores to one cart, with orders clearly grouped by store for easier management. Before checkout, users select one store to pay for at a time, preventing confusion while allowing them to continue ordering from other stores afterward. The checkout flow can also support both cash and cashless payment options, accommodating different payment preferences among international and Japanese users.

Payment Page

The checkout provides **multiple payment methods—including Apple Pay, PayPay, SmilesPay, and credit cards—**so users can choose the option they are most familiar with. Saved cards and clear payment selection make repeat checkout faster, while a payment confirmation screen with order details reassures users that their payment and order were successfully completed.

Customer received

Confirmation

Payment Error Clarity

Add confirmation before marking an order as received to prevent accidental actions and ensure customers only complete the order after pickup. For payment failures, clearly explain what went wrong, whether the customer was charged, and what they should do next, reducing uncertainty and making recovery easier.

Technical Realibity

Reducing Drop-Off on Slow Networks

During peak hours, some mobile networks can be slow or unstable. Clear connection feedback helps reassure users and keeps them from abandoning the ordering process.

Driving Engagement & Revenue

Creating More Reasons to Buy

Encourage users to engage and make payments within the app, creating more opportunities to increase sales and revenue for both KOTORI and event organizers.

VIP Seats

Campaign

Introduce VIP seat bookings, advertisements, and promotional campaigns directly within KOTORI to create more reasons for users to engage beyond food ordering. These features encourage additional in-app purchases and discovery, while creating new revenue opportunities for both KOTORI and event organizers.

Partner Festivals