You can't build restaurant software from an office. Before shipping Timo Restaurant, we spent weeks in real kitchens, at real POS stations, during real service hours.
The 7pm reality
During peak hours every second counts. When information breaks between servers, kitchen and checkout, tables wait, customers complain, the team gets tense.
Design decisions
- Order entry must not take more than three taps.
- The kitchen display needs an audible alert — kitchens are loud.
- Split-check must be one step, not five.
Outcome
Without being on the floor, we would not have seen any of this. Great products come from deep empathy.