Food for thought

For more than three months, our team worked alongside McDonald’s global stakeholders to design and deliver a comprehensive customer research programme.

Initially based in Chicago, our researchers conducted more than 120 in-depth customer sessions within a full-scale prototype restaurant, exploring everything from the arrival experience and ordering journey to digital touchpoints, family spaces and Drive Thru interactions.

Using a combination of behavioural observation, qualitative interviewing, eye-tracking technology and biometric measurement, we captured not only what customers said, but how they experienced the environment in real time, enlisting actors and McDonald’s crew to simulate the day-to-day realities of a real-life restaurant.

This was followed by a multi-market survey, quantifying the reactions of international customers using a digital twin of the restaurant concept.

The result was a rich evidence base that helped McDonald’s identify what resonated most strongly with customers and how the concept could evolve before wider rollout.