{"id":22386,"date":"2023-03-22T14:37:18","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T06:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=22386"},"modified":"2024-04-17T15:10:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T07:10:14","slug":"elderly-overwhelmed-by-e-ordering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2023\/03\/elderly-overwhelmed-by-e-ordering\/","title":{"rendered":"Elderly Overwhelmed by E-ordering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Elderly face challenges when ordering food with QR code in dim sum restaurants.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Nicole Li <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Struggling to order dim sum with a QR code system in a Chinese restaurant, Chan Wing-hung frowns at her phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to choose what to eat on a dim sum list with a pencil and it is easy to handle. But now I do not know how to place an order using my phone,\u201d the 65-year-old woman says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chan loves going to Chinese restaurants for tea and dim sum with her family and she now finds the restaurant she has visited frequently for more than 10 years an alien place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to go to the Chinese restaurant every week but now I only go there twice a month because I do not know how to use the QR code,\u201d the grandmother says. So she now only goes there every other week with her family who can order food for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Customers scan the QR code to
order food.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Digital orders in restaurants rose 124 per cent in the year ending March 2021 compared to 2020 according to a report from the NPD Group, a consumer spending research firm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong, such as the Starfood restaurant and Lei Bistro, have adopted the e-ordering system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Customers use their own smartphones to scan a QR code to get a restaurant menu, pick dishes they want and put them into a shopping cart, and then wait for food to be served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Instructions listed on a QR code order sheet.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do not know where to scan the QR code but the managers are too busy to help. Almost half of the elders in restaurants cannot order food successfully with their smartphones. Everyone needs help,\u201d Chan says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She finds the instructions given by the restaurant are not clear enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are some wordy instructions on the QR code paper. But the actual operation is hard to understand without pictures demonstrating how to use it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The elderly recalls she once waited for about 20 minutes to get help from the restaurant manager to order food through the digital platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverall, the dining experience was poor, and I may switch to other restaurants where customers can order with a pencil and a dim sum list,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restaurant workers also dislike e-ordering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany old people complained and asked for help on the first day when the new system was launched. It was really a hectic day, especially during the peak hour,\u201d *Mary Wong, a waitress working in Tao Heung\u2019s Yuen Long branch says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey did not know how to scan the QR code. Some of them might double-click the options and could not find the confirmation list,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut it is better now as more people are adapting to the system. We do not have to handle so many complaints these days,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Committee member of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management Simpson Chung Chi-yeung says the association offers a series of workshops for elderly to help them better understand how technology devices work. 
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Restaurants used to fully rely on
screen monitors to process food
orders (Photo Courtesy of the As-
sociation for Hong Kong Cater-
ing Services Management)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt takes time to build a habit, especially for elderly. Still, it is important for restaurants to develop user-friendly interfaces for customers,\u201d the researcher says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe elderly not only face the problem of e-ordering, but also numerous technological difficulties,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Yang Tian from the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong believes old people are suffering in the digital age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not just a problem appearing in restaurants and delivery systems\u2014the whole internet ecosystem is not elderly-friendly which altogether accounts for the exclusion of the elderly.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe current interface designers often assume that the e-ordering platforms are mainly catered to young generations, while largely overlooking the need of the elderly. So, the restaurants and the delivery platform should improve the learnability of their interface,\u201d Yang adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restaurants are adopting electronic ordering to reduce costs and hygiene problems, according to Professor Oliver Chan Ngai-keung of the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cE-ordering minimises human contact especially during the pandemic,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Customers receive dimsum orders by scanning QR codes.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chan mentions that old people take more time to get used to e-ordering because they are new to technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut once the old people are familiar with the electronic ordering system, they can use it easily. They also faced difficulties using Alipay at first but now they have no problem. They just need more time to get familiar with new tools,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Names changed at interviewees\u2019 requests.

Edited by Karmen Yip
Sub-edited by Esme Lam <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elderly face challenges when ordering food with QR code in dim sum restaurants. By Nicole Li Struggling to order dim sum with a QR code system in a Chinese restaurant, Chan Wing-hung frowns at her phone. \u201cI used to choose what to eat on a dim sum list with a pencil and it is easy to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":22392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2182,8],"tags":[2073,59,71],"class_list":["post-22386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2023","category-our-community","tag-e-ordering","tag-elderly","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22386"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22446,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22386\/revisions\/22446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}