Chicago restaurant week is here, so I pulled out my phone last night at home (while also on my laptop and watching Netflix - multiple screens are REAL) to look up some options. I came across Le Colonial, a high-end, 20-year old Vietnamese restaurant in an area of the city fueled by corporate credit card purchases, business travelers, and clientele over 45.
Looking at the heading of the mobile site, I was trying to find where to locate the 'About' information for this place. I had already scrolled down the page and clicked on a link to view the dinner menu, so I was in search of a UI element that would enable me to find location, hours, a gallery, restaurant history, etc.
What happened was humorous, and of interest to those in the user interface/user experience design world. Because I was on a restaurant site, I had subconsciously assume the hamburger icon and related 'Menu' text was going to show me the actual food and drink menu for this place. I had completely forgotten that on any other site 'Menu' would take me to the site navigation menu. For 15 seconds I was lost, unable to find an 'About' page. Perhaps in instances of restaurant use, the hamburger icon alone without accompanying 'Menu' text would be easier for people to use.
On the flip side of that argument, could you imagine the 'Book' option with the icon only? It kind of looks like a calendar, but without the descriptor I think people would simply wonder what it was, and miss the opportunity to make a reservation. And on the topic of text descriptors, I think that while 'Reservation' is a better word choice, based on space constraints, 'Book' was the logical best option.
The internet is an interesting place when you make the effort to pay attention to its details, and question design decisions that were made, and if they were intentional or not.
