- Should dish names be in English, Chinese or both?
- Both, if your customers are both. Put the name people order in the larger type and the other script under it in smaller type, rather than giving them equal weight, because a board with two equal languages is read as neither. Check the font actually carries the characters instead of falling back, and give a line with Chinese characters more height than a Latin one so nothing clips.
- How do I show spice level without cluttering the board?
- One mark, used consistently, in the accent colour, and defined once at the bottom of the list. Three chilli icons in three sizes is decoration; one chilli that means hot is information. The note under a dish name is the right place for it, and the same note is the right place for a vegetarian mark. If a board needs a legend longer than one line, it is carrying too much.
- Is a portrait screen better for a noodle bar?
- It is if the wall is narrow, which in a small takeaway it usually is. A portrait board takes a TV stood on its end and reads top to bottom as one column, which suits a list of six dishes. The trade is line length: a long dish name that fits comfortably across a landscape board wraps on a portrait one, so portrait boards want shorter names and fewer notes.
- How long does it take to change a price?
- As long as it takes to type it, from a phone, and the screen changes while you are still standing there. That is the actual difference between this and a printed board: not that the design is nicer, but that the person who knows the price changed can change the board without asking anybody or waiting for a print. If it takes longer than a minute, something is wrong with the setup rather than with the idea.
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