Abstract
This project researches whether Machine Learning (ML) and Social Media can help improve the experience for a customer who dines at restaurants. Previous studies have shown that restaurants should make their reservation and payment systems digital and online to increase customer service. Our project focus on the User Experience of the restaurant experience. We found out that ML and Social Media can contribute positively to the experience by focusing on the user-to-restaurant interaction rather than the user-to-user interaction. The limited user-to-user elements should focus on restaurant reviews and planning events to which ML can contribute positively, by identifying food images and connecting them to menu items on a menu card. This project discusses various ML and Social Media elements and how to utilize them, relying on data collected through questionnaires and interviews. Though marketing for businesses is not within this project’s scope, the test group mentioned that they would rather receive offers and news from restaurants than reading user updates, which introduces an exciting angle to how restaurants could use the proposed system further. The business aspects still need research, exploring how restaurants can use the proposed system for marketing themselves and how beneficial ML would be for business owners.