change card design starbucks app

Why the Starbucks app is design perfection

For over five years, my coffee has always been at the tips of my fingers. Thanks to the Starbucks Mobile App, I can order my favorite drink with a couple taps on my screen. Then, it's ready for me in minutes. I enter the store, grab my drink, and ignore all human life in the process.

In terms of mobile ordering, Starbucks has established itself as a trendsetter. For a while, the Starbucks app was the most used mobile payment app until ApplePay took it over in 2019. Over 30 million people were ordering coffee through the Starbucks app, and that number continues to grow. Clearly, they've put a lot of effort into this process.

The Starbucks app isn't just a success in terms of numbers. From a usability standpoint, it showcases a lot of best practices for on-the-go ordering. Over the past couple of years, I have been using my smartphone to order food more than ever before. Any time I feel frustrated I think to myself and say "Starbucks does it better." Their app has become my gold standard when it comes to restaurant UX.

Using the Starbucks app, I've been able to identify seven areas where the app excels. These aren't the only things that are Starbucks does well, but they're the ones I find most important and define my experience on the app. Other apps take notice, and when brands want their customers to order on a smartphone, these are the features you'll find.

1. Your Points: Front and Center

If you're using the app, there are probably two main reasons. Firstly, you don't want to wait in line. Secondly, you want free coffee.

When you launch the app, your "star balance" is going to be front and center on your dashboard. This lets you know if you have rewards at your disposal and how you can get bonus stars.

This is a mutually beneficial feature. Customers know promotions and can work toward getting their next free drink. For Starbucks, they're incentivizing people for interacting with their brand and making purchases. I admit I have gone to Starbucks two days in a row simply because I'd get bonus stars. I also tried the Honey Almondmilk Cold Brew to get some bonus points.

I might be a sucker for a deal, but a lot of people are. The welcome screen is an introduction to the Starbucks ecosystem, and it shows me exactly what I need to know.

2. Two Gift Cards Become One

The first time the Starbucks app impressed me was the time I was able to consolidate two gift cards into one. It seems like a simple task now, but when the app first launched I was comparing my digital gift cards to physical cards.

Over the years I've lost money on gift cards because my remaining balance isn't enough to buy anything on the menu. While I could have used the remaining balance along with cash, credit, or another gift card, these small remainders often went unused.

On the other hand, the Starbucks app lets you transfer the balance from one card to another. This way, you never have to deal with leftover cards that have values under a dollar. All of these balances can be used on a single card and in a single transaction.

During the holiday season, I always get Starbucks cards. As soon as I get these gifts I consolidate them into a single card on the app. This way I don't have multiple cards floating around. I have one app, one card, and lots of coffee.

3. The Rewards Just Work Right

Sometimes you go to a store or restaurant and the promo code is really deceptive. There's a little asterisk that omits certain items, and the discount usually benefits the store before the customer.

At Starbucks, that is not the case. Their rewards are pretty generous.

The other day I purchased a cold brew and a breakfast sandwich. While both are "150 star" items, the breakfast sandwich is $0.80 more expensive. When I tapped to redeem my reward, the app quickly displayed the changes to my subtotal. I could see the price of the sandwich discounted from the total, and I was charged for the less expensive of the two items.

Then, I hit order. I got what I wanted, and the more expensive item was free. Regardless of your opinion on the cost of Starbucks, this is a simple process. There's no deception, you can easily tell when you have a reward available, and apply it with ease.

4. The Menu is Exactly What You Want

When you're trying to find something to drink at Starbucks, you want to be able to find it fast. On the app, the menu organization makes perfect sense.

The horizontal menu atop the Order screen has four main categories: Menu, Featured, Previous, and Favorites. If you select the all-inclusive "Menu," you'll find drinks, foods, and merchandise classified appropriately. If you know what you want, it shouldn't be too difficult to find.

There's also the "Featured" menu for all of the seasonal and promotional treats. It can be fun to see what's new, but you probably won't spend too much time here.

Now that I'm a veteran of the Starbucks app, I almost exclusively go into the "Previous" or "Favorite" menus. I know what I want, and I want to get it quickly. Starbucks streamlined the process to find your favorite drinks, and you can place an order in about five taps. It's dangerously easy, but very convenient when you need it.

5. Never Worry About the Reload

If you pay using a Starbucks gift card, you get 2 reward stars for every dollar spent. If you pay with your regular credit card, only get 1 star per dollar. Obviously, I want double the rewards.

The Starbucks app is designed to keep your gift card loaded. You can set the card to automatically reload once you drop below an assigned amount. This way, you can order quickly, earn rewards, and never have to worry about entering in credit card info (after the initial transaction).

I know other brands have mimicked this feature, and for good reason. It ensures your customers have money to spend. People are paying for coffee before Starbucks has to use any materials. Of course brands like Dunkin' want to imitate this system.

This feature can be dangerous for people wanting to save money. You're making purchases without doing any of the work traditionally associated with spending. It almost creates the illusion that you're not paying… until you check your credit card balance at the end of the month.

6. Finding A Starbucks Has Never Been Easier

Apparently, there's a Starbucks on every corner. I opened the app, and the map determined that's the truth.

Once you start placing an order, the Starbucks app will prompt you to pick a location where you're going to pick up the items you've purchased. Likely, you have a favorite location. In case you don't, the app is going to use your location to suggest a nearby store.

When the stores pop you, you'll also see a list of services offered. Some placed have drive-thrus, others will have car-side delivery. Starbucks will even let you know if there's a nearby store that doesn't allow you to order ahead. It's annoying once you're accustomed to using the app, but it does set proper exceptions and tells you that coffee is nearby.

The map isn't revolutionary, but it integrates nicely. It pops up when you're placing an order, or you can just browse locations from the homepage. It also remembers your recent and favorite locations, and usually knows which Starbucks I want to visit before I even start placing my order.

7. More Customization than Ever

I never really knew how many options I had at Starbucks until the app was on my phone. It's pretty easy to order a cup of coffee, but if you dig a little deeper you'll see just how much more you can put in the cup.

With the app, I can see every possible modification I can make to my drink. I can customize amounts added or try something unconventional. If you can scroll through a list, you can figure out how to make these changes.

This is like secret menu heaven, and it makes it less difficult for the barista to mess up. There are websites and Instagrams dedicated to a "secret" Starbucks items, but they're really just concoctions created using the ingredients on the app.

Even if you're less adventurous, it's nice to know all of your sweetener or creamer options. These things are never listed on the menus behind the Starbucks counter, but the app makes it easy to navigate through addins. Once you've found the perfect combo, just add the drink to favorites and enjoy it time and time again.

Is the Starbucks app perfect?

There are reasons to rave about the Starbucks mobile app. Customers can use it to get coffee, find stores, and manage payments. It performs all of its core functions well, but that shouldn't be a shock. The app is super popular, has over a decade of improvements, and is used by millions daily. Of course, it's going to run well.

The app is also branded to reflect Starbucks, but it doesn't quite capture the feeling of going into the store. There are integrations with Spotify, so you can get some curated playlists. There's also news and events, but all of the community information is buried at the bottom of the home screen. The focus is clearly on efficiency and order, not capturing a coffee house feel. At least users know the barista will never misspell their names.

Some of the language might take a couple of uses to get accustomed to. For example, if you order in person but use the app to pay in-store, you "scan" the app. In my mind, I feel I should be hitting a button that says "pay," but this is just a minor inconvenience. After all, I know to order a "venti" drink. Learning to equate "scan" to "pay" shouldn't be too hard.

I won't call this app perfect, but I do think it's become the standard for mobile ordering. A lot of its features get emulated in other restaurant apps, and the convenience is unmatched. There are now about half a dozen apps that I use frequently to order food or drinks. Starbucks is the one that feels most natural. Everything seems to be placed where I want it to be and the features integrate nicely with my phone. Perhaps this is why I seem to have Starbucks in my hand more often than my phone.

Thank you for reading! I love connecting with other content creators, particularly in product design, branding, and finance. Beyond Medium, I can also be found on my website and LinkedIn.

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