The activity I picked was purchasing a coffee and/or food at a coffee shop (Diesel in Davis Square) near my apartment in Somerville. I picked this particular activity because Diesel is a very popular spot in Davis, so I knew there would be plenty of people engaging in the activity of purchasing coffee and/or food items there. Additionally, Davis Square has a lot of interesting and diverse groups of people, so I figured it would be a great opportunity to see lots of different kinds of people doing the same activity in their own way.
The particular activity I observed was purchasing coffee / food. This activity is made up of entering Diesel Café, standing in line, looking at the case of premade food / menu, ordering one’s coffee/food, paying for the order, and waiting for one’s order to be ready.
While sitting at a table that had a good view of the whole line and cashier station, I saw a ton of different people engaging in the activity. I was at Diesel Café from about 10 am – 12 pm (most of which I just spent watching people) so I missed the early morning rush of people who had to get to work, but it was still very busy. Most of the people who came in were young adults (seemingly working professionals, a few years out of school) who came in to order a coffee to go and left immediately upon receiving their coffee (and putting their milk/creamer/sugar in it). There were a lot of middle-aged adults as well, who mostly took their coffees to go. Additionally, I saw a surprising amount of mid- to upper-twenty somethings who ordered coffee and some food and sat down at a table, pulled out a laptop or a book, and just hung out for an hour or two. Diesel has a very large seating area, with approximately 30-40 tables, and there are plenty of nooks and crannies to “set up shop” for a while, so the observed behavior is understandable; it’s a nice spot to just kill some time.
The two most commonly used artifacts were the large chalkboard menu on the wall and the electronic cash register. The large menu is facing you as you wait in line, so pretty much everybody (even regulars, it seemed) would look at the menu, even if just to absent-mindedly read the menu while they waited for their turn to order.
The people I spoke to were generally pretty unsure of why I wanted to speak to them at first, but as soon as I mentioned it was for a school project they would let their guard down a little bit. I generally asked them about how frequently they go to Diesel, what they ordered, and how their experience were. Like I had thought, most of the people were regulars, and just popped in for a coffee and were on their way. None of the regulars had anything bad to say about their experience, and generally expressed nothing but satisfactory experiences with the place. There were a couple people I spoke with who had never been to Diesel before (whom I picked out because they looked a little lost) who said that the ordering process was somewhat confusing (something that I can attest with, as my first time at Diesel was about a month ago). They said that the ordering process was a little confusing because 1) the case where all the pre-made food was (scones, croissants, muffins, etc.) was right at the entrance of the line, and so they often waited for someone to come take their order, but they were actually supposed to continue walking for about 10-15 feet to place their order at the cash register, which put the food case out of view. Additionally, the large menu is facing you as you approach the cash register, but as you get to the front of the line to order, you turn 180 degrees to face the register, thereby putting the menu at your back. This clearly made ordering a little bit awkward for people who were new / didn’t quite know what they wanted, and a few of the people mentioned it as well.
From speaking with about 5 or 6 people who ordered at Diesel, it reinforced what I already thought: that it’s mostly used as a to-go coffee shop that attracts a lot of return customers, and a few people who hang out there for a while and do work / relax. I also learned that I’m not alone in thinking the line / register setup kind of strange and awkward when it comes to ordering things from the premade food case or things from the menu. When I asked the people who thought that what they thought could be done to make it better, most of them suggested rotating the register (it’s currently on a corner, but not facing the entrance) so that its facing towards the entrance. That way, people would be able to see both the food case and the menu while ordering by just looking to their left and right.
The particular activity I observed was purchasing coffee / food. This activity is made up of entering Diesel Café, standing in line, looking at the case of premade food / menu, ordering one’s coffee/food, paying for the order, and waiting for one’s order to be ready.
While sitting at a table that had a good view of the whole line and cashier station, I saw a ton of different people engaging in the activity. I was at Diesel Café from about 10 am – 12 pm (most of which I just spent watching people) so I missed the early morning rush of people who had to get to work, but it was still very busy. Most of the people who came in were young adults (seemingly working professionals, a few years out of school) who came in to order a coffee to go and left immediately upon receiving their coffee (and putting their milk/creamer/sugar in it). There were a lot of middle-aged adults as well, who mostly took their coffees to go. Additionally, I saw a surprising amount of mid- to upper-twenty somethings who ordered coffee and some food and sat down at a table, pulled out a laptop or a book, and just hung out for an hour or two. Diesel has a very large seating area, with approximately 30-40 tables, and there are plenty of nooks and crannies to “set up shop” for a while, so the observed behavior is understandable; it’s a nice spot to just kill some time.
The two most commonly used artifacts were the large chalkboard menu on the wall and the electronic cash register. The large menu is facing you as you wait in line, so pretty much everybody (even regulars, it seemed) would look at the menu, even if just to absent-mindedly read the menu while they waited for their turn to order.
The people I spoke to were generally pretty unsure of why I wanted to speak to them at first, but as soon as I mentioned it was for a school project they would let their guard down a little bit. I generally asked them about how frequently they go to Diesel, what they ordered, and how their experience were. Like I had thought, most of the people were regulars, and just popped in for a coffee and were on their way. None of the regulars had anything bad to say about their experience, and generally expressed nothing but satisfactory experiences with the place. There were a couple people I spoke with who had never been to Diesel before (whom I picked out because they looked a little lost) who said that the ordering process was somewhat confusing (something that I can attest with, as my first time at Diesel was about a month ago). They said that the ordering process was a little confusing because 1) the case where all the pre-made food was (scones, croissants, muffins, etc.) was right at the entrance of the line, and so they often waited for someone to come take their order, but they were actually supposed to continue walking for about 10-15 feet to place their order at the cash register, which put the food case out of view. Additionally, the large menu is facing you as you approach the cash register, but as you get to the front of the line to order, you turn 180 degrees to face the register, thereby putting the menu at your back. This clearly made ordering a little bit awkward for people who were new / didn’t quite know what they wanted, and a few of the people mentioned it as well.
From speaking with about 5 or 6 people who ordered at Diesel, it reinforced what I already thought: that it’s mostly used as a to-go coffee shop that attracts a lot of return customers, and a few people who hang out there for a while and do work / relax. I also learned that I’m not alone in thinking the line / register setup kind of strange and awkward when it comes to ordering things from the premade food case or things from the menu. When I asked the people who thought that what they thought could be done to make it better, most of them suggested rotating the register (it’s currently on a corner, but not facing the entrance) so that its facing towards the entrance. That way, people would be able to see both the food case and the menu while ordering by just looking to their left and right.