I went to the Au Bon Pain in Kendall Square for lunch today. They closed the shop down for a few days for a redesign. The old way wasn't the fanciest of stores, but was pretty self-explanatory, you walked in, got on line to place an order at a bank of cash registers along the back, and various minions prepared your sandwich or croissant or whatever. You could grab a pre-made salad or a piece of fruit from coolers and racks while you waited on line, but otherwise pretty basic.

The new design is a disaster. You walk in and the cash registers are right in front of you, but the sandwich makers are along the back, the soup over here, the salads over there, and it's all very cramped, so there's no way to say, go serve yourself some soup without people thinking you're cutting into the sandwich line. People were milling around, totally confused, and they had three or four people whose job it was just to explain to people where you're supposed to go to place your order and pay for your food.

This is supposed to be fast food. It seems to me that if you have to tell the customers how your new design works, then your new design doesn't work.