# From Concept to Restaurant Pilot in Under a Year

DevFeed: [From Concept to Restaurant Pilot in Under a Year](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/from-concept-to-restaurant-pilot-in-under-a-year-23977.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://medium.com/mcdonalds-technical-blog/from-concept-to-restaurant-pilot-in-under-a-year-028f049dbbbe?source=rss----3bac42476d27---4>)

Author: Global Technology

Published: 2026-08-25T17:13:54Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [McDonald's Technical Blog - Medium](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/mcdonald-s-technical-blog-medium.md>)

Topics: [User experience (UX)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ux.md>), [User interface design](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ui-design.md>), [Usability](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/usability.md>), [Front end](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/frontend.md>), [Testing](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/testing.md>)

Tags: [collaboration](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/collaboration.md>), [digital-transformation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/digital-transformation.md>), [frontend](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/frontend.md>), [innovation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/innovation.md>), [product-development](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/product-development.md>), [prototyping](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/prototyping.md>), [testing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/testing.md>), [usability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/usability.md>), [user-research](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/user-research.md>), [ux](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ux.md>), [ux-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ux-design.md>)

## AI overview

The article describes how McDonald's used user research, rapid prototyping, cross-functional collaboration, and real-world testing to develop Sesame UX and move it from concept to a live restaurant pilot in under a year. The work addressed crew needs, operational complexity, and business priorities for the company's global POS system.

## Source excerpt

How McDonald's combined user research, rapid prototyping, and cross-functional collaboration to bring Sesame UX from idea to reality. by: Ryan Bush, Sr Manager, UX Design & Kartik Patel, Software Engineer II Quick Bytes Bringing a new Point-of-Sale (POS) experience to life at McDonald's scale required balancing crew needs, operational complexity, and business priorities Research, prototyping, and real-world testing showed a new approach could improve speed, accuracy, and usability for crew members Sesame UX moved from concept to a live restaurant pilot in under a year, demonstrating measurable improvements and a new approach to innovation at scale Creating meaningful change at the scale of McDonald's means navigating deeply entrenched operational practices, specialized technology, and market-specific requirements. Any new idea must not only solve a meaningful problem but also demonstrate value that resonates across a broad and diverse set of stakeholders. Driving transformative innovation in an organization at this scale requires building shared alignment around the root problem, the opportunity it presents, and the value a proposed solution can create. It also requires using cost-efficient methods to prove to stakeholders the undeniable value of the change, along with a team of determined individuals who can get creative and who aren't deterred by obstacles or setbacks. McDonald's global Point-of-Sale (POS) system, Sesame, is actively used by over one million crew members worldwide. Markets, Owner/Operators, and managers have invested significant time and resources in training crew members to use the system, and thousands of crew members have mastered the POS experience. With this level of scale and investment, how could an organization evolve the frontend POS experience while building on the strengths of an already proven platform? How could the benefits outweigh the cost of the change? Building on a foundation used by millions The Sesame platform has evolved over