News

Can coasters address consumer disengagement in restaurants?

August 5, 2016

In hopes of counteracting phone distractions in restaurants, Heckler Design has created coasters made to hold customer phones, according to a company press release.

"Restaurateurs and chefs have a love/hate relationship with phone use in the restaurant," Dean Heckler, founder and lead designer at Heckler Design, said in the release. "Though customer Instagramming while dining is a helpful form of marketing, restaurant phone use has frustrated servers and significantly impacted table turn in recent years. WindFall Coaster was created to give restaurateurs a stylish and polite way to create a much-needed phone etiquette."

The coaster consists of steel and includes corner pegs that lift the phone away from tabletop debris and reduce phone vibration noise. According to the report, some restaurants ask consumers to deposit their phones in a cardboard box. The coasters alleviate that need, according to the release, but also allow diners to stay engaged in the experience without losing sight of their phones.  

"We love that our guests are sharing their experience at POSH in real time, but we have noticed phone use has added time to the dining experience," said Joshua Hebert, owner and chef at POSH Restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz. "Being a fine dining restaurant, we're also all about the experience. The fact that WindFall Coaster encourages diners to put the phone down and be fully present in the experience has been a tremendous benefit."