Soul Café: update the menu without calling me.
A bilingual menu the café updates independently.
2 npm dependencies · Editable content · Automatic backup
What changes.
Context
Soul Café OKC is a café in Oklahoma City with English and Spanish-speaking customers.
What I learned
That for a non-technical user, the most important feature is being able to make mistakes without consequences.
How it was built.Decisions, evidence and details
Context
Soul Café OKC is a café in Oklahoma City with English and Spanish-speaking customers. The site had to be bilingual and, above all, editable by the business itself: menu, prices and availability change far more often than any redesign.
Judgement calls
- Two npm dependencies on purpose: fewer pieces to update, fewer ways to break over time.
- An automatic backup on every save, so an unlucky edit is never final.
- The «flip the switch, don't delete the product» pattern: what leaves the menu is hidden, not destroyed.
What I learned
That for a non-technical user, the most important feature is being able to make mistakes without consequences. A delete button with no way back turns every edit into a stressful decision, and the result is that the site stops being updated.