Having covered many large festivals as a reporter, I knew this was going to be the story at Bite of Seattle: patrons left hungry and frustrated after festival organizers relied on an app to accept payment for food. Customers couldn’t use cash or credit card to purchase at point of sale. Even vendors were upset—often on the receiving end of customer anger through no fault of their own. And as expected, the media ate the story up.

There were many problems with this decision:

• Funneling purchases through technology created barriers for the elderly and non-English speakers who weren’t as comfortable navigating a smartphone app.
• Using the app created confusion, which seemed to result in longer lines and delays at food stalls.
• The system forced vendors to explain the purchasing process to customers, which added to the delays. Some vendors were not as technologically literate as their patrons, and a sense of fatigue was clearly present as they tried explaining the new process to hungry, impatient customers.

READ MORE: Vendors disappointed after Bite of Seattle left a bitter taste in mouths

Lesson 1: Don’t force the public

One of the key lessons from this year’s Bite of Seattle was don’t force patrons to do anything. This also applies to situations outside of food festivals. It created a sense of resentment by removing choice and a sense of agency from the customer. Opening up the purchasing process to an app is an excellent idea that adds convenience for those who don’t carry cash, but making this the primary payment method was a mistake. It should have been one accessible option among many. However, festival goers could still use cash or credit card to purchase vouchers at customer service booths, which then could be exchanged for food. But it didn’t seem like many of the hot, hungry, and impatient patrons were willing to do this.

Lesson 2: Consider accessibility

Whoever made this decision perhaps doesn’t have—or wasn’t thinking of—an elderly parent or grandparent unversed in the convenience of a smartphone. There are many, including my own. Making an app the primary method of payment excluded large swaths of the population with money to spend, for example, the elderly or non-English speakers. It drastically shrunk the market; and for a large event like Bite of Seattle that wants volume of sales, it doesn’t make much business sense.

After the festival, the company behind the app issued a press release touting the event’s “record breaking success.” However, what they failed to mention was that same weekend Taylor Swift was in town as part of her Eras tour along with the Toronto Blue Jays who were facing off against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Both events drew hundreds of visitors from Canada, and the presence of Taylor Swift alone can effect the local economies of cities that she visits.

Crowds at Bite of Seattle

A shallow scan of social media turned up numerous posts from unhappy patrons. It’s clear this was a bad decision that left a bitter taste in a lot of mouths. The fact that staff needed to roam the festival grounds as ambassadors to answer questions about the app was a telling sign.

“Keep it simple” is an adage I always live by. And this experience seemed anything but.