Starbucks Professional is a common UX strategy and UI design system for all behind-the-counter equipment found in Starbucks cafés around the world. Crafted from a foundation of highly functional interactive components and visually intuitive patterns, the Pro design system helps Starbucks and their partners realize a more intuitive, enjoyable, and connected device experience while delivering on the promise of quality & craft for customers.

The Starbucks Pro system helps elevate the quality and consistency of different device UI to create a more cohesive family of equipment and enjoyable experience for Starbucks partners and customers worldwide.

Before Starbucks Pro, every piece of café equipment had a distinct user interface and unique set of functional requirements.

Starbucks partners (baristas and operations crew) responsible for using this equipment daily found operating efficiently and confidently within the fast-paced café environment challenging. And product development teams found it onerous to deliver new equipment efficiently and in a standardized way.

Defining a set of guiding UX principles was a critical first step for establishing clear priorities and a baseline for strong decision making.

A set of common UX/UI components and patterns would act as the system foundation, with new components added as necessary based on evolving functional and user requirements.

With a set of common UI patterns in place, the look and feel was normalized across various device configurations and screen sizes, layering on additional detail & fidelity to establish a clear visual identity for the system.

Patterns were then prototyped and tested in parallel with ongoing product development efforts to help validate initial design work while also codifying new design requirements and use cases not previously captured.

The culmination of extensive planning, research, construction, and validation — Starbucks Pro is an equipment design system positioned to bring a higher level of professional craft and usability to Starbucks cafés today and into the future.