BevQ

Pros

• Intent to promote safe practices during pandemic
• Virtual booking system to avoid queues

Cons

• Overloaded with bugs and glitches
• Ridged functionality and lack of flexibility
• Unfriendly user interface

Overview

BevQ is a utility application designed for facilitating the sales and purchase of alcoholic beverages in the Kerala region of India. Developed by the Kerala States Beverages Corporation, this app was devised to ensure that social distancing measures are complied with during the COVID-19 pandemic, by providing consumers with a platform through which they can place orders and secure their slot for collection.

Performance and Limitations

Despite the commendable intentions behind its creation, the actual performance of BevQ appears to be plagued by a practical deficiencies and technical glitches. Many customers have expressed frustrations with unclear and confusing error messages, compounded by a lack of alternative apps to complete their transactions.

A significant issue consumers have encountered with this app is the detection of inapplicable distance and kilometer range for pick-up locations despite the travel restrictions brought about by the pandemic. Under the current restrictions, this has led to situations where users have been assigned pick-up points that are 10-25 km away from their chosen location, which proves to be inconvenient and counterintuitive to seamless customer experience.

Functional Shortfalls

Additionally, BevQ's functionality seems to be less than user-friendly, offering no flexibility in terms of order cancellation or modifications. For a modern-day app experience, not having the options for simple tasks such as order editing or cancelling falls short of customer expectations.

The app also lacks the ability to selectively choose preferred day, time, and location for order pick-up. Furthermore, many users have reported delays in receiving OTPs and the reoccurring "something went wrong" notification, pointing to a significant fault in the user interface design and performance of the app.

Desirable Improvements

It is evident that the BevQ application needs significant improvements. While the app was developed in response to an urgent and critical situation, it is clear that the number of bugs, glitches and inefficiencies currently plaguing the app hasa a net negative impact on its perceived usefulness.

Pros

• Intent to promote safe practices during pandemic
• Virtual booking system to avoid queues

Cons

• Overloaded with bugs and glitches
• Ridged functionality and lack of flexibility
• Unfriendly user interface