Reducing Post-Order Anxiety with Dynamic Island Tracking
When
2021
Company
Jahez
Location
Saudi Arabia
Overview
Food delivery is a time-sensitive experience. Once users place an order, they usually keep checking the app to understand one simple thing:
“Where is my order now?”
For Jahez, the order journey includes multiple stages: accepting the order, preparing, packing, assigning delivery, on the way, and delivered. These updates are important, but users do not always want to reopen the app every few minutes.
Problem
After placing an order, users often experience uncertainty.
They want to know:
Has the restaurant accepted my order?
Is the food being prepared?
Is the courier on the way?
When will the order arrive?
Has the order been delivered?
The existing in-app tracking experience can answer these questions, but it requires users to open the app repeatedly.
This creates unnecessary friction, especially when the user is multitasking, working, driving, or using other apps.
The challenge was to design an experience that keeps users updated without interrupting what they are doing.
Design Challenge
The main challenge was balancing visibility and simplicity.
Dynamic Island has limited space, so every element needs to earn its place. The design cannot behave like a full order tracking screen. It needs to show only the most useful information at the right moment.
They want to know:
Has the restaurant accepted my order?
Is the food being prepared?
Is the courier on the way?
When will the order arrive?
Has the order been delivered?
The existing in-app tracking experience can answer these questions, but it requires users to open the app repeatedly.
This creates unnecessary friction, especially when the user is multitasking, working, driving, or using other apps.
The challenge was to design an experience that keeps users updated without interrupting what they are doing.
Starting Point
The first direction focused on showing the order status in a compact Dynamic Island layout.
The main goal was to answer one question quickly:
What is happening with my order right now?
Early compact Dynamic Island explorations
At this stage, the UI included:
Jahez brand label
Current order status
Small order/customer indicators
Basic action area
The design worked as a first pass, but it needed stronger hierarchy and clearer progression between order stages.
Exploring Order States
Next, I mapped the key order stages that users need to follow after placing an order.
Early compact Dynamic Island explorations
The main states included:
Accepting your order
Packing your order
Preparing your order
On the way
Order delivered
This helped turn the Dynamic Island from a single status component into a small live tracking system.
The challenge was to make every state feel different enough, while still keeping the UI consistent and compact.
Iteration: Compact Status
One of the early UI questions was how much information should appear in the compact state.
I tested different ways to show:
Status text
ETA
Edit action
Progress feedback
Small icons
The final direction keeps the compact state focused on the current status only, with optional supporting information when it adds value.
This made the experience easier to scan and less crowded.
Iteration: ETA Treatment
ETA is useful, but it can quickly make the island feel busy.
ETA variations
I explored showing ETA as:
Plain text
Circular timer
Supporting text under the status
Part of the expanded state
The preferred direction was to show ETA only when it helps the user understand timing clearly, without competing with the main status message.
Iteration: Expanded Island Layout
The expanded state became the main area for richer information.
Expanded Dynamic Island variations
I tested different layouts for:
Title placement
ETA position
Progress tracker
Primary action
Visual balance
The selected layout gives the current status the most attention, then supports it with ETA and progress details.
This creates a clear hierarchy:
Status first → Timing second → Progress third → Action last
Final Direction
The final concept keeps the Dynamic Island experience:
Glanceable
Compact
Native to iOS
Connected to Jahez brand
Useful across the full order journey
Expanded Dynamic Island variations
The result is a lightweight tracking experience that helps users stay updated without constantly reopening the app
Key UI Decisions
Keep compact states minimal
The compact island should answer only the most important question: what is happening now?
Move richer details to expanded states
ETA, progress, and actions work better when the user expands the island.
Use progress only when it adds clarity
The tracker is useful for preparation and delivery stages, but not every state needs it.
Limit actions
Dynamic Island should not become a full control panel. Actions should appear only when they are clearly useful.
Key UI Decisions
This UI exploration helped shape a more focused Dynamic Island experience for Jahez.
By iterating on layout, hierarchy, ETA, progress, and state behavior, the final direction creates a clearer and more native way for users to track their orders beyond the app.