I'd highly suggest paying a professional user interface designer to take a look at every screen of your app and offer suggestions and/or redesigned mockups. It looks like you're using nearly all stock UIKit widgets (default buttons, default tableviews, default split view controller, etc.) and the problem is that this type of app needs to be head and shoulders above the POS apps that waiters and restaurant works are used to which are mostly just grids of buttons. You've traded grids of buttons with rows of buttons instead of attacking the usability and user experience head on with a gorgeous, custom interface that totally blows away what's already out there.
This type of app will live and die by demos that you give restaurant owners. It needs to blow people away at first glance, especially waiters. Because you used all stock UIKit elements, at first glance it looks like it could be anything. I really think it needs an amazing interface to stand out from the crowd and blow people away.
Edit: I'd also suggest going to some local restaurants & bars and talking to people there who'd be using this app. Get their information and tell them you'll pay them $50 for 30 minutes of their time whenever they're free. Meet up with them and ask them their gripes about current POS systems, record this audio conversation (with their consent). Have them talk about the top things that they hate and the top things they wished it would do. Ask about what they spend the majority of their time on when using POS systems and which parts of the system fail the most often or are most frequently misinterpreted by the cooks or other waiters. Now you've got a firsthand account of what your competitors suck at that you can focus efforts on.
Agreed on the UI. The standaard iOS is great for certain things, but this isn't one of them.
Navigating repeatedly through these actions is slow and makes for a bad experience. As a bartender or waiter (both of which I've been in the past) this would maker me want to quit.
You're absolutely correct – unfortunately, living in Buffalo means there's a dearth of local talent and bootstrapping means we really don't have the means.
To be honest I took out more custom UI than ended up making it in because the people we tested with who were new to iOS really took quickly to the standard components and had a harder time with custom stuff. That being said, I'm hardly a real designer, so there's a distinct possibility my custom UI was just, well, not too good. :P
Thanks for your feedback. I'm familiar with your work and you saying this automatically means I'm probably going to dedicate the next week or so combing over my UI and trying to make it better.
I'd definitely suggest not caring about where your UI designer is located. It's hard enough to find decent UI people without forcing them to live in Western NY. Some of the best UI people I know live in Europe, Mexico, New Zealand, etc. If you're down for contracting with someone remotely, I'd take a look at Dribbble to find some styles of work you really like and then give those designers a shout. It could really make a huge difference. Good luck!
This type of app will live and die by demos that you give restaurant owners. It needs to blow people away at first glance, especially waiters. Because you used all stock UIKit elements, at first glance it looks like it could be anything. I really think it needs an amazing interface to stand out from the crowd and blow people away.
Edit: I'd also suggest going to some local restaurants & bars and talking to people there who'd be using this app. Get their information and tell them you'll pay them $50 for 30 minutes of their time whenever they're free. Meet up with them and ask them their gripes about current POS systems, record this audio conversation (with their consent). Have them talk about the top things that they hate and the top things they wished it would do. Ask about what they spend the majority of their time on when using POS systems and which parts of the system fail the most often or are most frequently misinterpreted by the cooks or other waiters. Now you've got a firsthand account of what your competitors suck at that you can focus efforts on.