> Interview & Contextual Inquiry
> Design solution and Iteration
> Improved user retention
> Reduced operational costs
Context
My Role
Business Impact
Instacart is a company helping customers shop for groceries. It experience a high return rate for substituted items when the desired products are out of stock.
Instacart
Optimizing Substitutions to Deliver Higher Satisfaction
Instacart shoppers are tasked with selecting substitute products when a desired item is out of stock.
However, customers are often dissatisfied with these substitutions, resulting in a high return rate.
All three stakeholders (customers, shoppers and Instacart) seek to improve the substitute process.
01 Problem
02 The issues with existing solutions
Instacart selects "replace with best match" for out-of-stock items. However, the definition of "best match" is highly personalized.
Though customers can customize replacements for each item, the process is highly time-consuming.
Though customers can customize replacements for each item, the process is highly time-consuming.
On the other hand, how do shoppers feel?
"I have to work from home and don't have time to shop for myself. What's the point if I have to constantly monitor messages to check if the replacements are correct?"
"If you choose a replacement yourself, the customer gets a refund and your tips are reduced. But if you wait for a reply, who's going to pay for your time?"
And they say…
I designed a history-informed substitution system that suggests personalized substitutes for out-of-stock items based on a user’s shopping habits. This feature is especially useful for time-constrained users who rely on efficient, accurate substitutions.
04 Solution
//Balancing Stakeholders‘ needs
Focusing solely on customer experience would increase order time, adding to shoppers' workload and reducing their hourly wage, which risks higher turnover.
05 Design Rationale
06 Design System
//Protecting Shopper Autonomy
For design decisions unrelated to customers' core needs, I adhere to Instacart's business principle: empowering gig workers with more independence and judgment in their tasks rather than treating them as tools for executing instructions. Here's an example↓
//Adhere to Instacart's Type Hierarchy, Colors, Components and everything
The Instacart design team has illustrated their design style and principles in extreme detail. I followed most of the rules closely, though I chose DM Sans as it is the closest font resembling Instacart Sans.
03 Shopper Contextual Inquiry
We visited local grocery stores to observe active Instacart shoppers and focused on:
Their workflow
How they decide on substitutes
How they communicate with customers about substitutes
How might we optimize customers' replacement experience, without adding extra pressure on shoppers?
> chen_sixian@outlook.com