In 2024, I worked with Kroger in the design studio course. The problem Kroger brought led me to extensive and fast-paced user research, which was both intriguing and challenging.
I delivered an end-to-end user flow across multiple services and user ends, including front-end UI prototypes and a new service blueprint for actions.
01 Context
Kroger’s curbside pickup service grew rapidly in popularity. As a result, Kroger store staff were no longer sufficient to handle the selecting and packing work, so Kroger partnered with Instacart to support order fulfillment in 2021. But the new business model also introduced challenges.
02 Problem
Curbside pickup customers complaint that when they find items damaged or missing, Kroger store staff cannot help to solve the issue because the work is done by Instacart gig workers.
03 Discovery
We adopted a mixture of research methods to approach this complicated problem, as it involved multiple stakeholders and two independent companies. With no access to the backend system of our partner company or competitive, we had to be creative.
04 Define
Service blueprint is very useful in understanding process that involves both fronte-end interaction and backend systems. I used arrows to represent how information flows from one system to another, which were key touchpoints my solutions would focus on.
05 Navigate with limited information
Faced with limited access to Instacart’s backend and slow cross-team replies, we moved ahead with assumptions, tested solutions, and validated them along the way.
How might we enable Kroger pickup team to help customer with Instacart order issues on the spot, while keeping it business-feasible?
06 Solution
By introducing IC data at key touchpoints and feeding data back to IC, we made it possible to resolve issues directly during the pickup process. The design challenge was how to enable this seamless problem-solving experience for consumers while at the same time protecting the sensitive business information of both partner companies, including workflows and operating costs.
