After one full year into a pandemic that’s changed both the world at large and the world of work, there are many lessons to look back on. One of those lessons is that you don’t need to bring people into the same physical space to foster a sense of connection.
During the last 12 months, we’ve been working hard to serve our customers and maintain team cohesion as we shelter apart. Instacart Design Talks, a virtual interview series between innovative trailblazers and our own Design leadership team, has been a welcome constant to look forward to. …
by Himani Amoli
Shoppers are the backbone of Instacart’s business. Every day, we’re energized by being able to help them serve customers more effectively and support their learning and development to build a long-term relationship.
In their offline workflow, they encounter back-to-back, real world variables. For instance, a grocery store can carry as many as 50,000 products in its inventory at any given time, many of which change day by day, minute by minute. In stores, shoppers carefully choose customers’ requested items and make quality replacements that align with what the customer is looking for.
Acknowledging that parts of their…
A lot has changed this year at Instacart.
As the Covid-19 pandemic forced us all to rethink how we buy groceries and essential goods, our business has undergone structural, operational, and cultural changes to adapt and continue to serve our customers.
Internally, we’ve navigated several shifts as well. Like many companies, our employees used to work together, face-to-face at our office. And like many companies, the pandemic has required us to learn how to operate 100% remotely. …
A Q&A with Elizabeth Ferrall-Nunge, Instacart’s Head of Research.
We just welcomed Elizabeth Ferrall-Nunge to Instacart Design as our new Head of Research. Elizabeth comes to us from Twitter, where she led the company’s research team, and Google before that, where she was a UX Researcher on Google Maps. At Instacart, she’ll scale the research team that gets to the heart of what busy families, dedicated shoppers, retailers and advertisers want from our products and our brand.
Research at Instacart has a direct and meaningful impact on our mission to create a world where everyone has access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together…
We’re excited to announce that seasoned design leader Jason James has joined Instacart as our VP of Design. Jason comes to us from Thumbtack, where he grew the design team six-fold. In his new role, Jason will chart the evolution of our products and brand as the leader of our Product Design and Brand teams, along with our Research team.
You’ve got a career spanning agencies, B2B tech, and online marketplaces. Can you give us a bit of background on how you evolved from a graphic designer and video producer/editor to where you are today?
Designing a new product and shopping experience from the ground up.
Contributors: Senior Product Designers Andressa Bougleux and Dan Shilov
Why pickup makes sense
Imagine: It’s late in the afternoon when Carol realizes she forgot to buy fish for Taco Tuesday dinner with her kids. She’s still at work, so she opens the Instacart app, finds the ingredients she needs, and schedules a pickup order at a store that’s on the way home.
What do you do?
I’m a user researcher at Instacart and I work on the shopper and customer experience for Pickup. I love talking to our users on both sides because it gives me the opportunity to get a better understanding of the full Instacart experience. That includes highlights like field work, where I recently met shoppers in Miami to learn about their shopping experiences. It was amazing to meet them and we got great insights on where we can improve.
How did you get into research?
As a kid I’ve always been curious about nature, biology, and behavior. I…
Overview
Grocery shopping seems like a relatively straightforward task — when it’s for yourself. When you shop for others, there are a lot of variables that can make the experience more complex. As someone begins to shop, they often have some common questions: How do I pick quality produce? How do I choose the right replacement? What do I do when customer isn’t at home to receive their order?
At Instacart, we’re working on designing solutions for a seamless help system so shoppers can easily troubleshoot in confusing situations or chat with a person who can support them anytime.
Challenge
A year…
What do you do?
I’m a UX Researcher at Instacart. Most of my work to date has had a focus on understanding shopper motivations, behavior, values, and areas we can improve (both qualitatively and quantitatively) to enhance their experience on the Instacart platform. My work has recently also extended to the customer, understanding their hopes, dreams, and experiences when it comes to getting their groceries with ease — whether that’s through delivery or by picking them up at the store on the way home.
How did you get into UX research?
My circuitous path to UX Research started in college…
What do you do?
I like to say I make things thoughtfully beautiful. As a marketing designer at Instacart, I design customer-facing marketing materials, from digital ads to social media content, emails, and print advertising, and a lot of stuff in between. We have an in-house photography studio here at Instacart as well, so I also do photography and styling for many of these assets, channeling a vision for the final piece from beginning to end.
How did you get into design?
I spent my whole life making art but when it came to college I went “practical” with a…
