Creating a recipe execution tool to eliminate paper processes

Whole Foods Market

2024

Improve digital tool adoption by delivering value to Production Team Members through the elimination of paper processes in Whole Foods Market kitchens.

Creating a recipe execution tool to eliminate paper processes

In order to improve adoption and provide value to Production Team Members, I collaborated with a small cross-functional team to research, design, prototype and test a recipe viewing feature that eliminates the need to print out dozens of recipes each morning. We gathered feedback from production TMs and leaders to refine and inform our roadmap.

The Problem

Production TM

Printing out recipes adds an extra hour to Team Leaders task list
Printed recipes can be outdated, spilled on and lost around the busy kitchen
Printouts don't track ingredient changes and can't scale if needed

Business

TM adoption is low as current recipe execution tablet does not show recipes
Eliminating paper processes can save TL labor hours
Displaying recipes on the tablet can trigger completion of the task

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I met with key stakeholders from Product, Engineering and Business to present key findings from user testing so we could align on a differentiated storefront. I showcased the pros and cons of each approach and we collectively aligned on a differentiated storefront. This ensures:

No cart conflict when checking out separately
No confusion between fulfillment promises
Clear and logical ingress and egress points that enables customers to orient themselves
Alignment with customers primary mission to order catering
Browse, search and filtering UX is for the catering menu only

Through a mix of user testing and generative research, we uncovered the distinct needs of the catering customer. The insights compelled us to re-work the project plan and allow more time for up-front discovery work. Now the real work begins...

Flow 2: Meals planned to perfection

Audience: Families, Culinary Enthusiasts

This second concept sets out to provide our avid planners with a tool that makes them super shoppers. When we reduce the time from planning, we can focus on building satisfaction. Shopping for groceries becomes more delightful when focusing on the food you love. These screens focus on the mobile app experience in which we focused on reducing the friction our customers experience as they plan their meals for the week. Building your meal plan translates into building your cart at the same time. Build your own bundle too!

After some rapid and informal research, it became evident that customers in the meal planner group enjoy creating weekly meal plans, even specifying days when they don't require meals. These plans are usually crafted based on the ingredients in their fridge and pantry, inspiration from recipes or favorites, and family preferences.

Flow 3: All of your favorites, automated

Audience: Single professionals, dual-income households

Looking further into the future, can we leverage what we know about our customers to create an intelligent and personalized shopping experience that can do the shopping for you? We want to allow for full customization and control for those who want it, or no work at all. Either way, groceries show up every week. Think automated meal plans or an auto-generated cart.

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Flow 3: All of your favorites, automated

Audience: Single professionals, dual-income households

Looking further into the future, can we leverage what we know about our customers to create an intelligent and personalized shopping experience that can do the shopping for you? We want to allow for full customization and control for those who want it, or no work at all. Either way, groceries show up every week. Think automated meal plans or an auto-generated cart.

Basil Design System

Taking on the overhaul of the website necessitated the creation of a new digital design language system. This system is designed to embody and reflect the brand essence, conveying organic, intuitive and welcoming. In technical terms, it needs to be extensible, accessible, and reusable

“The Whole Foods Market website should be Disneyland for food lovers. It should inspire the senses, spark a sense of discovery, encourage people to explore — while conveying a sense of order and ease.”

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Moderated Concept Testing

Remote Moderated Prototype Evaluation with n=21 customers

Key questions:

What features were users gravitating towards?
What brings them the most hesitation?
How did the site make them feel compared to shopping in-store?
Would they be more likely to use this site or stay on Amazon?

Overwhelming positive feedback proved that customers were interested in the following themes when it comes to shopping for groceries online.
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1. Increased Efficiency
2. Inspirational Content and Recommended Items
3. Personalization
4. Brand Recognition

Post Launch

In-store Pickup Location

During store intercepts, customers were not clear where they needed to pick up their order. Store layouts are unique from store to store which makes it difficult to implement a solution across all stores. We worked with Marketing to design clear signage designating where to go after placing the order as well as displaying a map on the confirmation screen.

(OUTCOME and OPPORTUNITIES)

(1-Outcome)

Launching Summer '24

Stay tuned.

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(2-Opportunities)

Ingredient Aggregation

TMs like to gather all of their ingredients before starting production

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(3-Project Team)‍

Dream Team

Product Design Lead: Hanisha Patel

Product Manager: Sarat Burle

Development: Amazon Eng

*All images are owned by Whole Foods Market.