DesignAbout
Move
Designing an online grocery experience from the ground up—across digital, physical, and brand touchpoints.
Overview
When I joined Move in 2019, the team had a brandbook—and a bold plan: launch a fully functioning online grocery store with over 100 products in just three months, all while building early momentum through a Kickstarter campaign.
We needed to raise awareness, develop a storefront, design packaging, and deliver a unified customer experience—all under tight time and budget constraints.
Role & Responsibilities
As the sole designer, I led all aspects of design across three core areas:- The Store: I designed the entire digital shopping experience, including a custom onboarding flow tailored to users who joined during our fundraising campaign.
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The Products: With only a brandbook to start, I extended the visual system into physical packaging—designing all product labels and shipping materials. I also handled product photography and managed a creative team for video and content production.
- Marketing: I created all campaign graphics for Kickstarter, social media, and press.
Collaborators & Stakeholders
- Worked with the CEO to design the digital store and brand strategy
- Partnered with the Supply Chain Manager on packaging and shipping material design
- Collaborated with a NYC-based development firm to bring the platform to life
- Coordinated with the Social Media Manager to craft campaign visuals
Scope & Constraints
- Time: 3-month turnaround from concept to launch
- Budget: Limited funding during pre-launch phase
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Team: Small, lean team working across multiple verticals
- Logistics: Inventory, fulfillment, and onboarding had to scale rapidly
To minimize engineering rework, I adopted a lean design approach rooted in fast iterations, and we leveraged early user data to focus the UX strategy.
Problem Statement
Getting access to high-quality groceries remains a challenge for many Americans—especially for small-batch, gourmet, or regional products.
While delivery services have expanded access, availability is still uneven depending on geography.
How might we put the best food front and center—no matter where customers live?
User Research
After Kickstarter, we surveyed our backers and found:
- 50% were between 32–38 years old
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The second-largest group was 50+
This presented a UX challenge: build a single onboarding experience accessible to both digital natives and users less familiar with online platforms.
This insights board helped us break down the challenges users faced during Move’s onboarding process into four key categories: technical, emotional, educational, and informational. On the technical side, users struggled with multi-step forms and unclear navigation cues. Emotionally, many expressed frustration over the time required to complete onboarding, along with concerns about data privacy. Educationally, we identified the need to better explain services like weekly shipments and the concierge offering. Finally, we mapped out the essential information we needed to collect, balancing business needs with a user-friendly experience. These insights directly informed the structure, tone, and pacing of our onboarding flow.
Onboarding Flow
I designed a guided onboarding flow that began with data collection—preferences, dietary needs, cooking habits—paired with brief explanations for how that data would personalize their shopping experience.
The onboarding concluded with a custom product box, offering both a curated introduction to our catalog and a way to teach users how to navigate the storefront.
This diagram outlines the onboarding flow for Move’s digital grocery platform, mapping the user’s journey from sign-up to entering the store. The flow begins with an email link, which brings the user into the information collection phase, including a welcome screen and payment details. From there, users are guided through a set of questions to capture their customer preferences, such as delivery day, product categories, dietary restrictions, and meal planning. The final phase focuses on educating the user, introducing optional features like free samples and the concierge service. Based on their selections, users are then directed into the store experience. This structured path balances personalization with clarity, ensuring users feel informed while keeping onboarding efficient.
Design Ideation
With a diverse user base and a tight timeline, the goal of the design ideation phase was to create an onboarding experience that felt intuitive, informative, and lightweight. I began by mapping out the essential data we needed to collect, balancing business goals with user sensitivity around privacy and time.Drawing from our research, I segmented the flow into clear stages—information collection, personalization, and education—to reduce cognitive load and create a sense of progress. I prioritized familiar interaction patterns, minimal input friction, and contextual cues that explained why each step mattered. Wireframes were developed and refined in parallel with content strategy, ensuring the tone and visual flow felt warm, helpful, and aligned with the Move brand.
Testing & Iteration
With limited pre-launch time, we tested with friends and family, followed by staged public access in three tranches:
- Tranche 1 (1,000 users): Validated onboarding steps and fulfillment load
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Used click trackers to identify drop-off points
- Concierge team gathered direct feedback from users
Key changes made:
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Moved payment entry after shipping setup to avoid confusion
- Refined mobile navigation after discovering horizontal scrolling issues
Outcomes & Reflection
- ~67% conversion rate: ~7,000 users completed onboarding and began shopping
- Post-launch surveys revealed product availability as the main drop-off reason—not UX
- With more time, I would’ve focused on more mobile-specific testing and user segmentation
Despite constraints, this project stands as one of my most comprehensive and rewarding experiences. It merged branding, product design, UX, and marketing into a cohesive launch—and taught me the power of thoughtful systems even under pressure.