Ahold Delhaize USA

Holistic web, mobile, in-person experiences to enrich eCommerce

Ahold Delhaize USA (formerly Peapod Digital Labs) is a technology company that provides e-commerce solutions for its grocery retail brands, including 2000+ stores of Stop & Shop, Food Lion, GIANT, and Giant Food.

  • 2022

  • Apple iOS, Web

  • Figma, User Zoom, Apple Xcode, ARKit, RealityKit, Microsoft Sharepoint, Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint

  • Product Experience Design, UX Research, Prototyping, User Testing, Team Leadership

Responsibility

As a Product Experience Design Co-op, I helped bridge digital and physical commerce by designing intuitive, scalable, and accessible experiences across mobile, web, and in-store; impacting over 8 million digitally engaged customers/week. My significant contribution was:

  • 1. Wayfinding: Help shoppers find items faster via in-app labels, 2D Map and Augmented Reality.

  • 2. Design Systems: Unify design across brands for scalability, consistency on web and mobile apps.

  • 3. iOS Experiences: Utilize iOS 16 APIs to bring frequently used features to iPhone home & lock screen.

Wayfinding

Goal

Make it easy for customers to quickly locate items, enhance in-store shopping efficiency; ultimately, increase customer satisfaction through an improved wayfinding experience that saves time.

Ideation

At the start of the project, I initiated an analysis phase in which I collaborated with stakeholders to identify wayfinding pain points, conduct competitive analysis, and brainstorm potential solutions for the app. UX Research, customer journey mapping revealed that finding specific items in-store was tedious, frustrating, and inefficient. We determined that guided wayfinding in the app would help shoppers navigate more easily, provide a clearer path through aisle locations; ultimately making grocery shopping quicker, easier, and more efficient.

In-app Labels, 2D Map & AR Directions

To improve accessibility, I designed stock information labels within the app, 2D indoor maps, and AR Directions to guide shoppers directly to items.

I also explored integrating newly released iOS 16’s Dynamic Island API to allow shoppers keep track of directions while switching between apps, such as Reminders where they store groceries list.

  • Company’s initiative

    This project was crucial for the company. UX research showed that although 32% of in-store shoppers were digitally engaged, they contributed an average of $1.8 billion brand revenue per quarter. Digitally engaged shoppers spent 2x as much as non-engaged shoppers. We hypothesized that enhancing digital features would improve the shopping experience, boost loyalty, increase revenue, and drive the company’s overall growth and success.

  • Making people’s lives easier

    Before this project, customers at Ahold Delhaize USA grocery stores had to rely on aisle headers, printed lists, or store representatives to find items, a process that was inefficient and challenging, especially for people with disabilities. By addressing these pain points, we aimed to create a more holistic, continuous, accessible, inclusive, independent, seamless, and efficient shopping experience for customers both online or in-person.

  • My personal motivation

    Personally, I was particularly motivated to work on this project because I have experienced the same wayfinding struggles as many shoppers in-store. Like many, I often found myself wandering up and down aisles in search of specific items, frustrated by the inefficiency and time-wasting that often accompanies in-store shopping. I am proud to have contributed to a project that has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of shoppers, including myself.

User Tests

To assess the effectiveness of mobile wayfinding solutions, the UX Researcher and I conducted 45-minute moderated feedback interview sessions with 4 regular users of the Stop & Shop, Giant Food, Food Lion apps. We evaluated different approaches, including in-app labels, 2D maps and AR, using interactive prototypes. This feedback informed design iteration decisions to better meet user needs.

Impact

3 out of 4 participants responded positively, stating that guided wayfinding helped them “find things quicker, make life easier, and shopping more convenient.” With a satisfaction rate of 75%, this feedback validated the importance of integrating guided wayfinding into our solution, significantly improving the shopping experience.

“I’m a big fan of this, it saves me time and energy. It’s like having a personal assistant, it helps me shop conveniently.”

— Customer

“This feature is beneficial for accessibility reasons, and helps me be more independent.”

— Customer

Design Systems

Expanding the System

Following the success of the Wayfinding project, I expanded Ahold Delhaize’s design systems to strengthen consistency across mobile and web apps for Stop & Shop, Food Lion, and Giant Food brands. I contributed new components and adapted existing ones for broader, cross-brand scalability.

Designing Versatile Components

I worked on making UI components more versatile, including buttons, menus, typography, and iconography, to support features scaling up from mobile to web, and down from web to mobile. This unified approach enabled shoppers to experience seamless navigation, regardless of the platform they used.

Cross-Platform

These improvements also helped extend functionality. For example, aisle location data could now be accessed on web, and mobile shoppers gained richer experiences like product recommendations through widgets and real-time Live Activities on iOS.

iOS Experiences

Home Screen Widgets

I designed iOS Home Screen widgets that enabled shoppers to engage more effectively with quick access to browsing and shopping tools. These widgets were designed in small, medium, and large sizes, surfacing past purchases, shopping lists, cart, rewards, savings, and digital coupons.

Leveraging AI and ML

To personalize the widget experience, I leveraged AI and machine learning insights from the Wayfinding project. By analyzing shopper's browsing patterns and purchase history, the widgets surfaced dynamic product recommendations and daily deals, helping shoppers discover relevant savings and increasing engagement directly from their iPhone Home Screen.

Live Activities

To further enhance the digital engagement and satisfaction of shoppers, I implemented the Live Activities API on iOS 16 to provide real-time updates for pickup and delivery orders. Shoppers could view their order status directly from the Lock Screen, helping them stay informed without needing to open the app.

Pickup and delivery orders

Live Activity notifications were designed to trigger automatically 30 minutes before a pickup window, providing proactive, time-sensitive updates. I led the design and prototyping for both pickup and delivery orders, creating a seamless, responsive experience that kept shoppers connected and improved overall fulfillment transparency.

Learnings

  • Technical Learning

    I gained a deeper understanding of Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, as well as ARKit guidelines, which helped me to create effective and engaging user experiences. Furthermore, I was able to leverage technical APIs and better understand the interaction differences between mobile apps and websites. I also learned that attention to even the smallest details can greatly impact the user experience.

  • Growth

    I polished my skills in managing design projects from ideation to launch, a testament to my capacity to work both autonomously and as a pivotal member of a multidisciplinary team. I learned to manage cross-functional teams and stakeholder relationships while collaborating closely and constructively with product management, designers, UX researchers and engineers to deliver flawlessly.

  • Crafted With Care

    As someone who has personally struggled with wayfinding in grocery stores, I was excited to work on a solution that could make this process easier and more efficient for both myself and shoppers alike. With that in mind, I designed these features with care, to build something wonderful. Before I left the company, these features were put on the product roadmap and expected to roll out to users in the near future.

Joseph Tumilty - Product Design Manager at Ahold Delhaize

“In the time that I worked with Rohan, I was consistently impressed by his motivation and ability to complete tasks with minimal guidance. He is a proactive and detail-oriented individual who consistently delivers high-quality work. It was also refreshing to get his perspective as he rarely shies away from innovative ideas. In addition to his technical skills, Rohan is also a team player who is always willing to go the extra mile to help his colleagues. He has excellent communication skills and is able to effectively collaborate with cross-functional teams. Rohan will be a valuable asset to any team. I highly recommend him.”