Fetching Creativity
Evolving the Instacart
Shopping Experience
Platform
Instacart.ca (Concept Redesign)
Project Type
Self-initiated UX/Product Design Case Study
Objective
Explore how Instacart’s existing brand language could evolve into a more cohesive shopping experience while improving information hierarchy, retailer identity, and product discoverability.
Core Disciplines
- Product Design
- Information Architecture
- Systems Thinking
- UX & Interaction Design
- Design Systems
- Component Architecture
- Brand Systems
- Visual Design
Role:
Independent Design Exploration
Design Opportunity
Instacart // a mature, highly success product balancing advertising, retailer identity, promotions and purchasing.
Objective // Not redesign from scratch. Explore existing brand language, create cohesion and clarity.
This concept redesign is an exploration of information architecture, visual hierarchy, and design systems, demonstrating one possible direction rather than a replacement for the existing product.
Approach
Discovery interviews
Firstly I wanted to remove any personal assumptions I might be making. I interviewed 5 individuals independently.
Results:
“There is a lot on the page. It’s hard to make head or tails where I’m supposed to look”
“I like the yellow sale tags, but they feel at times like their not connected to the product.”
“Comparing pricing can take a bit of concentration”
“I lose track of which store I am looking at sometimes while browsing”
Rethinking Instacart’s product display
Observations:
-
How could I expand that brand language throughout the rest of the experience?
The brand should accompany the customer throughout their shopping journey, building familiarity and trust. -
Visually Fatiguing.
How could I help make it a more comfortable experience? - Heirarchy competing with the CTAs and system information?
These products needed a habitat.
Questioning current design beliefs, with potential improvements for comprehension and usability.
Building a Scalable
Visual Language
I was drawn to Instacart’s existing brand language, particularly the simplicity and warmth of the leaf icon. Rather than introducing a new visual style, I explored how that established design language could be expanded into a cohesive icon system that strengthened recognition across the experience.
Using the leaf as the foundation, I developed a family of icons including a delivery truck, directional arrow, and favourite indicator, each built from the same visual vocabulary. The result is a system that reinforces recognition while creating a more cohesive experience.
The system was intentionally designed to scale. Additional icons such as a shopping cart, home, search, or order confirmation could be introduced using the same construction principles, creating a flexible visual language that grows with the product while maintaining a cohesive brand experience.
I felt there was an opportunity to extend the existing visual language beyond the logo and allow it to become a more meaningful part of the product experience.
Outcomes
- Demonstrated how Instacart’s existing brand language could evolve into a cohesive interface system.
- Improved information hierarchy by separating actions, trust indicators, and supporting information.
- Created reusable design patterns that could scale across additional shopping experiences.
- Reinforced retailer identity while reducing visual competition between interface elements.
- Produced a complete concept case study demonstrating my product design process.