RETAIL FULFILLMENT, ANDROID APPLICATION
EXPERIENCE ARCHITECT
2022 - 2023
:figma: FIGMA :figjam: FIGJAM :zeplin: ZEPLIN :storybook: STORYBOOK :tailwind: TAILWIND :salesforce: SALESFORCE :jira: JIRA :logrocket: LOGROCKET
A national grocer, operating at a massive scale, struggled to adapt to the accelerated demand for pickup and delivery services. What was once a convenience had become an expectation, and their curbside teams struggled to keep pace.
Could we improve opperational efficiency on
the floor and reliably scale that process to
more than 2,000 locations?
We delivered an on-device mobile application that brought clarity to an otherwise fragmented process. Workflows became more fluid, errors diminished, and the experience for the staff felt more intentional. The strength of the solution was not in adding more, but in creating something simple, scalable, and quietly reliable.
Field research defined the work. By shadowing staff across multiple stores, we saw the inconsistency in how orders were fulfilled. Four distinct models emerged, and through collaboration with stakeholders we refined these into a ‘wave-picking’ approach. Orders were grouped by temperature zones—ambient, chilled, frozen, and hot—giving staff clear structure and helped reduce wasted movement.
We mapped the fulfillment cycle into four stages
The mobile experience was built to follow this fulfillment model exactly. Each stage structured as a guided core-workflow. Visual cues, substitution handling, and exception flows reduced errors, while the system’s flexibility allowed associates to delegate mid-fulfillment.
Edge Cases
The Zebra TC77 is a rugged, Android based handheld device built for retail applications. It carried limited processing power and inconsistent connectivity shaped many of our design decisions. We implemented offline-first caching to ensure task completion without interruption, even in low-signal environments. Staff used the TC77 throughout all fulfillment phases from scanning PLU codes during picking to confirming order handoffs at curbside.
Once the core fulfillment architecture was in place, I led a series of independent projects addressing high-impact edge cases that directly influenced operations. Prepicking, allowed staff to stage high-volume staples in advance of order fulfillment windows; SNAP benefit substitutions, ensured compliance while maintaining customer choice; Flash Orders, designed to accommodate last-minute customer requests without disrupting active workflows; and Customer Identification at Handoff, a critical safeguard for age-restricted items requiring proof of being 18 years or older.
Each initiative required close collaboration with store associates, legal and compliance teams, and engineering leads to design workflows that were practical in real-world environments and scalable. Not only did we resolve operational bottlenecks but we reinforced the system’s ability to adapt to regulatory and logistical constraints.