YC Facelift: Instacart

http://kyrobeshay.com/post/33771800624/yc-facelift-instacart

by micrypt • 14 years ago

62 16 14 years ago

This is a nice looking design, but seems a lot less intuitive than the current version. I use instacart all the time and have zero confusion about what to do next. The added color in the redesign is interesting, but I think it has the effect of not knowing what to focus on. It took me awhile to notice the bottom nav. Regardless, I enjoy these redesigns, since it makes you rethink how you approach things.

Firehed• 14 years ago

Gotta agree here - I find Instacart easy (if not slightly tedious) to use. There are some UX improvements to be made, but those are more around optimizing the add-to-cart experience; both search and scrolling aren't a problem for me.

This looks like it switches to horizontal scrolling which feels unnatural after years and years of device use, and transitions to a slightly awkward skeuomorphic design ("arranged like the aisles of a supermarket") that doesn't really add value. Aisles are designed to be confusing in order to force shoppers to browse more and buy crap they don't need; Instacart wonderfully avoids all this by having a surprisingly accurate [1] search tool.

The real improvements, at least for me, will come from splitting the payment across multiple cards or combining multiple orders into a single delivery (housemates all shopping at once), and having the ability to modify an order that's been submitted but not fulfilled.

[1] Amusingly, I searched for "poison" and the only hit was some $5.99 half-gallon jug of wine. I think it was a close metaphone match on the name but everyone at the table was laughing their asses off.

highace• 14 years ago

Agreed. As I've found out myself, it's very easy to over engineer your interface. Sure it looks great - it's a very high quality design with all the extras. But in this case you're not selling an interface.

I'd also agree with you that it has too much color - only the products themselves should have color. Look at the designs of actual supermarkets - shelves and aisles are for the most part bland and plain so that they don't steal the attention.

joshfraser• 14 years ago

One problem I see with this design is that it's now hard to tell which size product you're picking. Is that a small bag of kettle chips or a big one? I can't tell.

lewisflude• 14 years ago

It looks nice, but not sure if it's actually better than the current implementation from a UX perspective.

Dystopian• 14 years ago

I'm not the biggest fan of the Pinterest type layout that Instacart currently has. I'd definitely prefer this.

Only change I'd discuss with Kyro is the addition of dividers in the gutters between the rows [or shelves].

PufferBuffer• 14 years ago

One thing that is very good about this design and Instacart should adopt are the promoted/discounted items on the top. If Instacart tracked my most recurring purchases, and occasionally gave me this banner-like ads to recommend a discounted product, I'd click on it. I like how Doritos, for example, really stand out in this image.

That said, you know how clients sometimes say "Make everything bold so that everything stand out!" Well, that's exactly what you did. because you cluttered the entire interface with similar 'bold' content, everything now is a blur. It's virtually impossible for my eyes to focus.

All-in-all, decent attempt, but in my opinion, you did not succeed.

icebraining• 14 years ago

I like how Doritos, for example, really stand out in this image.

It's funny, just today I was listening to a podcast[1] where a guy from Frito-Lays talked about how they have a bunch of salespeople who are responsible for discussing with each store manager the position of the chips, the amount of stock, the promotions, etc.

I wonder if they're starting to reach out to Instacart and similar virtual grocery shops.

[1] http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2011/08/odonohoe_on_pot.htm...

andreasklinger• 14 years ago

Minor suggestion: Add screenshots of the current look of the app. I haven't seen nor used Instacart so far.

judofyr• 14 years ago

http://www.instacart.com/assets/instacart-screenshot2.jpg

whalesalad• 14 years ago

The first problem that a lot of people make when designing iOS interfaces is not testing them on the device. Those font sizes are so incredibly small.

You HAVE to look at it on a device (using something like Skala Preview[0]) and you'll realize that what you have right now is actually not an improvement at all. Rather it is harder to follow, appears cluttered, and probably doesn't get the business any closer to their goal of x, y, or z, regardless of what that may be.

I like to give the benefit of the doubt to most of these "redesigns" because usually there is some decent thought put into them and they're pretty and all ... but really it seems like you took a step backwards in this one. And after looking at the current UI [1], you indeed did take a step back.

Also, i'd have done some more exciting UI stuff here. for example, get rid of the quantity stuff. Instead, when I tap "add to cart", ask me that in a modal fashion with big fat juicy buttons.

With iOS/mobile you can get away with more taps if your UI is less complex and provides clearer choice.

Finally, in what way is your design more intuitive than the original? People throw that word around like a rag doll without really thinking about it.

[0] http://bjango.com/mac/skalapreview/

[1] http://www.instacart.com/assets/instacart-screenshot2.jpg

anthemcg• 14 years ago

It looks better, but I suspect that the usability would suffer. The data is almost never as clean as it looks in the mock-up, especially with the large segmentation of categories on Instacart, not to mention the lack of consistent size, color and visual style of the photos. Having used it , it seems like the bigger problems with the app have to do with functionality on the checkout screen and screen flow into adding and removing items.

kyro• 14 years ago

Thanks for the feedback everyone. This was my first foray into iOS design, so I expected a lot of criticism. You guys made some great points.

jeffrogers• 14 years ago

I'll stick with Fresh Direct for now.

yinyinwu• 14 years ago

I'm a regular Instacart user, averaging 2x deliveries per week. It's awesome that I don't have to make the trek to Safeway anymore and the prices are reasonable. I find the Instacart design to be fine as is. The main problem with the app is search. The facelift looks nice, but making the app prettier ignores the bigger problem that I have of not being to find what I want.

helloayo• 14 years ago

But Safeway has delivery, and you can use your coupons with it. What is instacart's advantage over Safeway's delivery?

YC Facelift: Instacart

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