Cross-category adoption
About
Grove Collaborative is a sustainable shopping destination and subscription service for eco-friendly products in cleaning, home, wellness, pet, personal care and more. Data revealed that customers who explored multiple product categories early in their journey were more likely to stay engaged and have a higher lifetime value.
To support customer discovery across product categories, I developed a case for improving category navigation within the app and redesigning the "Explore" tab.
Project outcomes
Strategic roadmap for cross-category adoption initiatives
Validated solutions to enhance customer discovery of product categories
Mid-fidelity proposal that resulted in the launch of an improved customer experience and increased category adoption
Role
Lead product designer who worked alongside the product manager to create high impact roadmap projects over the course of a month. I delivered mid-fi design concepts that built buy-in for a new “Browse and Build” pod with engineers.
Before
After
Identifying Key Problem Areas
I conducted an affinity mapping exercise to synthesize user stories from previous research, user testing on shopping flows, and persona-based customer segmentation insights. Collaborating closely with the product manager, I identified high-impact opportunities and we prioritized the following focus areas:
Category pages (externally product listing pages)
I want to have a quicker understanding of the different product types available, so I can choose the option most relevant to me.
Navigation
I want easy access to categories, so I could find relevant products more quickly.
Generating Ideas
Developed a robust idea repository by gathering insights from benchmark studies, competitive analysis, user-driven solution spaces, and collaborative brainstorming sessions with the design team and key internal stakeholders.
Stakeholder interviews
Conducted 1:1 interviews with merchandising stakeholders to gather expert perspectives on cross-category exploration. By presenting early concepts and actively listening to their feedback and ideas, I uncovered key focus areas that aligned with the team’s priorities.
Building alignment
I facilitated discussions with a cross-functional working group of product managers and designers to establish a clear vision and define the roles of the "Home" and "Explore" tabs in the app. These conversations ensured alignment on user needs and product direction across teams.
Easy navigational wins
Identified low lift opportunities like using an existing component for the home page from the web platform and clarifying the bottom tab bar with clearer labels and icon.
Case for pervasive navigation
As the home page drove more customers to category pages that potentially showed 1000+ products, helping customers easily understand subcategories on those pages became increasingly important.
Iterated to “show not tell”
My initial approach for the "Explore" tab focused on prominently displaying high-level categories above the fold, supported by close-up images to enhance visual storytelling. After stakeholder feedback, I pivoted to a bolder concept that introduced level 2 subcategory pathways. I then tested the refined solution to ensure it provided clarity and ease of navigation without overwhelming users.
Validating Through Usability Testing
I conducted usability tests with 9 users to evaluate mid-fidelity and early low-fidelity concepts.
The feedback confirmed users' clear understanding of navigation pathways from the home page and highlighted the value of pervasive navigation. Some users even discovered new categories via the "Explore" page.
Based on these insights, I refined the designs to enhance usability and integrated these findings into ongoing discussions with stakeholders.
“I didn’t even know there was a gardening category.”
“Gives more more freedom to explore without feeling overwhelmed.”
Learnings
Ambiguity to clarity
With the wide range goal of cross-category adoption, overlapping user insights with business needs was key to prioritize high impact projects.
Collaboration
Engaging key stakeholders early into the process and internally “user testing” led to gathering critical insights and expertise for ideation and impact.
