Kroger Ease-of-Use Enhancements

Overview

In 2024 Kroger launched a big Experience Optimization effort to raise its ease-of-use benchmark scores and overall customer satisfaction. The focus was findability and usability on the website and app. We grounded the work in design thinking workshops, research, and a lot of testing.

Goals

Three goals. Improve Kroger's “Easy to Shop” equity ranking and overall digital experience score. Reduce friction in navigation and task completion. Increase engagement, conversion, and revenue through better usability and discoverability.

Research & Methods

I ran much of the research and prototyping. Design thinking workshops got cross-functional teams aligned and generating ideas. Usability testing and A/B experiments, in UserZoom and live, validated each iteration. Card sorts and tree tests checked the navigation architecture. Surveys and customer panels told us whether navigation was clear and easy to use.

Key Design Changes

Navigation Redesign

I unified main and secondary navigation across web and native. Quick Links handle utility navigation and a Discovery Marquee handles promotional content. People find things faster and spend less time doing it.

New Components

A Mission Header template combines the App Bar, Quick Links, and Discovery Marquee so every page starts the same way. Story Blocks add promotional storytelling and inspiration.

Content Enhancements

I cleaned up the visual design for clarity and consistency, and added storytelling to drive engagement.

Impact on Metrics

Engagement

Navigation A/B tests showed more clicks and engagement on Quick Links and Media Link treatments without hurting overall conversion.

Conversion & Revenue

Story blocks and personalized carousels increased cart adds and produced incremental revenue on targeted tests. Checkout conversion held steady or improved in the experiments.

Customer Sentiment

Composite satisfaction scores went up, and ease-of-use was among the strongest drivers of that lift.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

I partnered with the DX, AMP, Core, and engineering teams. Weekly reviews and governance kept us aligned.

Results & Learnings

Simple and consistent won. Customers responded well to clearer navigation and personalized content. Next up are adaptive IA, AI-driven personalization, and predictive shopping.