YC Facelift: Instacart

#1

Post by micrypt » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 4:33 PM UTC

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#2

Post by guiseppecalzone » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 4:53 PM UTC

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.

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#3

Post by joshfraser » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 4:55 PM UTC

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.

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#4

Post by lewisflude » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 5:01 PM UTC

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

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#5

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 5:03 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#6

Post by Dystopian » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 5:06 PM UTC

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].

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#7

Post by PufferBuffer » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 5:09 PM UTC

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.

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#8

Post by Firehed » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 5:36 PM UTC

guiseppecalzone wrote: post #2

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.

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.

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#9

Post by highace » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 5:38 PM UTC

guiseppecalzone wrote: post #2

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.

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.

Re: YC Facelift: Instacart

#10

Post by icebraining » Wed, Oct 17, 2012, 5:52 PM UTC

PufferBuffer wrote: post #7

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 s…

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...