Modernizing the Grocery Experience for Saudi Arabia
How I led the design of a native app that bridged the gap between physical shopping habits and digital convenience, creating a tailored grocery experience for a distinct cultural market.
ROLE
Founding / Lead Product Designer
TEAM
3 Designers, Stakeholders, Engineering Team
TIMELINE
2019
SURFACE
E-commerce / Grocery Delivery
AT A GLANCE
PROBLEM
Stock Visibility & Replacement Frustration
Checkout Drop-off
Cultural & Behavioral Disconnect
SOLUTION
IMPACT
RESEARCH
Uncovering the Barriers to Digital Adoption
Working with local Saudi families and stakeholders, we conducted in-home interviews and usability tests to uncover why existing apps were failing to retain users. These insights directly informed our redesign:
I don't trust that my items will actually arrive
Frequent post-purchase cancellations caused anxiety, leading users to abandon apps for physical stores where they could see the stock themselves.
Nearly every participant cited real-time visibility and stock guarantees as the single most important factor for switching to digital.
I’m buying for two or more houses
Managing groceries for aging parents alongside their own household often resulted in cross-contaminated orders and delivery confusion.
Research confirmed that multi-household management was not an edge case, but a core functional requirement for our specific demographic.
Searching feels like work. I prefer the aisles
Traditional shoppers found search bars intimidating, often struggling to recall specific product names or spelling in a digital context.
Users overwhelmingly preferred visual discovery, relying on category imagery to mimic the mental model of a physical walk-through.
I get nervous putting details into a long form
Complex checkout forms with unclear shipping steps caused hesitation, leading users to abandon their carts at the final step.
First-time digital users needed constant feedback and clear progress indicators to feel safe entering payment details.
Service Blueprinting & Workshops
Our research showed that a generic "add-to-cart" flow wouldn't work for the Saudi market. Shopping habits here are deeply social and logistical. To make Mart truly useful, we had to align the app with these specific real-world archetypes while ensuring operational efficiency.
The Multi-Household Caregiver
The Traditional Shopper
The Seasonal Bulk Planner
Operational Alignment
We mapped high-friction tasks (like out-of-stock replacements) against warehouse realities. By moving replacement decisions upstream to the cart, we reduced manual staff intervention and call center volume.
Trust-Building Strategy
We prioritized features that bridged the "digital trust gap." By showing real-time stock levels and offering "in-cart replacements," we solved the #1 fear of our users: paying for items that wouldn't arrive.
EXPLORATION
Defining the Foundation with Operations & Stakeholders
We began with service blueprints to map the physical grocery run to digital touchpoints. Moving quickly into low-fidelity wireframes allowed us to validate the "aisle" browsing concept and ensure multi-household flows were intuitive before writing code. Close collaboration with the operations team ensured that our stock logic matched warehouse realities.
The shared goal
Digitize the grocery habit without losing the "human" touch—creating a platform that supports complex family logistics (multi-home) while ensuring inventory accuracy to build long-term trust with traditional shoppers.
KEY DECISIONS
Arriving at a Culturally-Aligned, Modular Layout
Visual "Aisle-First" Navigation
Replaced search-heavy patterns with visual category browsing (e.g., Dairy, Bakery). This lowered the cognitive load for users accustomed to physical shelves, allowing them to shop using their existing mental models.
Parallel Multi-Household Lists
Designed a dedicated switcher for active carts, allowing users to manage groceries for their own home and their parents' home simultaneously without cross-contaminating orders.
Pre-Checkout Replacement Logic
Surfaced out-of-stock decisions inside the cart rather than after payment. Empowering users to choose alternatives early drastically reduced failed orders and call center tickets.
Friction-Free Checkout Flows
Replaced lengthy forms with a stepped, progressive checkout. We added clear visual progress indicators to reassure users who were hesitant about digital payments, significantly reducing abandonment.
FINAL DESIGN
The Mart Experience: Familiar, Seamless, and Built for Trust
After rigorous testing and iteration, the final design evolved into a cohesive native ecosystem that respects local habits. It bridges the gap between the physical supermarket and the digital screen, creating a workflow that feels instantly familiar to the Saudi shopper while solving complex family logistics.
One Design System, Every Platform
I built a shared design system of components, colors, and typography across iOS and Android, so a small team could ship consistent screens fast and keep the brand unified.
RESULTS
Successfully Digitizing a Physical Habit
The launch of the Mart app introduced a culturally adapted way for Saudi customers to handle grocery shopping. By respecting local habits while adding digital convenience, we achieved strong adoption among both tech-savvy users and traditional shoppers.
Strong Early Adoption
Consistent daily order volume from launch week, with high retention rates across key regions.
Operational Efficiency Gains
Staff reported a significant drop in manual interventions. Clear out-of-stock replacements and better scheduling reduced failed orders and call center volume.
High User Satisfaction
Usability testing confirmed that the "aisle-based" navigation gave first-time digital users the confidence to complete large, complex orders without assistance.
