Simple Cart
Duration : 3 Weeks Role : UX/UI Desinger
2022
Overview
Simple Cart is a grocery companion app designed to make grocery shopping feel less overwhelming and more collaborative. The idea came from my own desire for a grocery app that feels simple, modern, and genuinely easy to use, especially inside large and crowded stores.
Problem Statement
Many people feel overwhelmed while grocery shopping, especially in large stores with unclear layouts and long aisles. Planning meals, keeping track of grocery lists, and coordinating shared shopping responsibilities can be stressful, and existing grocery apps
often add to this frustration by feeling cluttered or overly complex. As a result, users struggle to shop efficiently and confidently in-store
Solution
I designed Simple Cart end-to-end, a clean and modern grocery companion app that helps users plan, shop, and cook with confidence. The app supports in-store shopping through clear grocery lists, shared responsibilities, and AI-powered tools such as shelf navigation and an AI Chef, all designed to feel optional, supportive, and visually minimal.
Research & Insights
To better understand real-world grocery shopping challenges, I reviewed discussions on Reddit to identify common frustrations and pain points people experience. This helped me see patterns in how users navigate stores, plan meals, and manage shopping lists, especially where existing tools fall short.
User Persona
I created user personas based on research to represent the core needs, frustrations, and behaviors of typical users. These personas helped guide design decisions with empathy and clarity, ensuring that each feature addressed real user pain points and aligned with how people actually approach grocery shopping.
Defining Design Goals and Principles
This brainstorming diagram outlines the key design goals and principles that guided my design decisions and helped turn research insights into a clear, user-centered experience. It also helped me identify and brainstorm key features that would best support each
design goal.
Mapping the Core User Flows
This user flow highlights the main features of the app and shows how users move through key tasks, including list management, store selection, and AI-assisted support during in-store shopping. It maps out the full journey from planning at home to navigating the store, helping ensure each step feels clear, efficient, and easy to follow. This also helped identify areas where friction could be reduced and where support features could be most useful.
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
I created mid-fidelity wireframes to validate layout, hierarchy, and core user flows. This step helped me see how all features connect across the experience and ensured the design stayed aligned with the original goals and principles before moving into high-fidelity design.
Final Design
The final design brings together key research insights, clearly defined design goals, and validated wireframes into a cohesive, clean, and modern interface. Every screen is intentionally structured to prioritize clarity, simplicity, and ease of use, allowing users to navigate the app with minimal effort and cognitive load.
Thoughtful layout choices, consistent visual hierarchy, and intuitive interactions work together to create a seamless experience from start to finish. The design not only supports essential in-store shopping tasks such as list management and store navigation, but also integrates AI-assisted features in a way that feels helpful rather than overwhelming. Overall, the interface is designed to feel approachable, efficient, and supportive, helping users shop with more confidence and less stress.
Entry Point & Home Dashboard
The login and home screens set the foundation for the experience, providing a simple entry point and clear access to the app’s core features. The home screen prioritizes clarity and ease of navigation, allowing users to quickly start a list, choose a store, or access AI assistance.
Store Selection and Item Browsing
These screens allow users to select their preferred grocery store and browse items by category, helping them quickly find what they need and feel oriented before shopping in-store.
Grocery Lists and Collaboration
The lists overview provides a simple and organized way for users to access past and active grocery lists. Shared lists allow friends and family to coordinate shopping by assigning items, checking them off, and leaving comments or voice notes to keep everyone aligned.
AI Camera Navigation
When a user selects an item from their grocery list, the camera activates to help guide them to the correct aisle in real time. Once the item is detected, the camera highlights and frames the product to clearly indicate that it has been found
AI Chef
This voice-based AI assistant helps users with recipes, ingredient questions, and real-time cooking advice, making meal planning feel more approachable and less overwhelming. By allowing users to interact through simple voice commands, it creates a more hands-free and intuitive experience, especially while shopping or cooking. The assistant can suggest meal ideas based on available ingredients, provide step-by-step guidance, and offer substitutions or adjustments based on dietary needs or preferences.
Reflection
This project challenged me to think beyond screens and focus on how design can support people in real, everyday situations. Grocery shopping is often dismissed as a simple task, but through research and iteration, I realized how mentally exhausting and overwhelming it can be for many users. Designing Simple Cart pushed me to prioritize clarity, simplicity, and emotional ease throughout the experience.
One of my biggest takeaways was learning how to balance powerful features, such as AI, with restraint. Rather than making AI the center of the experience, I intentionally designed it to feel optional and supportive, ensuring it enhanced the shopping process without adding cognitive load. If I were to continue this project, I would conduct usability testing in real grocery store environments and explore additional accessibility features, such as voice-first navigation and personalization based on shopping habits, to better support diverse user needs.