EXISTING EXPERIENCE
To create a long-term vision and scalable framework for the order tracking experience, focused on providing customers with the information they need, and earning back their trust and confidence, while still supporting business growth.
I was the lead product designer on this project, working closely with a senior product manager.
Additional stakeholders across product, design, UXR, business, data analytics, customer support, and engineering also contributed to discussions and workshops.
After a deep dive into the problem space through user research and behavioral data analysis, we worked to build trust internally and ensure stakeholders were bought in to the overall strategy and content framework before moving on to feature ideas and concepts.
The output of the project was a flexible page framework and set of mid-fidelity concept designs, illustrating the overall approach and content hierarchy, that were validated with user feedback.
CONCEPT DESIGNS
By sharing the long-term strategy and concept designs with VP and Director level leaders across product, business, and engineering, my product partner and I secured full alignment and resourcing to make this vision a reality.
This work is prioritized on the 2025 and 2026 roadmaps, with implementation currently underway. 🎉
STEP 1
Working with a UX researcher, I put together a research plan that helped us better understand customer expectations during order tracking, uncover new pain points, and map informational needs at each stage of the journey. Key findings included:
Customers understand that delays happen, but the lack of communication and acknowledgement is what causes frustration.
Anxiety in order tracking forms through inconsistent experiences and not knowing what to expect when things go wrong.
We also did a deep dive into behavioral, customer support, and survey data:
Customers check the order tracking page an average of 19 times during the “out for delivery” phase, continually tracking the driver's location.
Despite delivery speeds on par with competitors, customers perceived Grubhub as the slowest.
I formed two hypotheses from this data that guided my decision-making during the project:
Hypothesis #1
Hypothesis #2
STEP 2
Using all the data we gathered, I put together an ideal customer journey map to help visualize the phases of the order tracking journey, how customer expectations, emotions, and requirements fluctuated throughout, how our business goals aligned with each step of the journey, and what metrics we wanted to impact.
This laid the groundwork for our next step, which was aligning the cross-departmental teams responsible for the page’s profit-generating features.
Not getting buy-in from these teams would put the entire project at risk, so we needed to ensure everyone was on the same page from the very beginning.
To demonstrate how more intentional sequencing and placement of ads and upsells could make them even more effective, I created a simplified content diagram mapping the relevance of different content at each phase of order tracking.
This pared down approach created the cross-functional alignment we needed to move the project forward, and also helped us build credibility early on. It showed stakeholders that we had a thoughtful, data-driven strategy and were designing with everyone’s goals in mind.
STEP 3
To maintain everyone’s involvement and engagement as we moved forward, I organized and facilitated a series of ideation workshops with cross-functional partners from design, product, engineering, business insights, and customer support. In these sessions, my product partner and I walked everyone through the research findings and hypotheses, then had them generate and vote on ideas using the following prompts:
ensure there are minimal surprises after placing an order?
How might we…
communicate proactively to better manage expectations?
better display the right information at the right time?
create more reliable order tracking experiences?
inform diners without overwhelming them?
better incorporate growth and monetization efforts?
By the time we reached voting, it was clear that everyone was on the same page in understanding the complexity of the space and what mattered most to our customers. Success! 🎉
From there, I ran a sketching workshop with designers from across the org to help translate our top ideas into low-fidelity concepts. Capturing these concepts, I mapped out user flows that highlighted key moments and pain points in the order tracking journey. These flows became the foundation for the final concepts and prototypes I would later test with customers for feedback.
Scenario 1
Scenario 2
STEP 4
Through several iterations, I worked to create mid-fidelity concept designs that made the tracking experience contextual, transparent, and trustworthy. Here are the highlights!
Improving content hierarchy and focus
To make information easier to find and ensure we were guiding customers’ attention where we wanted it, I made updates that included:
Prioritizing order status on the screen, centering the experience around what customers need to know at a glance
Introducing dynamic content that updates based on order status, focusing on what matters most in the moment
Staggering revenue-generating features to increase effectiveness and reduce noise
Using a modular layout with expandable sections to surface key details without overwhelming the customer or forcing them to leave the page
Celebrating when things go right
I also added features to address customers’ perceptions of Grubhub’s speed and reliability, and reduce unnecessary anxiety, including:
Contextual ETA ranges that get narrower the closer the order gets
On-time callouts that provide reassurance and confidence that everything is going according to plan
Celebratory moments to help build on the excitement of receiving a delivery
Being transparent and accountable when things go wrong
To build trust and prevent unwelcome surprises, I introduced more transparency and proactive communication throughout the experience, including:
Proactive messaging from the driver when there’s potential for a delay
Clear acknowledgment of delays, with reasoning and reassurance
Accountability tied to the original ETA, including automatic concessions for late deliveries
STEP 5
A round of user testing with a functional prototype confirmed that we were on the right track. Participants responded positively to the concepts, while also providing helpful feedback to refine future, final designs.
It kept me very updated as to everything that was going on and I loved all the ways that the text and progress changed as it went through.”
"
“These tracking screens are more in depth than I’m used to seeing and they really provide more detail and more comfort and keep the person who’s ordering more in the loop.”
I feel like it would be nice if they had the actual timeframe, like your order's gonna arrive by..., but overall it felt like it was really smooth and easy to understand. There’s a lot of communication here and that’s great.”
"
You’re not just leaving me hanging. If you could give me an update and you could tell me what’s going on, I’ll be a lot more accepting of that as opposed to just, you know, not telling me and then having the order be late.”
"
STEP 6
The final part of this project was sharing the story in a way that resonated. I built a presentation with a clear, focused narrative that highlighted the gaps in the experience, the impact on customer trust, and the cost to the business. We connected user pain points to measurable outcomes and showed how our vision could directly address them.
By framing the work in a way that was both strategic and grounded in real data, we were able to get senior leaders across product, engineering, and business fully on board. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and the project was given full resourcing and priority on the 2025–2026 roadmap.
Due to organizational shifts, this work has since been handed off to another designer, who is continuing to evolve the concepts based on Grubhub's updated branding and extend this framework across platforms, use cases, and order types. Several features, including on-time callouts, are already in development.
This project was one of the highlights of my career so far, as I was able to influence the entire product strategy and shape a multi-year roadmap.
I strengthened my ability to build stakeholder alignment, and I’m incredibly proud of how I was able to construct a narrative that earned trust and turned a complex, cross-functional challenge into a vision that the whole organization was excited to invest in.
Personal takeaways…
Other featured work
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I created a new flow that allowed customers to choose substitution preferences for convenience and grocery store items in case they’re out of stock, reducing order cancellations by 50% within 6 months.
