Improving Cart Visibility and Conversion for Publix

Publix (Grocery eCommerce)

A mobile-first cart redesign that increased engagement and simplified the checkout flow.

Role: Senior Product Designer

Timeline: 2023

Platform: Mobile App

Collaborators: Product Managers, Engineers, UX Research Team

Context

Publix aimed to improve their shopping app by refining cart visibility, simplifying navigation, and improving the overall checkout experience.

The existing cart experience created friction around discoverability, onboarding, and task completion during high-frequency grocery workflows.

I collaborated with the Publix App team across research, ideation, testing, and mobile-first design exploration to improve cart accessibility and streamline the checkout experience.

Problem

The existing cart experience created friction across the app:

1. The cart was visually hard to spot

2. The navigation hierarchy confused users

3. The shopping bag icon led to ambiguity

4. Empty cart state created a dead-end and zero exploration opportunity

These issues blocked essential user tasks.

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Approach

To solve these issues, I followed a structured process:

Competitive Analysis

Reviewed cart patterns from Amazon, Walmart, TikTok, and others to understand industry standards for:

• Cart placement

• Empty state design

• Purchase flows

• Iconography

Ideation

Designed three distinct iterations exploring:

• Cart placement

• Empty state flows

• Cart with items

• Tutorial guidance

User Testing

Conducted A/B/C testing with 54 participants to measure:

• Time on task

• Ability to locate PAY

• Understanding of new cart placement

• Naming clarity for cart vs bag

User Testing Insights

Users found the new PAY location immediately

• No increase in task time

• 85 percent recommended a tooltip tutorial

• 75 percent found “cart” to be grocery-associated, causing naming confusion

These insights shaped the final decisions.

Final Designs

New Cart Placement

Moved the cart into the bottom navigation for maximum visibility and reach.

Quick-Link Enhancements

Added banners, PAY entry point, and historical analytics based on user purchases.

Tooltip Tutorial

A brief in-app cue explains the new PAY location upon first use.

Empty State Redesign

Added categories, weekly specials, and discovery paths to eliminate dead ends.

Outcomes

User testing with 54 participants helped validate the updated cart structure and visibility improvements, with most users preferring the simplified navigation and tooltip onboarding approach.

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