top of page

Case Study 1 - Gamification

Gamification.png

The Challenge

​

Grocery Store associates faced challenges with engagement, motivation, and workflow optimization, which impacted their job satisfaction and, indirectly, the customer experience. Traditional approaches lacked the necessary spark to drive sustained enthusiasm and behavioral change in everyday tasks.

​

The Solution

​

We designed and implemented gamification principles that seamlessly integrated into core workflows and user processes, creating an engaging and rewarding experience for associates. This solution was not about adding games but about incorporating game design elements—such as progress tracking, achievements, and friendly competition—to foster autonomy, mastery, and purpose in their roles.

The Process

As Senior Product Designer, I led the gamification design strategy, focusing on intuitive, scalable, user-centered solutions. I partnered with product management and key business stakeholders to ensure alignment with overarching goals. I conducted user research, designed high-fidelity prototypes in Figma, collaborated with engineers to align with Kroger’s design system, and championed associate-centric design workshops and presentations.

To tackle this challenge:


  • Discovery: Conducted research to understand the associate pain points and opportunities where gamification could add value.

  • Design & Validation: Collaborated with cross-functional teams to conceptualize and prototype gamified UI components and flows. Ran user tests to refine designs based on feedback.

  • Implementation: Partnered with development teams to build reusable gamification components and a wrapper service for scalable integration.

  • Iteration: Used insights from proofs of concept to continuously refine and improve the system, ensuring alignment with both associate needs and business objectives.​

Discovery

The first step was to align with the team’s vision and goals for enhancing the associate experience. We focused on implementing gamification strategically—targeting specific pain points without introducing unnecessary complexity.

​

This involved leading cross-functional discovery sessions with product teams and business partners across Kroger to ensure seamless alignment and integration within the broader ecosystem.

​

By combining these cross-collaborative discoveries, we were able to identify real needs and opportunities, using these insights to shape our roadmaps. By concentrating on meaningful, engaging incentives tied directly to daily tasks, we aimed to spark sustained enthusiasm and drive impactful behavioral changes.

Design & Validation

With every experience concept, once we had a clear vision and alignment in place, we moved on to designing wireframes to explore how gamification could be seamlessly integrated into the associate experience. These wireframes allowed us to quickly prototype different user flows and test concepts without getting bogged down by visual design details.

To validate our ideas, we conducted usability testing sessions and gathered feedback directly from associates. This iterative process not only ensured the designs resonated with users but also laid a strong foundation for expanding gamification features and scaling the approach across additional workflows.

Implementation

Once we had a clear vision in place, we began designing a scalable framework to integrate gamification seamlessly into the associate experience. To maximize the value of our investment, we focused on building a wrapper service and reusable UI components incrementally. This approach allowed us to alleviate the burden of hard-coding gamification experiments for individual product teams.

Our initial efforts centered on creating a simplified, high-value concept that could be validated through proof-of-concept testing. With each iteration, we gathered insights, validated our approach, and implemented updates to improve the framework. This process not only reduced the time required to deliver impactful solutions but also laid 
the groundwork for refining and reusing components wherever they made sense, ensuring scalability and efficiency across the organization.

Learnings

Things we were evaluating:

  • Customer wait time ​

  • % of orders > 10 min​

  • Ready by time %​

 

Things we saw:

  • If we compare the same calendar week YOY, pilot stores beat their customer wait time by 1-2 min

  • All 4 pilot groups also outperformed their division

  • No trends from other spaces or angles, customer wait time is volatile

 

"How Might We" takeaways:

  • Organize the competing stores in a way that is fair for everyone? (I.e. Order volume, proximity)

  • Empower supervisors to decide what Gamification components are right for their team and top performers?

  • Extend the reach of confetti celebrations, so the active attendant doesn't miss the moment?

  • Emphasize a team's presence on the board?

  • Convey our "Gamification for Good" messaging to our in-store associates so they understand the value?

  • Offer an option to toggle/display the stores desired metric?

​

Unexpected Learnings:

  • External factors play a major role – Store layout, parking lot layout, recent changes in processes, staffing shortages, environmental factors, store renovations, public tragedies, etc.

  • Associates desire better communication from the business around upcoming changes.

  • The variation in technology/process could negatively/positively impact each store's ability to play the game.

  • Store morale varies greatly from store-to-store.

​

Outcome

Leaderboard
Overview:
The Leaderboard empowers Associates to engage in competition with stores in their district, focusing on essential metrics our business has identified.  Deploying first with Wait Time across Atlanta and then with Fill Rate in Louisville, we saw a strong positive impact to our stores.​
​
Results and Value:​

  • Deployed to 15 pilot stores​

  • Fill Rate increase of 17 Basis Points over the rest of the Division​

  • Eight-week sales uplift of $17,972 across our pilot​

  • Utilizing FY23 items picked volume, an estimated yearly enterprise sales uplift opportunity of $10.6M​
     

Submission Screen
Overview:
As the final step in our inventory counting process, the Count Submit screen provides immediate feedback to Associates on their completed count and how they performed against our enterprise targets. It helps our Associates understand the metrics, set goals, and celebrate when they complete the count as our business partners intended. 
​
Results and Value:​

  • Deployed to 80 pilot stores​

  • Free Scan increase of 416 Basis Points over Division​

  • BOH Accuracy increase of 10 to 29 Basis Points over Division​

  • Five-week sales uplift of $148,590 across our pilot​

  • Utilizing our BOH Accuracy value calculation, an estimated yearly enterprise sales lift opportunity of $9.8M – $28.6M
     

Real-Time Insights Widget

Overview:
Our Real Time Insights widget is deployed as part of Kroger HomeBase and currently displays the store’s Fill Rate to every Associate using a device. By increasing this data’s accessibility, gamifying the goal, and providing additional context, Associates can work to understand how they can make a positive impact.​
​
Results and Value:​

  • Deployed to 7 stores in Louisville and 12 stores in Cincinnati​

  • Fill Rate increases of 4 Basis Points and 20 Basis Points in Louisville and Cincinnati, respectively, 
over their Divisions​

  • Eight-week sales uplift of $1,940 and $13,624​

  • Averaging our improvement (+20bp) with FY24 items picked volume, an estimated yearly enterprise sales uplift opportunity of $13M

bottom of page