Kroger Imagine is an interactive interface that lets shoppers explore fresh produce by learning origins, nutrition, and recipes, while engaging with fruits digitally through rotation, slicing, and chopping for a fun, hands-on experience.
Team
Anvesha Gawade
Effy Banach
Pradyumna Satheesh
September 2025. Two week duration
My Role
Conducted interviews, contextual inquiry, and usability testing; created user journey maps, ideated solutions, and developed the initial prototype flow.
Tools
Figma, Pen & Paper
We wondered...
How might we transform grocery shopping from a routine task into a moment of discovery and joy for retired shoppers?
Grocery shopping is often times more than just a routine for older individuals, it’s a sensory and meaningful experience. They enjoy touching produce, comparing varieties, and discovering something new. However, unfamiliar global produce often lacks approachable information, making exploration feel intimidating rather than inviting. This project is more about embodied experience than solving a problem.
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Project Goals
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Enable shoppers to have an interactive shopping experience.
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Encourage curiosity and discoverability for retired individuals who are curious and inquisitive about trying new fresh produce by helping them explore these fresh produce.
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Designing accessible and intuitive interfaces that are easy to use for an older generation.
Discover
Research & Exploration
What is the most exciting part of your shopping experience?
Observation
We went to Kroger on a weekday evening and on Weekend Morning to observe a diverse range of users. On both days, we observed that the majority of elderly individuals (likely over 65 years old) were shopping alone. We noticed how they all had a checklist and how they frequently ask the Kroger assistants their questions.
Contextual Inquiry
Participants: We conducted contextual inquiry with two older adults (ages 63 and 87) while they shopped at Kroger.
Key Insights: We identified two shopper types—habit-oriented shoppers, who stick to familiar brands, and exploratory shoppers, who enjoy trying new produce. Regardless of type, both prioritize produce quality, and their willingness to engage with unfamiliar items depends largely on the time available.
“I get excited to be able to get the [new] ingredients, and be able to piece things together.”
- Quote from participant
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Contextual Inquiry notes
Define
Initial Solution Idea
Empowering retirees who enjoy cooking to explore unfamiliar global produce.
Synthesizing our research into an affinity map revealed that while shoppers of all ages struggle with stock visibility and navigation, the shared joy of discovering new foods is what keeps them shopping in-store.
Affinity map diagram of our findings
Guided by our constraint of fostering fun, we defined our core focus: empowering retirees who enjoy cooking to explore unfamiliar global produce. We narrowed our scope to the produce aisle—specifically global fruits and vegetables, due to its limited, seasonally stable selection, and designed for simple, intuitive interactions that accommodate varying levels of tech literacy within a 1–3 minute in-store engagement.
Develop
Prototyping & Evaluation
Finding a Design Rationale
SWOT
We conducted a SWOT analysis after defining the task flow to identify gaps early in the process. While some weaknesses and threats emerged, most were either addressable through UI refinements or misaligned with the needs of our core demographic. Ultimately, the value of our solution lies in encouraging spontaneous discovery and improving in-store flow through playful, optional interactions—designed for shoppers with time to explore, not those seeking maximum efficiency.
We sketched a minimal, intuitive prototype with one or two key action buttons per screen to reduce cognitive load and ensure straightforward navigation for older users. Interactions were designed to be brief, allowing shoppers to engage without disrupting store flow or causing crowding.
Expert Evaluation
For our second evaluation, we conducted an expert consultation with Nicole, a Whole Foods onboarding team lead with 10+ years of experience working with our core demographic. She affirmed that the prototype would be valuable, found it easy to follow, and appreciated its conversational, in-store–like interactions.
Nicole suggested minor improvements: adding a PLU code lookup to the produce search/scan screen, as this feature is familiar to long-time shoppers, and including a QR code tutorial button to guide users who may struggle with scanning codes.
Deliver
Final Outcome
How does Kroger Imagine deliver embodied experience to the shoppers?
Through our observations and contextual inquiry, we have noticed that older individuals value interaction during shopping. For many, it is more than a task. They often welcome opportunities to discover and explore with new products. To enhance this experience, we proposed an interactive element to not only make them feel a sense of connection and engagement but also to educate them on how to prepare their newly selected fresh produce correctly.
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Proposed Digital Screen in fresh produce aisle in Kroger
We came up with a design that lets the fresh produce “talk”. Our proposal provides a platform where shoppers can come, scan a fresh produce item they are unfamiliar with, and receive basic information about that product, such as its origin, the fruit it is similar to, and its nutritional qualities. After that, they can either explore more or find recipes that incorporate that produce. In the Explore section, users can interact with a 3D model of fresh produce by drawing motions such as slicing, peeling, and chopping. Through this, they learn what the fruit or vegetable looks like on the inside and also how to prepare it so that they can use it in their recipes.