Portfolio

Challenge

Restaurants were missing orders due to fax machine failures, paper outages, and illegible handwritten orders during peak hours.

Approach

500+ hours of ethnographic field research inside restaurant kitchens.

Key Findings

• Fax paper outages during peak hours caused missed orders with no digital backup
• Smudged fax paper led to transcription errors and wrong items
• Desktop-tied workflows prevented staff from managing orders at prep stations

Impact

Pioneered the tablet-first order management design pattern that became the industry standard.

Challenge

Grainger's B2B registration flow had unclear barriers preventing business customers from completing account setup.

Approach

2 weeks of in-store intercept testing with 20+ real customers using an Axure RP clickable prototype inside Grainger retail stores.

8 Critical Barriers

• Low computer literacy among trade customers
• Customers didn't know Grainger had a website
• Registration felt unnecessary — in-store was working fine
• B2B vs. B2C workflow mismatch
• Trust & security concerns
• Physical catalogue dependency
• Job elimination fear
• Catalogue-to-digital transition friction

Impact

48-hour turnaround on findings. 100% team alignment. Immediate design changes to the registration flow.

Overview

4-year embedded research partnership across 8 product areas: Fuel Hub, Self-Checkout (OSCO), In-App Barcode, Make My Day Game, Speedway Integration, 7Rewards Loyalty, Deals & Rewards, and Wallet & Payment Methods.

Key Findings

• Fuel Hub: Customers confused about Price Lock — didn't know if they'd pay the locked price if fuel prices dropped
• OSCO: Poor placement meant most customers never noticed the machine; permission confusion stopped those who did
• In-App Barcode: Customers preferred phone number entry over scanning the barcode
• Make My Day: Win/loss iconography indistinguishable
• GoldPass: Trial gaming, benefits not universally applicable, desire for personalization
• Deals & Rewards: Personalization gap vs. competitors; deal abandonment at checkout
• Wallet: Onboarding drop-off, payment method confusion, dead-end error states
• Speedway: Customers wanted unified loyalty across both brands

Impact

Shaped product strategy across multiple teams, maintained continuity through a Waterfall-to-Agile transition, and established ResearchOps infrastructure.

Challenge

As part of 7-Eleven's innovation efforts, the Octane Self-Checkout (OSCO) project aimed to evaluate and improve the in-store self-checkout experience across multiple store formats — and understand why adoption was lower than expected.

Approach

In-store observational research and post-transaction intercept interviews at two 7-Eleven locations in Holland, MI. Included a competitor store visit to benchmark SCO placement and UX. Paired with mobile app usability testing across the full browse → deal → checkout → loyalty earn journey.

Key Findings

• At one store, only 9 of ~80 customers used OSCO — not because it was hard to use, but because most never saw it
• The second store saw zero OSCO usage due to poor placement alone
• Customers who noticed the machine weren't sure they were allowed to use it — no clear signal of invitation
• The app had no “you're at the store” moment — browse, deal clip, checkout, and loyalty earn were all disconnected
• Competitor analysis confirmed better placement and contextual app prompts could significantly lift adoption

Impact

Reframed the product question from machine usability to journey continuity. OSCO placement, in-app awareness, and contextual store-mode UX added to the product roadmap.