Store Fulfillment

Walmart's "Store Fulfillment" (GIF) is a pioneering system designed to digitize and optimize online fulfillment operations. This ambitious initiative streamlined picking, packing, staging, and distribution across over 5,000 stores in the USA, UK, Mexico, and Canada.

The Challenge: Transforming Online Fulfillment

To improve the efficiency and speed of online order fulfilment, including picking, packing, staging, and distribution. This initiative, designed to revolutionise Walmart's fulfilment services through free shipping, same-day delivery, curb-side pickup, and more.

GIF significantly enhanced speed, convenience, and the overall customer experience, especially for online grocery and general merchandise, with ongoing commercialization efforts.

A day in the life of an associate

As an early UX leader for GIF, I was instrumental in defining its initial vision and guiding its strategic design and execution from inception. My role encompassed several critical areas:

Few App screens (Intentionally skewed)

Leading Remote Design & Building Trust:

Navigating the challenge of a small team (including a period with only one junior designer), I spearheaded all strategic design decisions and execution. Despite ambitious quarterly roadmaps (around 9 modules), I consistently delivered high-quality UX solutions, demonstrating the value of design in the initial critical phases.

I navigated challenging periods, including a significant team downsizing, where I maintained project momentum and ensured continuity.

Influencing Product Strategy & OKRs:

My consistent delivery and commitment to quality led to increased trust from leadership. I became an integral part of the annual OKR definition process, directly influencing product strategy, business expectations, and ensuring ample opportunity for UX exploration within the product pipeline.

Continuous Exploration, Innovation & Testing

Ongoing Explorations: I regularly presented research insights and design decisions to stakeholders, actively collaborating with product teams to continuously enhance the UX.

I also dedicated 25% of designer time to individual exploratory areas, particularly during off-peak seasons, and conducted thorough competitor analysis (e.g., Swiggy, Dunzo in India) to inform design strategies.

Award-Winning Innovation & Patents: Our team achieved consecutive wins in internal product hackathons, fueled by robust research and innovative ideas. We authored over 14 papers, filed several patent applications, and gained recognition through participation in the prestigious Red Dot Design Awards.

Iterative Usability Testing: I established processes for running usability tests with participants using online tools, collecting feedback, and meticulously analyzing results. While initial attempts with UserZoom proved ineffective for our mobile-first, on-the-go user base due to overwhelming Zoom calls and limited insights, we adapted our approach to gather actionable feedback.

Presented research insights and design decisions to stakeholders, collaborating with product to enhance UX. Dedicated 25% of designer time to individual areas, especially during peak seasons. Conducted research, including competitor analysis (Swiggy, Dunzo in India), to inform design strategies.

Data-Driven Design

I worked closely with the data team to understand usage patterns and guide design iterations. Despite a late data team onboarding, weekly syncs focused on data impacting OKRs proved invaluable, leading to continuous design refinements for simplification and adherence to Standard Operating Procedures.

Key Outcomes & Impact (Metrics & Results)

Improved efficiency and speed of online order fulfillment.

Enhanced and consistent associate experience.

Successful commercialization efforts with the launch of Massmart, and Adobe.

Improved wait times and dwell times for customers/drivers.

Elevated UX Role & Strategic Influence: My team evolved from 'pixel movers' to strategic partners, proactively involved in the ideation phase of new projects. Our work was showcased at Spark Tech, where we presented the new picking experience, gaining company-wide recognition. Our contributions led to over 12 papers written for GIFT alone.

Strong Team Culture & Resource Growth: I achieved an 80% team retention rate and mentored over 9 designers, leading to the promotion of 4 team members. My data-driven advocacy successfully secured additional designers and interns for the team.

My Takeaways

This comprehensive approach not only solved critical operational and user experience problems within GIF but also redefined the role of design, embedding it as a strategic, data-driven partner within Walmart's product development lifecycle.


Co-Creation Method (Intentionally blurred)	Practiced 4ITB method (Intentionally blurred)