Designing for the way people actually shop
The Problem
Grocery shopping is one of the most habitual things people do. Routines are deeply ingrained — which means any new feature that interrupts the flow risks being ignored, no matter how useful it is. The challenge with HEB's curbside pickup and delivery wasn't building the feature — it was designing it so that customers could discover it, understand it, and trust it without disrupting the shopping experience they already knew.
Client
We started by understanding how HEB customers actually think when they shop. Through research, we documented their mental models, pain points, and the decisions they make before they ever open the app. The biggest insight: customers wanted to commit to pickup or delivery early — before browsing — so they could shop with confidence. A solution buried deep in the checkout flow would be too late.
The Approach
The result was a persistent but unobtrusive selector at the top of the screen — visible from the moment the customer opens the app, but designed not to dominate. Once a customer selects curbside or delivery, chooses a store and time, the choice is confirmed and carried through the entire session. No second-guessing, no re-entering details at checkout.
Most HEB customers have a preferred HEB store to go to, that is usually conveniently located near their homes. Once a customer has formed a habit of frequently visiting a particular store, the customer rarely visits a different store. The easiest way for these customers to identify their stores is by the area, or neighborhood that the store is located in. This is why displaying stores near their proximity, in terms of neighborhood names, would increase their familiarity with the stores, and make it easier for them to choose a store.
Most HEB customers have a grocery shopping routine that occurs roughly around the same time of each day, that is influenced by other routine tasks that typically occur around the same time of each day as well. So picking a time of service would naturally fit into their routine. And of course, HEB does need to know the time of service, just like any delivery service.
