A small ask, on top of a bigger problem
The platform pools nearby orders into a single delivery, which is what makes steep discounts possible. If a pool didn't hit its minimum, the whole order was cancelled — consumer or business, often without warning. The client asked us to fix the progress bar that was supposed to explain this. We found the problem runs much deeper than a UI fix.
Three problems wearing one UI complaint
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An all-or-nothing threshold
If a shared delivery didn't hit its minimum order quantity, the whole order was cancelled — no partial fallback, and people found out only when they realized their delivery never came.
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A progress bar nobody understood
The one piece of UI meant to explain the pool gave no context on what it tracked or why it mattered. It simply showed a cost counter, that could be anything from receiving greater discounts to savings on delivery fees.
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Unattended drop-offs
Drivers sometimes arrived before anyone could be at the common drop point, or late when people left the drop point, leaving food to sit out until someone showed up.
Our delivery was left on the street at the drop point in the sun, the meat and poultry went bad before we arrived. Completely unacceptable.
From UI patch to community design
None of this was framed as a redesign. We delivered a direction that would fix the problem but also create a business model that builds trust between the business and its customers.
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Same driver, one group chat
We proposed that they assign same driver on the same drop where possible, with one group chat per drop. A familiar face and a shared discussion turns strangers into a small friendly community where trust and relationships can be built.
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A reward, not a requirement
Pooled delivery is a great idea, but it was done wrong. We proposed dropping the threshold as a minimum to fulfill an order, and reframing it as a discount driver instead. The delivery happens regardless — but the larger the pool, the greater the savings. The same bar becomes a shared-savings meter: discount grows as neighbors join, and no one's order gets cancelled.
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Make nearby pools visible
When a customer makes an order, the time of delivery should surface existing open drops before they start a new delivery time. Discoverability will enable greater discounts and allow for the pools to grow.
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Somewhere safe to wait
A long-term goal should be to partner with local businesses that already have freezer space near common drop points, so an order has somewhere safe to sit when timing doesn't line up with pickup.
A direction, not a redesign
Two weeks isn't enough to validate a rebuilt product — it's enough to point one in the right direction. The client left with four sequenced recommendations: two they could act on immediately, and two discoverability and cold-chain partnerships ideas. Reviews were our only collateral, and two workshops with business stakeholders were a real limitation worth mentioning.
