Laura Cure • Deliveroo Gifting Redesign

The challenge

Everyone knows Deliveroo. But not everyone knows that 1. it’s not just for food 2. you can send gifts through the app. Deliveroo’s new ‘Shopping’ section launched in late 2023, and with it the capability to send gifts to lucky recipients through the app. ‘Shopping’ is a key part of Deliveroo’s growth strategy, and as such, it makes sense to encourage adoption of this new feature. This was a 24hr hour collaborative hackathon for Deliveroo, coordinated by BrainStation. As part of a multidisciplinary team (2 UX Designers, 3 Software Engineers), we researched, ideated, built and pitched a new gifting solution for Deliveroo, based on a brief from their Product team. The core challenge of that brief was this: ‘How might we enhance the experience of sending and receiving a gift for any occasion?’

The research

The research phase was condensed, based on the tight 24hr time frame for the hackathon, so we researched 'smart', pulling together key findings to underpin our ideation phase.

Key takeaways

Deliveroo's Capital Markets report identified customers buying 'on demand' in the 'retail' segment as a key area of opportunity.

Last minute gifting is a significant component in on-demand retail - e.g. "I've realised it's my brother's birthday today, and I haven't got him anything."

Meanwhile, we found that younger people aged 18-35 are most likely to buy last minute gifts.

This helped us create our persona: Louis, a 31-year-old busy professional, who happens to be a last-minute gift buyer.

Identifying key pain points

We couldn't build an improved solution without understanding the current situation. We analysed the current gift-buying experience to produce an experience map, identifying key pain points that would benefit from our intervention. To aid in this endeavour, we actually bought a gift.

Pain points

Pain point 1: It was hard to find the Gift section, buried in the Homepage categories, and nested within the 'Shopping' tab

Pain point 2: There are an overwhelming number of options on the Gifting page, and no obvious way to search

Pain point 3: When the gift arrives, it's a bit too similar to buying food on Deliveroo. A brown paper bag just isn't that special.

So, our solution needed to focus on addressing these pain points: making the gift section more easily discoverable, making it easier to search/filter gifts, and making the gift more personal and delightful.

Being considerate

We had certain key considerations to take into account when devising our solution. Some of these were present in the brief from Deliveroo: 1. Consider what makes sending and receiving a gift special. How can you incorporate these aspects into a digital experience? 2. Not all gifts are physical items. How might the experience change if somebody getting gifted an experience, or a meal? 3. On-demand delivery can be tricky from a logistical standpoint. How can you ensure the recipient receives the gift? Some of these were considerations we imposed on ourselves: 1. The solution needed to be easy enough to implement to be realistic. Even small changes can have an outsize impact on large platforms such as Deliveroo. This meant something light-touch, using elements of existing components where possible 2. Deliveroo is a business with a heavy data focus: we needed to devise a solution that took this into account, and enriched the business through data

Key considerations, summarised

How to make the gifting experience more special

How to incorporate digital/non-physical gifts

How to ensure solid delivery logistics

How to make the solution as simple as possible to implement, and approach it with a data focus

A focused solution

The solution that we prototyped was designed to specifically address the pain points we had identified, and the key considerations we had in mind going into the project.

Solutions implemented

Improved discoverability of Gifts on the homepage, with a dedicated entry point

Improved navigation on the Gift page itself, reusing category filters from the homepage, and putting a category-level search front and centre, so that users can find what they need more easily

Innovative non-physical gift experiences, with instant e-delivery

A more personal, delightful gifting experience, with personalised digital cards and optional gift wrapping

In the flow

We created two task flows, each to illustrate different aspects of the experience we envisioned.

Key points

Task flow one focuses on purchasing a physical gift for an existing recipient.

By 'existing recipient' we mean a recipient that the user has previously entered into the system. By 'physical gift' we mean something substantial, a physical item that must be delivered to the user by a courier.

Task flow two focuses on purchasing a gift experience for a new recipient.

By 'gift experience' we mean a non-physical gift, one that does not have to be physically delivered to the recipient. 'New recipient' is a recipient that is not currently in the system.

The final product

The feedback

We got some fantastic feedback from the judges from team Deliveroo, who we pitched to in-person. And, well...we won! "Great presentation, told the story very well and brought us on a journey." "The only team to provide a different, dedicated entry point to gifting that didn’t commandeer a much-contested slot on the home page." "Including the ability to note special dates for a particular person was a great touch, and would help bring users back into the app on more occasions." "Solid and consistent UX design with a logical flow to the user experience." "Amazing and the best across the team UX mapping with the right pain identified" "The only team who thought of non-material gifts e.g. experiences (great idea!)" "The tech demo was really good, coming up with the idea of shopping for experiences was really unique. Saving contacts and self gifting was also a nice addition." "Great team collaboration in the presentation. Laura (I hope I got the right name) the lead presenter did an incredible job of conveying the presentation and key points to the audience." "UX designer has presented mostly, but her presentation skills were incredible" "Leveraging birthday and other data for future usage is a great opportunity."

The challenge

Everyone knows Deliveroo. But not everyone knows that 1. it’s not just for food 2. you can send gifts through the app. Deliveroo’s new ‘Shopping’ section launched in late 2023, and with it the capability to send gifts to lucky recipients through the app. ‘Shopping’ is a key part of Deliveroo’s growth strategy, and as such, it makes sense to encourage adoption of this new feature. This was a 24hr hour collaborative hackathon for Deliveroo, coordinated by BrainStation. As part of a multidisciplinary team (2 UX Designers, 3 Software Engineers), we researched, ideated, built and pitched a new gifting solution for Deliveroo, based on a brief from their Product team. The core challenge of that brief was this: ‘How might we enhance the experience of sending and receiving a gift for any occasion?’

The research

The research phase was condensed, based on the tight 24hr time frame for the hackathon, so we researched 'smart', pulling together key findings to underpin our ideation phase.

Key takeaways

Deliveroo's Capital Markets report identified customers buying 'on demand' in the 'retail' segment as a key area of opportunity.

Last minute gifting is a significant component in on-demand retail - e.g. "I've realised it's my brother's birthday today, and I haven't got him anything."

Meanwhile, we found that younger people aged 18-35 are most likely to buy last minute gifts.

This helped us create our persona: Louis, a 31-year-old busy professional, who happens to be a last-minute gift buyer.

Identifying key pain points

We couldn't build an improved solution without understanding the current situation. We analysed the current gift-buying experience to produce an experience map, identifying key pain points that would benefit from our intervention. To aid in this endeavour, we actually bought a gift.

Pain points

Pain point 1: It was hard to find the Gift section, buried in the Homepage categories, and nested within the 'Shopping' tab

Pain point 2: There are an overwhelming number of options on the Gifting page, and no obvious way to search

Pain point 3: When the gift arrives, it's a bit too similar to buying food on Deliveroo. A brown paper bag just isn't that special.

So, our solution needed to focus on addressing these pain points: making the gift section more easily discoverable, making it easier to search/filter gifts, and making the gift more personal and delightful.

Being considerate

We had certain key considerations to take into account when devising our solution. Some of these were present in the brief from Deliveroo: 1. Consider what makes sending and receiving a gift special. How can you incorporate these aspects into a digital experience? 2. Not all gifts are physical items. How might the experience change if somebody getting gifted an experience, or a meal? 3. On-demand delivery can be tricky from a logistical standpoint. How can you ensure the recipient receives the gift? Some of these were considerations we imposed on ourselves: 1. The solution needed to be easy enough to implement to be realistic. Even small changes can have an outsize impact on large platforms such as Deliveroo. This meant something light-touch, using elements of existing components where possible 2. Deliveroo is a business with a heavy data focus: we needed to devise a solution that took this into account, and enriched the business through data

Key considerations, summarised

How to make the gifting experience more special

How to incorporate digital/non-physical gifts

How to ensure solid delivery logistics

How to make the solution as simple as possible to implement, and approach it with a data focus

A focused solution

The solution that we prototyped was designed to specifically address the pain points we had identified, and the key considerations we had in mind going into the project.

Solutions implemented

Improved discoverability of Gifts on the homepage, with a dedicated entry point

Improved navigation on the Gift page itself, reusing category filters from the homepage, and putting a category-level search front and centre, so that users can find what they need more easily

Innovative non-physical gift experiences, with instant e-delivery

A more personal, delightful gifting experience, with personalised digital cards and optional gift wrapping

In the flow

We created two task flows, each to illustrate different aspects of the experience we envisioned.

Key points

Task flow one focuses on purchasing a physical gift for an existing recipient.

By 'existing recipient' we mean a recipient that the user has previously entered into the system. By 'physical gift' we mean something substantial, a physical item that must be delivered to the user by a courier.

Task flow two focuses on purchasing a gift experience for a new recipient.

By 'gift experience' we mean a non-physical gift, one that does not have to be physically delivered to the recipient. 'New recipient' is a recipient that is not currently in the system.

The final product

The feedback

We got some fantastic feedback from the judges from team Deliveroo, who we pitched to in-person. And, well...we won! "Great presentation, told the story very well and brought us on a journey." "The only team to provide a different, dedicated entry point to gifting that didn’t commandeer a much-contested slot on the home page." "Including the ability to note special dates for a particular person was a great touch, and would help bring users back into the app on more occasions." "Solid and consistent UX design with a logical flow to the user experience." "Amazing and the best across the team UX mapping with the right pain identified" "The only team who thought of non-material gifts e.g. experiences (great idea!)" "The tech demo was really good, coming up with the idea of shopping for experiences was really unique. Saving contacts and self gifting was also a nice addition." "Great team collaboration in the presentation. Laura (I hope I got the right name) the lead presenter did an incredible job of conveying the presentation and key points to the audience." "UX designer has presented mostly, but her presentation skills were incredible" "Leveraging birthday and other data for future usage is a great opportunity."

The challenge

Everyone knows Deliveroo. But not everyone knows that 1. it’s not just for food 2. you can send gifts through the app. Deliveroo’s new ‘Shopping’ section launched in late 2023, and with it the capability to send gifts to lucky recipients through the app. ‘Shopping’ is a key part of Deliveroo’s growth strategy, and as such, it makes sense to encourage adoption of this new feature. This was a 24hr hour collaborative hackathon for Deliveroo, coordinated by BrainStation. As part of a multidisciplinary team (2 UX Designers, 3 Software Engineers), we researched, ideated, built and pitched a new gifting solution for Deliveroo, based on a brief from their Product team. The core challenge of that brief was this: ‘How might we enhance the experience of sending and receiving a gift for any occasion?’

The research

The research phase was condensed, based on the tight 24hr time frame for the hackathon, so we researched 'smart', pulling together key findings to underpin our ideation phase.

Key takeaways

Deliveroo's Capital Markets report identified customers buying 'on demand' in the 'retail' segment as a key area of opportunity.

Last minute gifting is a significant component in on-demand retail - e.g. "I've realised it's my brother's birthday today, and I haven't got him anything."

Meanwhile, we found that younger people aged 18-35 are most likely to buy last minute gifts.

This helped us create our persona: Louis, a 31-year-old busy professional, who happens to be a last-minute gift buyer.

Identifying key pain points

We couldn't build an improved solution without understanding the current situation. We analysed the current gift-buying experience to produce an experience map, identifying key pain points that would benefit from our intervention. To aid in this endeavour, we actually bought a gift.

Pain points

Pain point 1: It was hard to find the Gift section, buried in the Homepage categories, and nested within the 'Shopping' tab

Pain point 2: There are an overwhelming number of options on the Gifting page, and no obvious way to search

Pain point 3: When the gift arrives, it's a bit too similar to buying food on Deliveroo. A brown paper bag just isn't that special.

So, our solution needed to focus on addressing these pain points: making the gift section more easily discoverable, making it easier to search/filter gifts, and making the gift more personal and delightful.

Being considerate

We had certain key considerations to take into account when devising our solution. Some of these were present in the brief from Deliveroo: 1. Consider what makes sending and receiving a gift special. How can you incorporate these aspects into a digital experience? 2. Not all gifts are physical items. How might the experience change if somebody getting gifted an experience, or a meal? 3. On-demand delivery can be tricky from a logistical standpoint. How can you ensure the recipient receives the gift? Some of these were considerations we imposed on ourselves: 1. The solution needed to be easy enough to implement to be realistic. Even small changes can have an outsize impact on large platforms such as Deliveroo. This meant something light-touch, using elements of existing components where possible 2. Deliveroo is a business with a heavy data focus: we needed to devise a solution that took this into account, and enriched the business through data

Key considerations, summarised

How to make the gifting experience more special

How to incorporate digital/non-physical gifts

How to ensure solid delivery logistics

How to make the solution as simple as possible to implement, and approach it with a data focus

A focused solution

The solution that we prototyped was designed to specifically address the pain points we had identified, and the key considerations we had in mind going into the project.

Solutions implemented

Improved discoverability of Gifts on the homepage, with a dedicated entry point

Improved navigation on the Gift page itself, reusing category filters from the homepage, and putting a category-level search front and centre, so that users can find what they need more easily

Innovative non-physical gift experiences, with instant e-delivery

A more personal, delightful gifting experience, with personalised digital cards and optional gift wrapping

In the flow

We created two task flows, each to illustrate different aspects of the experience we envisioned.

Key points

Task flow one focuses on purchasing a physical gift for an existing recipient.

By 'existing recipient' we mean a recipient that the user has previously entered into the system. By 'physical gift' we mean something substantial, a physical item that must be delivered to the user by a courier.

Task flow two focuses on purchasing a gift experience for a new recipient.

By 'gift experience' we mean a non-physical gift, one that does not have to be physically delivered to the recipient. 'New recipient' is a recipient that is not currently in the system.

The final product

The feedback

We got some fantastic feedback from the judges from team Deliveroo, who we pitched to in-person. And, well...we won! "Great presentation, told the story very well and brought us on a journey." "The only team to provide a different, dedicated entry point to gifting that didn’t commandeer a much-contested slot on the home page." "Including the ability to note special dates for a particular person was a great touch, and would help bring users back into the app on more occasions." "Solid and consistent UX design with a logical flow to the user experience." "Amazing and the best across the team UX mapping with the right pain identified" "The only team who thought of non-material gifts e.g. experiences (great idea!)" "The tech demo was really good, coming up with the idea of shopping for experiences was really unique. Saving contacts and self gifting was also a nice addition." "Great team collaboration in the presentation. Laura (I hope I got the right name) the lead presenter did an incredible job of conveying the presentation and key points to the audience." "UX designer has presented mostly, but her presentation skills were incredible" "Leveraging birthday and other data for future usage is a great opportunity."

The challenge

Everyone knows Deliveroo. But not everyone knows that 1. it’s not just for food 2. you can send gifts through the app. Deliveroo’s new ‘Shopping’ section launched in late 2023, and with it the capability to send gifts to lucky recipients through the app. ‘Shopping’ is a key part of Deliveroo’s growth strategy, and as such, it makes sense to encourage adoption of this new feature. This was a 24hr hour collaborative hackathon for Deliveroo, coordinated by BrainStation. As part of a multidisciplinary team (2 UX Designers, 3 Software Engineers), we researched, ideated, built and pitched a new gifting solution for Deliveroo, based on a brief from their Product team. The core challenge of that brief was this: ‘How might we enhance the experience of sending and receiving a gift for any occasion?’

The research

The research phase was condensed, based on the tight 24hr time frame for the hackathon, so we researched 'smart', pulling together key findings to underpin our ideation phase.

Key takeaways

Deliveroo's Capital Markets report identified customers buying 'on demand' in the 'retail' segment as a key area of opportunity.

Last minute gifting is a significant component in on-demand retail - e.g. "I've realised it's my brother's birthday today, and I haven't got him anything."

Meanwhile, we found that younger people aged 18-35 are most likely to buy last minute gifts.

This helped us create our persona: Louis, a 31-year-old busy professional, who happens to be a last-minute gift buyer.

Identifying key pain points

We couldn't build an improved solution without understanding the current situation. We analysed the current gift-buying experience to produce an experience map, identifying key pain points that would benefit from our intervention. To aid in this endeavour, we actually bought a gift.

Pain points

Pain point 1: It was hard to find the Gift section, buried in the Homepage categories, and nested within the 'Shopping' tab

Pain point 2: There are an overwhelming number of options on the Gifting page, and no obvious way to search

Pain point 3: When the gift arrives, it's a bit too similar to buying food on Deliveroo. A brown paper bag just isn't that special.

So, our solution needed to focus on addressing these pain points: making the gift section more easily discoverable, making it easier to search/filter gifts, and making the gift more personal and delightful.

Being considerate

We had certain key considerations to take into account when devising our solution. Some of these were present in the brief from Deliveroo: 1. Consider what makes sending and receiving a gift special. How can you incorporate these aspects into a digital experience? 2. Not all gifts are physical items. How might the experience change if somebody getting gifted an experience, or a meal? 3. On-demand delivery can be tricky from a logistical standpoint. How can you ensure the recipient receives the gift? Some of these were considerations we imposed on ourselves: 1. The solution needed to be easy enough to implement to be realistic. Even small changes can have an outsize impact on large platforms such as Deliveroo. This meant something light-touch, using elements of existing components where possible 2. Deliveroo is a business with a heavy data focus: we needed to devise a solution that took this into account, and enriched the business through data

Key considerations, summarised

How to make the gifting experience more special

How to incorporate digital/non-physical gifts

How to ensure solid delivery logistics

How to make the solution as simple as possible to implement, and approach it with a data focus

A focused solution

The solution that we prototyped was designed to specifically address the pain points we had identified, and the key considerations we had in mind going into the project.

Solutions implemented

Improved discoverability of Gifts on the homepage, with a dedicated entry point

Improved navigation on the Gift page itself, reusing category filters from the homepage, and putting a category-level search front and centre, so that users can find what they need more easily

Innovative non-physical gift experiences, with instant e-delivery

A more personal, delightful gifting experience, with personalised digital cards and optional gift wrapping

In the flow

We created two task flows, each to illustrate different aspects of the experience we envisioned.

Key points

Task flow one focuses on purchasing a physical gift for an existing recipient.

By 'existing recipient' we mean a recipient that the user has previously entered into the system. By 'physical gift' we mean something substantial, a physical item that must be delivered to the user by a courier.

Task flow two focuses on purchasing a gift experience for a new recipient.

By 'gift experience' we mean a non-physical gift, one that does not have to be physically delivered to the recipient. 'New recipient' is a recipient that is not currently in the system.

The final product

The feedback

We got some fantastic feedback from the judges from team Deliveroo, who we pitched to in-person. And, well...we won! "Great presentation, told the story very well and brought us on a journey." "The only team to provide a different, dedicated entry point to gifting that didn’t commandeer a much-contested slot on the home page." "Including the ability to note special dates for a particular person was a great touch, and would help bring users back into the app on more occasions." "Solid and consistent UX design with a logical flow to the user experience." "Amazing and the best across the team UX mapping with the right pain identified" "The only team who thought of non-material gifts e.g. experiences (great idea!)" "The tech demo was really good, coming up with the idea of shopping for experiences was really unique. Saving contacts and self gifting was also a nice addition." "Great team collaboration in the presentation. Laura (I hope I got the right name) the lead presenter did an incredible job of conveying the presentation and key points to the audience." "UX designer has presented mostly, but her presentation skills were incredible" "Leveraging birthday and other data for future usage is a great opportunity."

The challenge

Everyone knows Deliveroo. But not everyone knows that 1. it’s not just for food 2. you can send gifts through the app. Deliveroo’s new ‘Shopping’ section launched in late 2023, and with it the capability to send gifts to lucky recipients through the app. ‘Shopping’ is a key part of Deliveroo’s growth strategy, and as such, it makes sense to encourage adoption of this new feature. This was a 24hr hour collaborative hackathon for Deliveroo, coordinated by BrainStation. As part of a multidisciplinary team (2 UX Designers, 3 Software Engineers), we researched, ideated, built and pitched a new gifting solution for Deliveroo, based on a brief from their Product team. The core challenge of that brief was this: ‘How might we enhance the experience of sending and receiving a gift for any occasion?’

The research

The research phase was condensed, based on the tight 24hr time frame for the hackathon, so we researched 'smart', pulling together key findings to underpin our ideation phase.

Key takeaways

Deliveroo's Capital Markets report identified customers buying 'on demand' in the 'retail' segment as a key area of opportunity.

Last minute gifting is a significant component in on-demand retail - e.g. "I've realised it's my brother's birthday today, and I haven't got him anything."

Meanwhile, we found that younger people aged 18-35 are most likely to buy last minute gifts.

This helped us create our persona: Louis, a 31-year-old busy professional, who happens to be a last-minute gift buyer.

Identifying key pain points

We couldn't build an improved solution without understanding the current situation. We analysed the current gift-buying experience to produce an experience map, identifying key pain points that would benefit from our intervention. To aid in this endeavour, we actually bought a gift.

Pain points

Pain point 1: It was hard to find the Gift section, buried in the Homepage categories, and nested within the 'Shopping' tab

Pain point 2: There are an overwhelming number of options on the Gifting page, and no obvious way to search

Pain point 3: When the gift arrives, it's a bit too similar to buying food on Deliveroo. A brown paper bag just isn't that special.

So, our solution needed to focus on addressing these pain points: making the gift section more easily discoverable, making it easier to search/filter gifts, and making the gift more personal and delightful.

Being considerate

We had certain key considerations to take into account when devising our solution. Some of these were present in the brief from Deliveroo: 1. Consider what makes sending and receiving a gift special. How can you incorporate these aspects into a digital experience? 2. Not all gifts are physical items. How might the experience change if somebody getting gifted an experience, or a meal? 3. On-demand delivery can be tricky from a logistical standpoint. How can you ensure the recipient receives the gift? Some of these were considerations we imposed on ourselves: 1. The solution needed to be easy enough to implement to be realistic. Even small changes can have an outsize impact on large platforms such as Deliveroo. This meant something light-touch, using elements of existing components where possible 2. Deliveroo is a business with a heavy data focus: we needed to devise a solution that took this into account, and enriched the business through data

Key considerations, summarised

How to make the gifting experience more special

How to incorporate digital/non-physical gifts

How to ensure solid delivery logistics

How to make the solution as simple as possible to implement, and approach it with a data focus

A focused solution

The solution that we prototyped was designed to specifically address the pain points we had identified, and the key considerations we had in mind going into the project.

Solutions implemented

Improved discoverability of Gifts on the homepage, with a dedicated entry point

Improved navigation on the Gift page itself, reusing category filters from the homepage, and putting a category-level search front and centre, so that users can find what they need more easily

Innovative non-physical gift experiences, with instant e-delivery

A more personal, delightful gifting experience, with personalised digital cards and optional gift wrapping

In the flow

We created two task flows, each to illustrate different aspects of the experience we envisioned.

Key points

Task flow one focuses on purchasing a physical gift for an existing recipient.

By 'existing recipient' we mean a recipient that the user has previously entered into the system. By 'physical gift' we mean something substantial, a physical item that must be delivered to the user by a courier.

Task flow two focuses on purchasing a gift experience for a new recipient.

By 'gift experience' we mean a non-physical gift, one that does not have to be physically delivered to the recipient. 'New recipient' is a recipient that is not currently in the system.

The final product

The feedback

We got some fantastic feedback from the judges from team Deliveroo, who we pitched to in-person. And, well...we won! "Great presentation, told the story very well and brought us on a journey." "The only team to provide a different, dedicated entry point to gifting that didn’t commandeer a much-contested slot on the home page." "Including the ability to note special dates for a particular person was a great touch, and would help bring users back into the app on more occasions." "Solid and consistent UX design with a logical flow to the user experience." "Amazing and the best across the team UX mapping with the right pain identified" "The only team who thought of non-material gifts e.g. experiences (great idea!)" "The tech demo was really good, coming up with the idea of shopping for experiences was really unique. Saving contacts and self gifting was also a nice addition." "Great team collaboration in the presentation. Laura (I hope I got the right name) the lead presenter did an incredible job of conveying the presentation and key points to the audience." "UX designer has presented mostly, but her presentation skills were incredible" "Leveraging birthday and other data for future usage is a great opportunity."