Beyond Digitization: Rethinking How Warehouses Identify At-Risk Produce

Beyond Digitization: Rethinking How Warehouses Identify At-Risk Produce

Led end-to-end product design for a mobile Freshness Walk experience, translating fragmented warehouse workflows into a standardized process for identifying, documenting, and communicating at-risk produce.

END-TO-END DESIGN

FEATURE PRIORITIZATION

WIREFRAMING & PROTOTYPING

MOBILE APPLICATION

PROCESS OVERVIEW

What is a Freshness Walk?

A Freshness Walk is a quality check performed after produce arrives at a warehouse and before it is sent to stores. Quality Assurance (QA) teams inspect produce by sight and touch, much like shoppers do at the grocery store, to identify at-risk products and take action before they become waste or reach customers.

Role

Lead Product Designer

Lead Product Designer

Led end-to-end product design for a new mobile QA feature, partnering with user research, product management, and business stakeholders to uncover operational challenges, standardize Freshness Walk workflows, and shape a scalable vision for produce quality management across 20 distribution centers.

Led end-to-end product design for a new mobile QA feature, partnering with user research, product management, and business stakeholders to uncover operational challenges, standardize Freshness Walk workflows, and shape a scalable vision for produce quality management across 20 distribution centers.

COMPANY

Kroger

Kroger

TEAM

Product Manager, Front and Backend Developers, QA Analysts, User Researcher

Product Manager, Front and Backend Developers, QA Analysts, User Researcher

LIBRARIES

Material Design, Kroger Design System (KDS)

Material Design, Kroger Design System (KDS)

Tools

Mural, Figma, Loom, Dovetail

Mural, Figma, Loom, Dovetail

Contributions

Project Scoping · Research Planning & Synthesis · Contextual Inquiry & Site Visits · Usability Testing · Wireframing · Prototyping · Interaction Design · Product Strategu

Project Scoping · Research Planning & Synthesis · Contextual Inquiry & Site Visits · Usability Testing · Wireframing · Prototyping · Interaction Design · Product Strategu

THE OPPORTUNITY

As part of the Kroger CEO’s company-wide freshness initiative, our team was tasked with creating a digital experience to improve Freshness Walks, helping distribution centers (DCs) reduce waste and deliver fresher produce to customers.

THE SOLUTION

A streamlined enhancement for an existing quality assurance application that standardized the freshness walk across DCs to capture freshness walk data in-take and outputs providing trustworthy data visibility to at-risk product in the DC.

Project Scoping — Aligning on the True Problem

This project was part of the new Kroger CEO’s broader initiative to deliver fresher, more affordable produce. With high visibility, strategic importance, and a tight timeline, improving the Freshness Walk process was a key priority.

Leadership was ready to move quickly, but before jumping into solutions, I recognized that we hadn’t aligned on the problem we were actually trying to solve.

I interviewed 3 QA Inspector Supervisors and 2 business partners to understand the process from both operational and leadership perspectives. I synthesized patterns across their experiences to move beyond individual requests and identify the core opportunity: giving QA inspectors the tools and information to consistently identify at-risk produce and communicate what happens next.

I translated these findings into a focused How Might We statement to align the team and leadership around the problem.

How might we empower QA inspectors with the right tools and

information to consistently identify and act on at-risk produce

before it reaches our customers?

How might we empower QA inspectors with the right tools and information to consistently identify and act on at-risk produce before it reaches our customers.

SURVEY

Finding the Common Threads in 20 Different Freshness Walks

Kroger has 20 perishable distribution centers (DCs), and no two operate exactly alike, from unions and physical layouts to workflows and tools. While conversations with leadership revealed several high-level similarities, I knew the success of the solution would depend on understanding the site-specific details we’d need to account for.

Research at a glance

19/20

19/20

Distribution Centers Surveyed

47

Responses

1

Week Survey Duration

Key Findings
Buyer responsiveness varied

QA teams often struggled to get a response after sending their findings to Buyers. They had no visibility into whether any action had been taken.

Inspection methods

Visual inspections were consistent across sites, but some DCs also conducted more involved Brix and PSI tests that required cutting product open on the floor.

Reporting usage varied

Some DCs relied on both Aged Inventory and Expiration Reports, while others used only Aged Inventory.

ON-SITE DISTRIBUTION CENTER VISITS

From Paper Notes to Inventory Gaps: Uncovering the Reality of Freshness Walks

Freshness Walks are highly physical, hands-on workflows. Inspectors move between their offices and the warehouse floor, physically inspecting produce, using different tools, and returning to their desks to document findings and complete the process. They also balance Freshness Walks with their primary responsibility: conducting initial inspections when produce arrives at the DC.


To understand the realities of the workflow beyond what could be captured in interviews, I partnered with User Research to develop an on-site research plan focused on observing inspectors in their actual environment.

RESEARCH GOALS

Understand how Freshness Walks are performed across DCs, including digital and physical workflows.

Identify pain points, inconsistencies, and opportunities to improve the process.

Assess available data and identify gaps that limit visibility into at-risk produce.

QA inspector observing tomatoes

Spreadsheet for manually recording Freshness Walk findings

Key Pain Points
Inaccurate reporting

Teams manually hid columns, removed items, and edited reports to create usable lists.

Limited accountability

Teams had little visibility into whether downstream actions were completed.

Inventory Visibility

Inspectors lacked insight into relevant item location data to inform decision making.

Overlapping responsibilities

Ownership of follow-up actions was often unclear.

Time-intensive workflows

Preparing reports could take 1.5–3 hours.

Manual data
transfer

Findings had to be transferred between systems and teams.

AI SPOTLIGHT

I leveraged Mural and Dovetail AI tools to synthesize notes across surveys, our original stakeholder interviews and 3 DC site visits.

Overlapping responsibilities

Ownership of follow-up actions was often unclear.

Time-intensive workflows

Preparing reports could take 1.5–3 hours.

Manual data
transfer

Findings had to be transferred between systems and teams.

Priority Misalignment

There was a clear disconnect between buyers and inspectors. Although buyers are not our primary user, I was able to interview buyers and was surprised by their response when I brought up Freshness Walks. Research revealed a fundamental disconnect between Buyers and QA Inspectors around ownership of at-risk product.

Buyers viewed their role as primarily reactive: they needed to be notified when product had already gone bad so they could create a claim. They did not see themselves as responsible for deciding what should happen to at-risk product.

QA Inspectors, however, viewed Buyers as the decision makers after a Freshness Walk—responsible for determining what to do with at-risk product, including whether it should be moved out of the DC.

This gap in expectations created ambiguity around who owns the next step once an issue is identified.

We could standardize and streamline how Freshness Walk data is

collected and communicated across DCs. However, we couldn't

control the actions taken by downstream partners—making

visibility and accountability critical parts of the solution.

We could standardize and streamline how Freshness Walk data is collected and communicated across DCs. However, we couldn't control the actions taken bydownstream partners—making visibility and accountability critical parts of the solution.

We could standardize and streamline how Freshness Walk data is collected and communicated across DCs. However, we couldn't control the actions taken bydownstream partners—making visibility and accountability critical parts of the solution.

PROPOSED PRODUCT VISION

Developing a Strategic Plan for Organizational Impact

Creating meaningful business impact through Freshness Walks extends beyond digitizing the experience. Our phased vision begins with standardizing data capture, expands to connecting warehouse operations for greater efficiency, and ultimately transforms collected insights into enterprise-wide dashboards that inform buyer decisions, vendor contracts, and the identification of systemic patterns.

Creating meaningful business impact through Freshness Walks extends beyond digitizing the experience. Our phased vision begins with standardizing data capture, expands to connecting warehouse operations for greater efficiency, and ultimately transforms collected insights into enterprise-wide dashboards that inform buyer decisions, vendor contracts, and the identification of systemic patterns.

NOW

Capture & Communicate

Establish a standardized mobile experience for QA inspectors to identify, document, and communicate at-risk produce directly from the warehouse floor.

Value: Improve consistency in data capture, reduce manual documentation, and make Freshness Walk findings easier to communicate.

Value: Improve consistency in data capture, reduce manual documentation, and make Freshness Walk findings easier to communicate.

NEXT

Main Workflow Automation

Extend Freshness Walks beyond QA by connecting findings to relevant Inventory and Warehouse Operations teams through automated workflows and feedback loops.

Value: Reduce manual handoffs, strengthen accountability, and improve coordination between QA and warehouse operations.

Value: Reduce manual handoffs, strengthen accountability, and improve coordination between QA and warehouse operations.

LATER

Larger Workflows and Enterprise-level Dashboards

Transform Freshness Walk data into actionable insights that support cross-functional decision-making, escalation, and intervention across Kroger.

Value: Enable proactive decision-making, identify systemic issues, and create greater visibility into produce quality across the enterprise.

Value: Enable proactive decision-making, identify systemic issues, and create greater visibility into produce quality across the enterprise.

Key MVP Features

Prioritizing the Work

THE CHALLENGE

Daily reports could contain hundreds of items, forcing inspectors to manually determine what needed attention. Data issues also meant some at-risk products weren't surfaced. During a walk that could last up to 3 hours, inspectors had no easy way to track what they'd completed.


The design

I introduced a prioritized To-Do List that surfaces the highest-risk items and gives inspectors a clear way to track progress and completed work.

Designing for DC Differences

THE CHALLENGE

Not every DC operates the same way. Responsibilities around expiration reports varied by site, and union rules could prevent inspectors from handling certain products.

The design

I introduced flexible filters for report, priority, and status, allowing inspectors to adapt the experience to their site's workflow without creating entirely different products.

Designing for DC Differences

Prioritizing the Work

THE CHALLENGE

Not every DC operates the same way. Responsibilities around expiration reports varied by site, and union rules could prevent inspectors from handling certain products.


The design

I introduced flexible filters for report, priority, and status, allowing inspectors to adapt the experience to their site's workflow without creating entirely different products.

THE CHALLENGE

Daily reports could contain hundreds of items, forcing inspectors to manually determine what needed attention. Data issues also meant some at-risk products weren't surfaced. During a walk that could last up to 3 hours, inspectors had no easy way to track what they'd completed.

The design

I introduced a prioritized To-Do List that surfaces the highest-risk items and gives inspectors a clear way to track progress and completed work.

Designing for DC Differences

THE CHALLENGE

Not every DC operates the same way. Responsibilities around expiration reports varied by site, and union rules could prevent inspectors from handling certain products.


The design

I introduced flexible filters for report, priority, and status, allowing inspectors to adapt the experience to their site's workflow without creating entirely different products.

Making Observations Actionable

THE CHALLENGE

Inspectors documented observations differently across DCs, often using custom spreadsheets with different fields. Decisions weren't consistently captured, making it difficult to learn from findings across products, vendors, and locations.

The design

I created a standardized observation framework with predefined options and the flexibility to add notes. Decisions are captured alongside each item, creating a consistent record of what was found and what happened next.

Capturing What the Reports Miss

THE CHALLENGE

Inspectors told us they encountered items that weren't included in the day's prioritized reports during every Freshness Walk. They relied on personal notes to capture these items, making information easy to lose or forget over a lengthy workflow.

The design

I designed an Add New Item flow based on pick slot. Instead of manually entering product details, inspectors enter the pick slot and the system surfaces the products expected there for them to select.

Making Observations Actionable

THE CHALLENGE

Inspectors documented observations differently across DCs, often using custom spreadsheets with different fields. Decisions weren't consistently captured, making it difficult to learn from findings across products, vendors, and locations.

The design

I created a standardized observation framework with predefined options and the flexibility to add notes. Decisions are captured alongside each item, creating a consistent record of what was found and what happened next.

Capturing What the Reports Miss

THE CHALLENGE

Inspectors told us they encountered items that weren't included in the day's prioritized reports during every Freshness Walk. They relied on personal notes to capture these items, making information easy to lose or forget over a lengthy workflow.


The design

I designed an Add New Item flow based on pick slot. Instead of manually entering product details, inspectors enter the pick slot and the system surfaces the products expected there for them to select.

Prioritizing the Work

THE CHALLENGE

Daily reports could contain hundreds of items, forcing inspectors to manually determine what needed attention. Data issues also meant some at-risk products weren't surfaced. During a walk that could last up to 3 hours, inspectors had no easy way to track what they'd completed.

The design

I introduced a prioritized To-Do List that surfaces the highest-risk items and gives inspectors a clear way to track progress and completed work.

Making Observations Actionable

THE CHALLENGE

Inspectors documented observations differently across DCs, often using custom spreadsheets with different fields. Decisions weren't consistently captured, making it difficult to learn from findings across products, vendors, and locations.

The design

I created a standardized observation framework with predefined options and the flexibility to add notes. Decisions are captured alongside each item, creating a consistent record of what was found and what happened next.

Capturing What the Reports Miss

THE CHALLENGE

Inspectors told us they encountered items that weren't included in the day's prioritized reports during every Freshness Walk. They relied on personal notes to capture these items, making information easy to lose or forget over a lengthy workflow.

The design

I designed an Add New Item flow based on pick slot. Instead of manually entering product details, inspectors enter the pick slot and the system surfaces the products expected there for them to select.

Next Steps

With the design complete and implementation pending, the project has established a standardized approach to identifying, documenting, and communicating at-risk produce across distribution centers.

I'm partnering with product management and business stakeholders to define success measures that will help us evaluate the experience after launch, including operational efficiency, data consistency, and visibility into at-risk inventory.

These measures will help determine whether the redesigned workflow supports more consistent Freshness Walks and creates a foundation for future operational improvements.

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