Gifting

 This page provides a deep dive into the content design work I completed fro Instacart’s gifting feature. I collaborated with a designer and design manager, product manager, product marketing manager, and search & catalog specialist on this project.

For this product to be successful, there were 4 problems we needed to solve:

• Discoverability. We wanted customers to use the Gifts hub while shopping and use the ‘Make it a gift’ feature at checkout.

• Education. We needed to inform customers to enter a recipient’s home address before they start shopping to find stores and gifts available in that zip code.

• Filtering. To make the Gifts hub easier to navigate, we wanted to build a filter structure that would work with Instacart’s existing store and product catalog.

• Messaging. We needed to define a clear value proposition in order to create copy that would entice customers to send a gift.

Discoverability

For version 1, we wanted to test whether customers would notice the option to make items in their shopping cart a gift at checkout. We launched with a toggle that opened To and From fields, a space for typing an optional message, and digital cards designed for different occasions.

I wrote the copy and worked with the designer to ensure we were providing information a customer needs to know about creating a gift order.

For example, Instacart needs to send gift recipient’s text messages with tracking details, which we wanted to use placeholder copy to convey. That’s why the To fields say ‘Recipient name’ and ‘Recipient phone number,’ while the From field refers to the customer and says ‘Your name.’

Customers discovered and used the gifting option at checkout on their own, but we knew we could make the experience better. We wanted to help customers find gifting earlier in their shopping journey.

For the 2021 holiday season, we decided to launch a Gifts hub that customers could use to find and send any gifts available in a recipient’s zip code.

To make the Gifts hub discoverable, we created entry points through the Instacart side menu and search bar.

Education

We needed to inform customers to enter a recipient’s address to shop for gifts and that additional details, like a special note, could be added at checkout. We decided to use a pop-up modal to convey this information.

I wrote copy for the modal that appears when customers visit the Gifts hub for the first time. It explains what the Gifts hub is and how it works.

Messaging

There are specific moments in the gifting experience where I needed to provide copy to explain the value of sending gifts with Instacart. I worked with the product marketing manager to define the feature’s key benefits.

Here’s what we wanted to communicate:

• Gifts can be sent anywhere in the US

• Anything a customer finds on Instacart can be a gift

• There’s something for everyone, no matter their interests

We then aligned on the best moments to present these messages to customers like the modal shown above and the hero section of the Gifts hub.

Filtering

In the Gifts hub, we wanted to ensure that no matter what stores are available in a selected delivery area, customers would see more than groceries to send as a gift. Plus, wanted to create categories with personality to give customers a delightful gift-finding experience.

I worked with the product manager and search & catalog specialist to build filter diagrams that the designer used to translate the filter structure to the Gifts hub interface.