Revamping the tipping experience.
Instacart experienced massive growth during the pandemic, yet tips remained surprisingly low. By creating innovative, personalized tipping experiences, I redefined tipping and drove significant impact.
Product Designer on Shopper Experience team | June - Sept 2021
The core problem is that shoppers use tips to decide if an order is worth their time, and low tips make them feel disrespected—necessitating Instacart to boost pay to make those orders more appealing.
Since many customers aren’t sure what a fair tip is, our strategy focused on introducing multiple ways to raise the overall tip percentage and reduce orders with tips under 5%.
Opportunities
Guidance
How might we tailor the UX for specific order types or scenarios (e.g., large orders, bad weather)?
Empathy
How can we emphasize that the shopper is a real person putting in effort, encouraging generosity and appreciation?
One solution was to create dynamic tipping experiences
A dedicated tipping step during checkout emphasizes the shopper’s effort to fulfill their order through thoughtful copy and an animated illustration. When customers select a higher tip, a heart animation adds a moment of delight.
Additionally, a weather-themed variant appears during rain or snow to create a more personalized experience..
Mobilizing shoppers during high demand moments
To balance supply and demand, I designed contextual experiences that encouraged shoppers to go online during high-demand periods—like rainy weather—by highlighting peak earning opportunities and higher tip potential. This motivated shoppers to deliver when they were needed most.
Preventing low tips contextually
If a customer entered a $0 or low tip (less than 5% of the order total), we prompted them to reconsider. We tested multiple content variants, and the most effective approach was highlighting that orders with tips are picked up by shoppers faster.
The new tipping framework led to increased earnings, and shoppers feeling much more appreciated
✅ Significant increase in the overall tip percentage across orders
✅ Reduction in $0 and low tips, reducing Instacart’s cost to boost orders
✅ Mobilized shopper supply during high demand
✅ Increased shopper sentiment, with positive reactions in community feedback channels
Process
Competitive analysis
I reviewed tipping experiences across digital and real-world settings, along with research on tipping psychology and behavior. These insights informed a design approach focused on timing, placement, and defaults that feel considerate and intuitive.
User research
I audited the tipping experience within the broader user journey, identifying insights and opportunities to improve tip rates.
Brainstorm
I led a cross-functional brainstorm where we ideated and prioritized solutions around key prompts, including:
How might we effectively guide customers to an appropriate tip amount?
How might we use social proof and leverage data?
How might we inspire higher tipping?
Focus
How can we help customers see tipping as separate from service fees?
Contextual
How might we prevent low or inappropriate tips at the moment customers enter them during checkout?
Design explorations
I developed high-level concepts and focused on a few core themes to validate through testing.
Design system
I created core components for the new tipping experience, ensuring a cohesive and accessible design by carefully considering typography, color, and button styles. We tested different tip display variants, including flat dollar amounts, percentages, and a combination of both.
Future
I created a design backlog for the tipping workstream, including dynamic experiences tailored to high-demand occasions like holidays and Super Bowl Sunday.
Also designed inline tipping options for the checkout page, ideal for frequent, high-tipping customers who don’t need a separate tipping step.
