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WAITROSE
Case Study

WAITROSE

Scalable Design System

Create a design system to ensure uniformity across the product and simplify the implementation of the design for development teams.

MY ROLE

LEAD PRODUCT DESIGNER

Project Type
Design System and App rollout

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PROBLEM STATEMENT

The Waitrose Digital presence suffered from an outdated and inconsistent interface, creating challenges for both users and development teams.

Users encountered accessibility issues and a lack of brand consistency across all digital touchpoints, while development teams worked in isolated design silos that adversely affected the overall customer experience.

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PROCESS

Design System Ingredients

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RESEARCH

Understanding the Audience
 

  • Began by understanding who Waitrose designs for and why
     

  • Created user personas to represent key customer and internal user groups
     

  • Mapped goals, frustrations, and accessibility needs
     

  • Ensured the system supported a calm, premium, and inclusive experience

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QUALATIVE TEST WITH REAL USERS

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Market & Competitive Analysis
 

  • Reviewed leading grocery and retail design systems
     

  • Identified common patterns and areas of over-complexity
     

  • Highlighted opportunities for clarity, consistency, and restraint
     

  • Used insights to position Waitrose as confident and quietly premium
     

User Interviews & Surveys
 

  • Conducted interviews with customers and internal teams
     

  • Collected feedback on usability, consistency, and trust
     

  • Identified recurring pain points across platforms
     

  • Used insights to validate and refine design decisions

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BUILD A TEAM

Designed and embedded a cohesive, scalable design system across multiple teams and projects.

 

I led the definition of the system’s foundations, components, and patterns, ensuring it could scale as product needs evolved.
 

As adoption grew, I built and grew a dedicated design system team to nine people, establishing clear ownership across areas such as components, forms, navigation, and patterns.

Regular workshops were run to align teams on usage and standards, while feedback from designers and stakeholders was actively collected and incorporated.
 

Designers were enabled to contribute research insights and system improvements, and collaborative problem-solving was encouraged to address challenges and continuously evolve the system.

SOLUTION

  • Maintained a living, accessible document for components, guidelines, and updates, heavily based on Material Design.
     

  • Assigned ownership of key areas (e.g., forms, components, headers, offline states) to distribute responsibility.
     

  • Integrated the design system into individual agile teams for seamless adoption
     

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LIVING DOCUMENT

The design system became a central, evolving resource, improving consistency, efficiency, and cross-team collaboration.

 

This became known as 'The Ingredients'.

The new design system, formed the foundation of the new Waitrose app.

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APP INTEGRATION

Working closely with an external agency overseeing the end-to-end experience of integrating the design system and designing a brand-new native app.

 

The app was rolled out to over 12 million users, with insights continuously reviewed and refinements made where needed to improve the experience.

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RESULTS

Built and grew a dedicated Design Team

9 headcount

Launched Waitrose App to a large user base

12M + users

Continuously learn and iterate

Know the customer

Rachel Barnes

© 2026 Rachel Barnes

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