Say Hello to Maggie Servais, UX Researcher

What do you do?

I’m a user researcher at Instacart and work primarily on fulfillment, which means listening to and learning from shoppers. I also do some research with Instacart customers, mostly around usability testing.

How did you get into research?

I first started with Instacart as a shopper. Later on, I was asked to be part of the shopper support team where I supported shoppers over the phone, handling questions and calls. I was very good at passing specific product feedback onto the Product team, and soon, reporting product feedback became my role.

When Instacart started to build out its research team, I jumped at the chance to learn how to conduct proper user research. It’s been such a privilege to work hand in hand with product and design to build a product for people, pulling their feedback into our roadmap along the way.

What makes everything worth it?

Our users — 100%. Instacart is so lucky to have so many interesting, dedicated, people across our marketplace. We’re all tremendously committed to improving the Instacart marketplace and making an impact on our customers’ lives. Our users care about the future of Instacart, and that’s a great motivator in the work I do every day!

What’s the greatest piece of career advice you’ve ever received?

I really love the notion that “It has to work for everyone.” What we create has to work for Instacart, shoppers, retailers, ad partners, and our customers. If a product excludes one of these groups, it won’t be successful in the long run.

What advice would you give to a researcher just starting out?

I know that I was very lucky to be able to jump into this career path without formal training, so I would say listen and care for your users, focus on their experience, and be their voice.

Where do you find inspiration?

My team is truly inspiring, and the vast knowledge that they readily share with me is incredible. They always know the best method to use or the right questions to ask to get the relevant data. I’ve learned so much from them and continue to do so. And of course, the people who use Instacart. After reading survey comments or conducting interviews, I always feel recharged and eager to share their insight.

Working on various projects at Instacart, which one was the most challenging and exciting for you?

I’ve been working on the rollout of On-Demand, a new, more flexible way to shop. Rather than preselecting which hours they want to shop, shoppers can pick a batch and immediately start shopping whenever it’s best for their schedule. This is one of my first big research projects, and it’s been incredibly exciting because our goal is to make the shopper experience great. The product team responsible for this project is extremely dedicated to improving the experience, carefully listening to shoppers and taking their feedback — from end to end, it’s been fantastic.

Where did you grow up and what made it special?

I grew up in Seattle, and the greenery there made me rather addicted to houseplants.

What was the first thing you ever researched?

I had a previous career in apparel design, and that is truly all about research because you have to know what people like to know what will sell. I’ve always loved to sort through items or information and pull out the key pieces that can help you move forward.

What is something you’re most proud of in your life/career?

That I’ve finally figured it out, and I’ve found my ‘niche’ or ‘passion’ or whatever you want to call it. When I worked in apparel, I struggled to get out of bed every day. Four years later, Instacart still excites me, particularly on the days when I’ll be sorting through our users’ comments or chatting with them in interviews.

What favorite SF secret spot can you reveal?

I’m a thriftaholic and, in general, I like to stick to traditional thrift stores. here is one vintage store I think is really special — ReLove Vintage on Polk street.

Come research with Maggie.

If you’re excited about defining the future of a one trillion dollar industry, building an ad-serving network for groceries, scaling the world’s most extensive grocery catalog, perfecting a real-time on-demand logistics chain, all while simultaneously designing the future of food for millions of people, you should take a look at the available opportunities or reach out to someone from the team.

Instacart

Author

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,400 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 80,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.