Say Hello to Victoria Weidenbaum, Senior Product Designer

What do you do?

I’m a designer on the Shopper Success team, where we work on improving communication, help, education, and feedback for shoppers.

How did you get into design?

I had a long journey. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life when I was 16 (lucky for people who do!) and went for a degree in Economics because…I just liked math. My best friend got a degree in Fashion Design and I spent a lot of time helping her out with projects. That’s when I knew I really needed to switch math out for something creative, so I started learning Graphic Design in my free time.

After graduating, I worked at startups, and in typical startup fashion, I wore many hats (in Design, Marketing, and Operations). I eventually landed on a marketing position at the last place you’d expect: Walt Disney Company in Moscow. One of my main responsibilities was to collaborate with the Design team on many different projects. It went so well that they offered to switch my roles and I became a Design Producer where I coordinated the entire team’s work, wrote specs for 6 designers, and talked to other departments that needed our help. I also started making my own designs and created magazine covers, banners for Disney, and eventually some web design. And well, here I am, a Product Designer at Instacart!

What makes everything worth it?

Making a positive impact on shoppers who rely on us every day, getting results that I’m proud of or results that teach me a lesson. In the work I do now, I get to grow my knowledge and skills every day and work with a team of passionate, like-minded people on incredibly challenging problems.

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

Collaborate with your team and cross-functional peers early and often. Don’t put yourself in a silo! That’s never been for me — even now I’m constantly reminding myself to get feedback and to make sure I’m not missing out on perspectives or the needs of other departments.

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

You are not your work. Get feedback from your team often, but don’t take things personally.

Where do you find inspiration?

My teammates, the internet, art, museums, and people watching — I find it interesting to see how people solve their day-to-day problems and how they interact with everyday things.

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

The current project I’m working on! It provides notifications and better communication to shoppers, which pushed me to shake things up and try something new. There’s a lot of complexity in how people use our app and exciting challenges to figure out. Ask me how I solved it in a month!

Where did you grow up and what made it special?

My family moved to Moscow from the middle of nowhere when I was 10. I love Moscow with all my heart because it’s beautiful, energetic, and there’s always stuff to do winter or summer.

What was the first thing you ever designed?

A logo, fulfilling my designer rite of passage — and a prototype of a wallet.

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

In life, my move to the U.S. was the most difficult decision of my life. The first two years in a new country are quite tough. But I’m proud I went through this experience and happy I’m here.

In my career, switching to Product Design. It takes some courage, dedication, and grit to go through all the challenges of switching a career path.

What’s your favorite Bay Area spot?

In San Francisco, there’s a quiet spot with a beautiful view of the Bay called Vista Point — it’s on Arguello Boulevard in the Presidio. I stumbled upon it when I was jogging and afterwards it became my regular meditation spot. Now I live a little further away, but I always think about this spot first when people ask me about my favorite place in the city.

Come build with Victoria.

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.

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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.