Kernels

Building the design system that unified Hy-Vee's digital products.

Intro

When I joined Hy-Vee, multiple digital products were being designed and developed in parallel, each solving similar interface challenges independently. As the ecosystem expanded, inconsistencies in patterns, accessibility, and implementation created unnecessary friction for both design and engineering. Rather than addressing these challenges one product at a time, I helped establish Kernels—Hy-Vee's enterprise design system. My role went beyond creating reusable components; it involved defining design foundations, building scalable tokens and patterns, improving accessibility, documenting standards, and driving adoption across product teams. The result was a shared language that empowered teams to build faster while delivering a more consistent customer experience. Kernels first found adoption in My Prescriptions and Aisles Online, establishing the foundation for Hy-Vee's core digital experiences. As the system matured, its principles and design language gradually influenced other products, including RedBox Rx, creating greater consistency across the ecosystem.

When I joined Hy-Vee, multiple digital products were being designed and developed in parallel, each solving similar interface challenges independently. As the ecosystem expanded, inconsistencies in patterns, accessibility, and implementation created unnecessary friction for both design and engineering. Rather than addressing these challenges one product at a time, I helped establish Kernels—Hy-Vee's enterprise design system. My role went beyond creating reusable components; it involved defining design foundations, building scalable tokens and patterns, improving accessibility, documenting standards, and driving adoption across product teams. The result was a shared language that empowered teams to build faster while delivering a more consistent customer experience. Kernels first found adoption in My Prescriptions and Aisles Online, establishing the foundation for Hy-Vee's core digital experiences. As the system matured, its principles and design language gradually influenced other products, including RedBox Rx, creating greater consistency across the ecosystem.

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When I joined Hy-Vee, multiple digital products were being designed and developed in parallel, each solving similar interface challenges independently. As the ecosystem expanded, inconsistencies in patterns, accessibility, and implementation created unnecessary friction for both design and engineering. Rather than addressing these challenges one product at a time, I helped establish Kernels—Hy-Vee's enterprise design system. My role went beyond creating reusable components; it involved defining design foundations, building scalable tokens and patterns, improving accessibility, documenting standards, and driving adoption across product teams. The result was a shared language that empowered teams to build faster while delivering a more consistent customer experience. Kernels first found adoption in My Prescriptions and Aisles Online, establishing the foundation for Hy-Vee's core digital experiences. As the system matured, its principles and design language gradually influenced other products, including RedBox Rx, creating greater consistency across the ecosystem.

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Role

Initiator

UX Strategist

Lead Designer

Status

Live

2024-2026

Type

Web

iOS

Android

Design System

Multi-product

Tools

The Challenge

The Need for a Shared Foundation

Hy-Vee wasn't starting from scratch—we already had multiple design systems in use. A legacy design system had supported internal products for nearly a decade, while newer initiatives introduced their own systems. Seasons, Hy-Vee's digital magazine, was built on a design system created by Razorfish. RedBox Rx adopted Capillary's design system, and Fast & Fresh followed another framework developed by Shockoe. Each system solved the needs of its individual product, but none were designed to work together.


As the product ecosystem expanded, the gaps became increasingly apparent. Teams recreated similar patterns, accessibility standards varied, engineering rebuilt the same experiences across products, and there was no shared governance to guide decisions. Most importantly, nothing connected these products as a single Hy-Vee experience—they felt like independent applications rather than parts of one ecosystem.


Kernels was created to establish that shared foundation: a common design language that unified products, streamlined collaboration between design and engineering, and enabled future experiences to scale consistently.

Hy-Vee wasn't starting from scratch—we already had multiple design systems in use. A legacy design system had supported internal products for nearly a decade, while newer initiatives introduced their own systems. Seasons, Hy-Vee's digital magazine, was built on a design system created by Razorfish. RedBox Rx adopted Capillary's design system, and Fast & Fresh followed another framework developed by Shockoe. Each system solved the needs of its individual product, but none were designed to work together.


As the product ecosystem expanded, the gaps became increasingly apparent. Teams recreated similar patterns, accessibility standards varied, engineering rebuilt the same experiences across products, and there was no shared governance to guide decisions. Most importantly, nothing connected these products as a single Hy-Vee experience—they felt like independent applications rather than parts of one ecosystem.


Kernels was created to establish that shared foundation: a common design language that unified products, streamlined collaboration between design and engineering, and enabled future experiences to scale consistently.

Read less

Hy-Vee wasn't starting from scratch—we already had multiple design systems in use. A legacy design system had supported internal products for nearly a decade, while newer initiatives introduced their own systems. Seasons, Hy-Vee's digital magazine, was built on a design system created by Razorfish. RedBox Rx adopted Capillary's design system, and Fast & Fresh followed another framework developed by Shockoe. Each system solved the needs of its individual product, but none were designed to work together.


As the product ecosystem expanded, the gaps became increasingly apparent. Teams recreated similar patterns, accessibility standards varied, engineering rebuilt the same experiences across products, and there was no shared governance to guide decisions. Most importantly, nothing connected these products as a single Hy-Vee experience—they felt like independent applications rather than parts of one ecosystem.


Kernels was created to establish that shared foundation: a common design language that unified products, streamlined collaboration between design and engineering, and enabled future experiences to scale consistently.

Read more

The Challenge

Challenge

The pharmacy business had evolved, but the digital product hadn't. Critical journeys were missing or disconnected, leaving customers dependent on manual and phone-based processes.

Challenge

The pharmacy business had evolved, but the digital product hadn't. Critical journeys were missing or disconnected, leaving customers dependent on manual and phone-based processes.

Strategy

Design a unified digital pharmacy experience where customers could manage prescriptions, refills, deliveries, payments, and family members in one place. Standardize the experience by extending the Kernels Design System with reusable patterns and components.

Strategy

Design a unified digital pharmacy experience where customers could manage prescriptions, refills, deliveries, payments, and family members in one place. Standardize the experience by extending the Kernels Design System with reusable patterns and components.

Outcome

Created a cohesive digital pharmacy ecosystem that enabled customers to manage prescriptions, refills, deliveries, payments, and family members in one place.

Outcome

Created a cohesive digital pharmacy ecosystem that enabled customers to manage prescriptions, refills, deliveries, payments, and family members in one place.

Product Gallery

Process

My Contribution

Across the Experience

I helped transform Hy-Vee's digital pharmacy into a connected, family-first experience by designing key customer journeys, refining information architecture, and extending the Kernels Design System.

Challenge#1

Creating the gateway to digital pharmacy

Problem

Customers lacked a clear and seamless path from the Health experience to their secure pharmacy account.

Solution

Designed a dedicated pharmacy entry point within the Health home that served both guest and authenticated users. The landing experience introduced pharmacy services to all customers, while providing members with a clear, personalized gateway into My Prescriptions through the required McKesson authentication flow—creating a seamless transition between the public app and the secure pharmacy experience. The redesign also served as the first step in visually reconnecting My Prescriptions with the broader Hy-Vee ecosystem.

Challenge#2

Rethinking the family dashboard

Problem

The dashboard surfaced information without helping users prioritize actions.

Solution

Redesigned the information hierarchy, introduced progressive disclosure with expandable family sections, and reserved the circular progress visualization for the most actionable metric—prescriptions ready for pickup.

Challenge#3

Simplifying prescription information

Problem

Critical healthcare data was difficult to scan and understand.

Solution

Reworked the prescription details page through multiple iterations, introducing clear information hierarchy, reusable status chips, and action-oriented layouts.

Challenge#4

Connecting fulfillment journeys

Problem

Pickup, delivery, and refill workflows felt disconnected.

Solution

Unified location selection, delivery scheduling, refill requests, and review flows into a more predictable experience.

Challenge#5

Designing beyond the happy path

Problem

The core prescription journey was supported by fragmented secondary workflows, making the overall pharmacy experience feel inconsistent and incomplete.

Solution

Designed and standardized these supporting experiences—including purchase history, member management, insurance uploads, and system states—to create a connected, end-to-end pharmacy ecosystem.

Result

Business Impact

Following the February release, weekday prescription fulfillments more than doubled—from 241 to 490 orders per day—with sustained growth over the following weeks despite no formal marketing campaign.

Testimonial

"With no formal marketing push, the redesign resulted in a 103% increase in average daily fulfillments. Big thanks to Biswajeet Rout and the team for reviewing, refining, and helping validate the experience."

-Nick Throckmorton

Lead UX Designer, Hy-Vee