
Batching orders
Project Overview
TL;DR:
Worked directly with the Senior Leadership Team as the project and design lead on this ambitious, CEO-initiative. Led a large, high talented team of cross-functional people at Shopify including designers, engineers, a PM, and two researchers from ideation to build.
Solved for critical needs with huge user impact
Established a greenpath design vision
Collaborated with teams across Shopify and domain leadership stakeholders to iterate and align on the vision
Shared vision with the CEO and got approval to move project to build (this project was attempted multiple times by other teams in the past and this is the first time CEO approval was accomplished and the project moved to build)
Worked closely with PM and engineer counterparts to translate the greenpath vision into milestones that could be shipped
Provided mentorship and product design direction to designers on the Shipping domain
Timeline:
Discovery: Mid-Sept–Nov 6, 2024
Prep for transition to build: Nov 7–Dec, 2024
Build: Dec 2024–July 2025
Launch: Summer 2025 (currently in EA)
Problem & opportunity
At Shopify, I designed a fulfillment tool that introduced Batching, allowing merchants to group similar orders for the first time to streamline their picking, packing, and shipping workflows. Before Batching, merchants had to fulfill orders individually or rely on third-party tools that added complexity and fragmented their operations.
By enabling more efficient order processing, Batching will help merchants save time, reduce manual work, and lower fulfillment costs. This foundational improvement will enhance operational efficiency and support Shopify’s broader mission to simplify fulfillment for merchants at scale.
Discovery & research
We received feedback from Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify, that we needed to add a concept of batching workflows into Shopify’s admin. Over the years, Shopify had tried to solve this problem at many different times and in many different ways, but none of them actually shipped either due to wrong timing, wrong team, or the wrong solution. Now it was finally time to solve this big, important problem with the right resources and attention.
What did we do to understand the problem?
Initially, we:
Defined the problem
Assembled the team (aimed as creating a solution with 4-6 weeks); I was assigned as the project champion and lead designer
Evaluated past research & translated learnings into user workflows, top use cases, problems, needs, etc.
Ran a workshop to align on the focus for the project including key outcomes, scope of problem, and determine which users to support – including which use cases and workflows to focus on
Evaluated past attempts – determined what we wanted to keep and wanted to leave (informed from convos with the previous teams that led these attempts)
Rapidly explored design solutions
Shared concepts frequently with internal team, other teams in Shopify, and Senior Leadership to aligned around the solution
Shared aligned vision with the CEO on Nov 6 and received approval to move to build and make batching a bigger initiative at Shopify
Refined concepts in shippable milestones including what would be shipped initially by April 2025, what would be shipped by Summer Editions 2025, and beyond
What did we learn?
The most promising past attempts failed because they tried to solve too big of a problem – taking upwards of 2 years to full ship
We could have the biggest impact with merchants if we focused on self-shippers merchants with high order volumne – if we solved well for them, we’d solve for merchants as they scale and could expand to solve for merchants that leverage 3PLs in the future
Focusing on the “fulfillment” workflows is the biggest need and where we could have the biggest impact, then we could scale in the future to support pre-fulfillment and post-fulfillment workflows
Users need to focus on dependency, urgency, and organization tasks, but if we don’t support all of these, then they cannot use batching.
Strategy & approach
How did you define success?
What principles or constraints shaped the direction?
How did you align with stakeholders or the team?
This is where your product thinking shines.
Design process
Show your thinking, not just the final UI.
Include early concepts, iterations, trade-offs, and rationale.
Keep visuals sharp, not cluttered.
Use captions or short blurbs to explain what’s happening and why it matters.
Outcome & impact
What shipped?
What changed for users, the business, or the team?
Include metrics, feedback, or lessons learned.
If it's still in progress, note what you’re testing or tracking.
Reflection
What would you do differently?
What did you learn?
How did this influence your work or team going forward?
This shows humility, growth, and leadership thinking.