Designing for How People Actually Behave

Context

At Alice.com, we provided a consumer packaged goods (CPG) commerce platform that helped manufacturers sell directly to consumers. The goal was to create a more equitable way for brands to showcase and sell their products, rather than competing solely for placement on large retail marketplaces.

The Problem

As the platform matured, we noticed a disconnect between how we expected users to shop and how they were actually behaving. While Alice.com offered a centralized destination for purchasing products, many end users were arriving at the site indirectly, often after first visiting a manufacturer’s own website.

The Tension

From a product perspective, it was tempting to optimize for engagement within our own platform. Driving users toward a single destination aligned cleanly with the original vision and allowed for tighter control over the experience. However, the data suggested something else: users were already forming intent on brand-owned sites and were using Alice as a transactional step rather than a browsing destination.

The question became whether we should continue trying to pull users into our ecosystem — or adapt the product to better support the path they were already taking.

My Role

I worked with internal teams and external partners to better understand how consumers were discovering products and what prompted them to complete a purchase. My role focused on translating observed behavior into product decisions that aligned with both user expectations and partner goals.

How I Approached It

Instead of treating off-platform behavior as a leakage problem, we reframed it as a signal. If users were starting on manufacturer websites, the friction wasn’t awareness; it was conversion. That insight shifted the focus from optimizing our own storefront to reducing the steps required for users to complete a purchase wherever their journey began.

Working with manufacturing partners, we explored ways to embed Alice-powered shopping carts directly into brand websites. This approach allowed users to purchase products without leaving the manufacturer’s site, while still leveraging Alice’s infrastructure behind the scenes.

The emphasis was on meeting users where they already were, rather than asking them to change their behavior to fit the product.

Outcome

By enabling embedded shopping carts, we reduced friction in the purchase process and aligned the product more closely with real-world user behavior. Manufacturers benefited from a more seamless path from discovery to purchase, and users were able to complete transactions without unnecessary redirects or additional steps.

The solution wasn’t a departure from the platform’s goals; it was a refinement that respected how people actually shopped.

What It Reinforced

This experience reinforced for me that good product decisions often come from observing behavior honestly and being willing to adapt, even when it challenges the original plan.