Say Hello to Christopher Rudnick, Senior Product Designer

What do you do?

I’m on the Shopper Success team, focused on helping shoppers understand and improve their quality. My role is to tie experiences such as customer ratings and education together with the goal of helping shoppers be successful. During my time here I’ve worked on many different areas of the shopper experience, from shopping and delivering to finding and accepting orders. I’m lucky to have an understanding of a shopper’s experience from beginning to end. I’m also grateful to have talked with so many of the wonderful people who are a part of the shopper community.

How did you get into design?

Early on my parents knew they had trouble on their hands — a child interested in art. However, instead of telling me to go to business school they encouraged me to pursue my interests and grow my skills. In addition to the early encouragement from my parents, I was also homeschooled, which gave me the opportunity to dedicate the majority of my time to art classes. This extra time allowed me to practice many different forms of art. I got into drawing, painting, set design, architecture, interior design, and eventually, graphic design. It was graphic design, and eventually web design, that allowed me to create in a way traditional art forms wouldn’t. Making things with principles, hierarchy, and putting it all together with pixel-perfect precision. Once I figured out people get paid to do this stuff, I never looked back.

What makes everything worth it?

Throughout my career, I’ve always been motivated to work for the people whose voices may not otherwise be represented. It’s my responsibility to listen to those people, understand their experiences and represent them when they may not be able to represent themselves. I am very aware of that responsibility and don’t take it for granted.

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

“It’s not about you, it’s about the work.” That was some very honest feedback about an ad campaign I had put together. Was I mad? Yes. Was it right? Yes. At the time I interpreted this as being hard on the work and not the person creating it. Over time I’ve come to realize that questioning the work is critical to creating something great. And not only questioning other’s work but your own as well. It’s been very valuable for me to challenge my own work before anyone has even seen it. If I’m going to share my work with others, I better be ready to answer any questions and explain all my decisions. If I can’t do that, I haven’t done my job.

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

Listen. Listening is one of the best and easiest forms of respect you can give. It doesn’t matter who they are or where they stand, if you listen to someone they will be more open and honest with you. Apply this everywhere — research, coworkers, critiques, meetings, your cat, people who disagree with you, and especially people who don’t understand your work. Listen and be open. It works. Trust me.

Where do you find inspiration?

In the physical world. I love looking to industrial design for inspiration. Very few digital experiences beat the ease and enjoyment of using well-designed physical products. I’m also inspired by talking to the people who are using the products I design. There’s nothing more motivating than watching and listening to an experience that could be improved on.

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

Working on the Shopper Success team is an exciting challenge, simply because you have to deliver a product that is accurate, trustworthy, and reliable. It’s a unique position to be in as a designer and I’ve enjoyed the challenges this project has brought.

Where did you grow up and what made it special?

I grew up in Richmond, Virginia. The thing I appreciate the most are the people that helped me get to where I am today. I’ve had some many wonderful teachers, friends, and peers encourage me along the way. Also, ham biscuits.

What was the first thing you ever designed?

My Mom made me design her business cards since I was “into art and stuff.” I actually ended up really enjoying it. It’s probably the longest I’ve ever spent on a business card to date. Thanks, Mom.

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

In my career, I’m proud and grateful that I’ve been able to do something I enjoy for as long as I have. It’s not something many people get to say, so I’m always appreciative of the opportunities I’ve had.

What favorite SF secret spot can you reveal?

Chapeau! Order anything, you’ll be fine.

Come build with Christopher.

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.