Whisk: Simplify the Food Ecosystem
From a B2B Tool to a ubiquitous consumer experience
Premise
The opportunity: build Whisk’s first consumer brand and mobile experience, transforming analog grocery behaviors into a seamless digital journey.
As Global Head of Design at Samsung NEXT, I was tasked with designing consumer experiences that could extend Samsung’s ecosystem.
Whisk, an intelligent food platform, had strong B2B technology but no consumer presence. Most people still relied on paper grocery lists and printed recipes, familiar but limited tools that made it hard to substitute ingredients, assess nutrition, or collaborate as a household.
The Problem
The food ecosystem is complex.
This can take hours.
Disconnected Journey
User journey from inspiration to purchase is disconnected.
Users purchase from multiple locations.
Collaboration
Users collaborate on shopping. “Shared Shopper” households are the majority.
Market Disruption
eCommerce, restaurant delivery and meal kits changing fundamentals of how consumers purchase food.
Buy the Same
Users spend hours on food content but cook 7-9 recipes on repeat. Opportunity to increase basket size and loyalty with inspiration.
My challenge: We needed to prove that digital lists could be faster, smarter, and more delightful than paper, while introducing new behaviors like saving and collecting recipes.
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Assemble and lead a global design and research team with new mobile-first fluency.
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Translate paper-based habits into intuitive, digital-first shopping and cooking behaviors.
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Create a consumer brand story that resonated across diverse shopping personas.
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Launch a public beta across iOS, Android, and web—in just 3 months.
CURRENT LABEL: A Nielsen’s study shows that 59% of consumers have difficulty understanding nutritional facts on food packaging.
REDESIGNED LABEL: We created a new Health Score that was easier to read and was integrated into recipes and ingredients.
Iterative learning
We went into stores to study grocery shopping patterns and behaviors. One of the insights led to better organizing the list to the store.
We visited grocery stores, mapped shopping behaviors, and discovered that organizing lists by store layout could save time—a critical differentiator over paper.
I scaled a global team and embedded a rigorous research practice, running ethnography, prototype testing, and weekly iterations.
To drive engagement, we introduced Community Collections, a curated, browseable recipe set that sparked repeat use and unlocked network effects.
I ran parallel brand and product workstreams, ensuring design and research insights shaped every decision. By co-creating in tight loops, we launched a cohesive, mobile-first experience in record time.
Healthy eating is often in conflict with convenience, and more and more people are health conscious and have lifestyle diet goals.
Consumer Launch
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Global Launch & Adoption
Whisk’s consumer debut exceeded expectations:
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Featured as Apple’s “App of the Day” in 162 countries
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Earned a 4.8 CSAT and won a Google Play Award
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Nominated for a Webby Award
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Achieved 500M monthly recipe interactions (2020–2021)
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Integrated with TikTok, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Bixby
Within four years, Whisk evolved into Samsung Food, a global nutrition platform operating in 104 countries, offering 160K+ recipes in 8 languages, and integrated across Samsung devices and AI-powered meal planning.
Key learnings: Eliminate friction relentlessly, be patient with behavior change, and focus on making a few core actions magical.
Whisk is now Samsung Food