In June 2020, the folks at Door Dash noticed a pattern. Customers who placed takeout orders through the app have been regularly placing additional orders at nearby 7-Eleven stores within 10 minutes, for everything from alcohol to Ben & Jerry's sodas, snacks and pints they're buying ordered for dinner that night. For Helena Seo, the company's chief designer, this was an opportunity. How could the design team use this information to create something delightful for DoorDash customers?

Seo joined the company in January 2019, leading a team of nine. Since then, during his tenure, he has grown his team tenfold and created a formalized process for innovation and product development. "In my opinion, design is the process that enables the team to solve problems in the most effective way possible," says Seo. “Our success in design is to offer the customer a better experience. Did we solve a problem and improve, simplify and enjoy your experience?”