From Add-to-Cart to App Store: Why Every Product Designer Needs to Think Like a CPG Founder
We’ve reached a point where the line between a digital product and a physical one is essentially non-existent.
As a UX designer, I’ve realized that my obsession with the grocery store aisle isn’t a distraction from my work — it’s the blueprint for it. Whether you’re designing a SaaS dashboard or a new functional soda, the psychological triggers remain the same. We are all selling a promise, a lifestyle, and eventually, a subscription.
The “Costco Sample” of the Digital Age
In the ’80s and ’90s, a product was something you bought once and owned. Today, products are living, breathing entities. We’ve moved into a “freemium” world that is essentially the digital version of a free sample at Costco.
You get a taste, you see the value, and then — slowly but surely — the paywalls go up. This isn’t accidental; it’s the inevitable result of private equity and the relentless march toward “world domination.” When a company takes investment, the mission often shifts from “solve a problem” to “grow the revenue at any cost.” As designers, we are the ones tasked with making that transition feel like “value” rather than a “tax” on the user.
The “It Girl” Pivot: Lessons from Poppi and Rhode
Look at a brand like Poppi. They started on Shark Tank as “Mother Beverage” — a functional apple cider vinegar drink. It was healthy, but was it cool? Not yet. They pivoted, rebranded, and leaned into the “It Girl” aesthetic.
We see this same pattern with celebrity-led brands like Rhode or Rare Beauty. In a crowded market, these companies aren’t just selling moisturizer or blush; they are selling an ambassador. The product quality is the “bonus,” but the face is the “distribution.”
The takeaway for designers: Understanding why a user chooses one brand over another in a split second at Safeway is the same skill needed to understand why they’d download your app over a competitor’s. Are they looking for affordability? A trend? Or are they just buying into the person behind the brand?
The “Proteinification” (and Fragmentation) of Everything
Have you noticed how everything is “protein” right now? Protein water, protein popcorn, protein sauce. We’ve started breaking the human body down into bits and pieces and selling direct solutions to those specific deficiencies.
We’re doing the exact same thing with digital products.
Think about the streaming wars. You want one movie? It’s on Netflix. You want the next? That’s on Hulu or Disney+. We’ve traded the “all-in-one” convenience for a fragmented landscape because it benefits the company’s bottom line, even if it inconveniences the consumer’s wallet. As “product builders,” we have to recognize this tension: the gap between what is best for the user and what is required for the monopoly.
Why This Matters for the “Product Builder”
If you want to be a better designer, stop looking only at Figma files and start looking at your own behavior at Harris Teeter or Wegmans.
- Why did you reach for that specific brand of matcha?
- Was it the packaging (UI)?
- The promise of a specific nutrient (Feature)?
- Or the fact that you saw it on social media (Marketing/Trust)?
Product design is not limited to the digital or the physical. It’s about understanding human desire, market trends, and the uncomfortable reality of how business interests shape the things we use every day.
If you can build a product that survives the “grocery store test” — something people choose even when a million other options are screaming for their attention — then you’ve truly mastered the craft.
This is where the “Product Designer” brain really starts to shine — now we will look at Product-Market Fit through the lens of Authenticity and Utility.
In the world of CPG, there is a concept called Founder-Market Fit. It’s the idea that the person selling the product needs to have a logical, lived connection to it.
The Cardi B “Grow-Good” Strategy: Proof of Concept
Cardi B’s launch of Grow-Good works because she’s been doing the “work” in public for years. She didn’t just wake up and decide to sell hair oil; she spent years on Instagram documenting her DIY hair masks — mixing avocado, eggs, and onion water in her kitchen.
- The Trust Factor: She has 160M+ followers who have seen her “Hair Journey.” Even though she wears wigs, her fans know her natural hair is healthy because she showed the receipts.
- The Designer’s Angle: In UX, we talk about User Trust. If the interface (the celebrity) doesn’t match the backend (the product’s purpose), the user feels a cognitive disconnect. Cardi’s “backend” is her documented history of hair growth. The product is just the scalable version of a story she’s already told.
The Serena Williams “WYN Beauty” Disconnect: The Missing “Why”
Then you have WYN Beauty. Serena Williams is an undisputed GOAT, but the brand feels like a “one and done” because the connection is thin.
- The Color is Not a Concept: Using “Tennis Ball Green” (Chartreuse) is a cool UI choice, but it’s not a product solution.
- The Missed Opportunity: If Serena had launched “High-Performance Beauty for Athletes” (sweat-proof, SPF-heavy, durable), it would have been a revolution. Instead, it felt like another celebrity makeup line in a sea of them.
- The Lesson: Being a “Global Name” gets you the first sale (the Hype). But it doesn’t get you the second sale (the Habit).
The “One-and-Done” Trap: From Hype to Habit
As a product builder, the goal isn’t the Launch; it’s the Retention.
Private equity firms and white-label manufacturers are great at the “Launch.” They find a celebrity, slap a name on a pre-existing formula, and buy up all the end-caps at Ulta. But if the product isn’t actually good — if it doesn’t solve a specific problem better than the legacy brands — the celebrity’s clout eventually expires.
“Celebrity is a perishable commodity.” If I buy a “Protein Water” because a celebrity told me to, but it tastes like chalk, I’m not buying it again. In digital terms: if I download an app because of a TikTok trend, but the UX is buggy and doesn’t solve my problem, I’m deleting it in 30 seconds.
To truly become a “Product Builder,” you have to look past the ambassador.
- Does the Founder have the “Receipts”?
- Does the Product solve a niche problem?
- Is it Memorable enough to become a Habit?
At the end of the day, a pretty package might get someone to pick it up at Wegmans, but only a great product gets them to put it in their cart every week.
