2024 Generation Next winner Michelle Zheng (Q&A)

Michelle Zheng

Senior Manager of Experience Design, Loblaw Companies Limited

Improving the user experience is what Michelle Zheng enjoys most about her role at Loblaw. With a degree in industrial design and a passion for technology, she has a vision to transform the whole grocery and pharmacy experience—and is well on her way to making it happen.

Zheng and her team recently completed a redesign of the outdated self-checkout at Shoppers Drug Mart to make it more user-friendly and distinctly branded (including testing with visually impaired individuals), resulting in a 5% increase in customer satisfaction scores.

“I’m really focused on process optimization and making the technology work for people and not against them,” explains Zheng. To that end, she is now working on developing in-store tools for department managers and others that will help reduce tedious tasks and make it easier for them to do their jobs. 

Zheng is also focused on making things easier for fellow colleagues by leading an employee resource group, Parent and Caregiver Network, that is helping change perceptions about parental leave and promoting gender equality in the workplace.

See the full list of Generation Next 2024 winners profiles.

Profiles were first published in the December 2024 issue of Canadian Grocer