Sweetgreen Outpost Shelf
Outpost is a Sweetgreen offering that delivers the full menu to scheduled pickup locations in corporate offices, apartment buildings, and retail spaces such as fitness studios. Orders are placed through the Sweetgreen app or website and delivered to a designated Outpost at a set time.
Sweetgreen aimed to redesign the Outpost shelf with a focus on modularity, simplified installation, affordability, and flat-pack logistics. The updated design uses two identical “half” shelves, reducing part count, increasing modularity, and allowing the system to adapt to different spatial configurations.
The structure is shipped in a single flat-pack box, significantly reducing weight and simplifying distribution compared to the previous multi-box system.
I worked with the Outpost team from early concept development through final iterations, leading product development across multiple rounds of refinement.
For Sweetgreen
Photo Credit: Sweetgreen
Peg holes provides flexibility in changing shelf height and adding signages and hooks.
Half shelf transforms into a full shelf and can be extended as a modular system.
Process
Previous design
As Outpost scales, Sweetgreen is investing in shelving that reduces operational complexity and improves launch speed across locations.
Pain points
Complex installation: Previous shelves require third-party installation, increasing cost and coordination overhead
Bulkiness: Large size makes shipping expensive and leads to occasional customer rejection, limiting deployment
Not flexible: Limited modularity restricts adaptation across different space types and use cases
Updated design
Lighter structure: Over 35% reduction in total weight through simplified construction and material reduction
Smaller footprint: Scaled dimensions better fit smaller offices and varying employee counts
Fewer parts: Two identical half-shelves reduce part count and simplify manufacturing and assembly
Reduced shipping impact: Ships in one flat-pack box instead of four, lowering packaging volume
Faster assembly: Reduced from 90+ minutes to approximately 20 minutes
Concept exploration
One pager concepts
