Lessons from Running an Innovation Lab

From 2018 to 2021, I led front-end development for the Innovation Lab at Retail Business Services (Ahold Delhaize). Here's what I learned about building experimental products.

The Mission

Our job was to prototype and validate new ideas quickly. We built everything from kiosk software to internal tools to customer-facing apps.

Key Lessons

1. Speed Over Perfection

In an innovation lab, shipping fast matters more than shipping perfect. We could always iterate.

2. Reusable Components Save Time

After our third project, we started building a component library. This cut development time significantly.

3. User Testing Early

We learned to put prototypes in front of users within the first week. Early feedback prevented wasted effort.

Notable Projects

• Stop & Shop Kiosk - Touch-based shopping assistant with IBM Watson integration
• Innovation Portal - Internal platform for tracking innovation initiatives
• NPM Packages - Reusable tools published for the community

The Tech Stack

We standardized on:

• React.js + TypeScript
• Node.js + Express
• MongoDB or PostgreSQL
• Docker for deployment

What I'd Do Differently

1. Document more—institutional knowledge walked out the door
2. Invest in automated testing earlier
3. Build better bridges to production teams