FarmFresh UX Case Study
Connecting Farmers to buyers directly: Bridging the Gap between Farmers and Buyers
Role: UX researcher, UX designer, Interaction designer
Time frame: 4 weeks
Niche: Agritech
Tools : Figma, google meet, figjam
Outcome: UX and UI design, UX research, UI component, Interactive prototypes
Introduction
A platform that connects farmers of all kinds to customers that want to purchase farm products without the need for a distributor. Also, the outcome should be a sophisticated design solution that is very easy to use and very secure for buyers to buy fresh farm produce at reasonable prices and have it delivered to their doorsteps.
This platform focuses on both ends both farmers and consumers
The Design Process
Empathize
Research ( Discovering the problem )
I have farmers around me, ranging from fish farmers to poultry farmers and crop farmers, and they say farming is not that lucrative anymore. I wanted to go into agriculture, and that is what pushed me to ask them why exactly they think it’s like that. They all made it clear to me that the percentage the distributors often collect is very overwhelming, leaving them with little, and they do not have a way to get buyers to buy products from them. So they opt for the only option of getting their goods off their hands.
I find it very difficult to get fresh farm produce and when I do the prices are always too ridiculous knowing fully well they can’t be this expensive getting them from Farmer’s Market. But the nearest farmers market to me is a very long distance.
To understand the problem from both perspectives better I decided to conduct research that includes sending out questionnaires and conducting interviews.
Questions asked during the research process
Farmers
Qualitative research questions
- How easy is it for you to sell your products without the use of middlemen?
- How do you sell your farm produce?
- What are the biggest challenges you face when selling produce through middlemen?
Quantitative research questions
- Do you own a mobile phone?
- Would you use an application that shows case your product to potential buyers?
- What’s the average profit margin when selling through a distributor?
Buyers
Qualitative research questions
1. How do your purchase farm goods?
2. What are the problems you face when trying to get produce?
3. What are the features you’ll like in an app that you can order farm produce directly from farmers?
Quantitative research questions
- How often do you go to the farmers' market?
- On a scale of 1–10, how easy is it to get quality produce?
After the research, I was able to identify the need and goals of each category ( Buyers and farmers )
Buyers: They are the consumers who are very much interested in getting fresh farm produce but are not able to due to some factors.
Goals
- Get farm produce directly from the farm
- Get items delivered to their doorsteps
- Getting produce cheaper than market prices
Pain Point
- Most farmer's markets are too far
- Sellers at the market hike their prices
Farmers: They are the “Sellers” of the platform they have readily available farm produce to sell to consumers
Goal
- Selling their produce easily
- Make their trade more lucrative
- Want to connect with consumers
Pain Point
- Little to no profit after selling to distributors
- Inability to sell off their produce to consumers directly
- Difficulty promoting and marketing goods
User persona
My survey’s findings indicated that users come in different forms and had a range of requirements. I was able to develop three personas by combining the many insights and common patterns from the buyers’ and farmers' responses. I decided to focus on one persona representing each category in the research ( Buyers and farmers ) since there are a lot o similarities between all three personas.
Competitive analysis
To understand users better, I looked into similar platforms to see what they were doing and how I can do better than them to aid users' experience even smoother. I check the platforms just the way a user would experience what the user has been experiencing. This made me realize the weak areas and pain point users might experience while using these platforms to create a better experience for users.
The pain points are stated below
- Most of these platforms prefer to sell packaged goods that can be stored for a very long time
- They do not allow access to direct farmers they sell through intermediaries
- They do not place the same emphasis on supplying farm fresh goods straight from farmers as FarmFresh.
Empathy Mapping
To further define the target audience and to show their needs and action. Empathy mapping helps to gain more insight and perspective on their thoughts and feelings. The data used in the mapping are based on insight from the user research.
Farmers
Consumers
Define
The Goal
From the user's research done in the emphatizing stage, I was able to derive the main goal of the project
The goal is to create a solution to the two users’ pain points
The Buyer: A platform where users can order farm produce from farmers on the app and get it delivered to the buyer at the appropriate time also find a way to make the application secure for users.
The Farmers: Connect farmers to buyers that are willing to buy their farm products easily without the need for a middleman. But how do I create a solution that solves this problem? Let's move on to the next stage of the design process
Ideate
At this stage of the design process, I already understood the user's needs from the user research I conducted earlier in the study. The ideation stage requires a lot of deep thinking and any idea that comes to my head on how the problems can be solved. I sketched them down.
How might we?
To better comprehend the issue from the viewpoint of the user, I translated the insights I gained during the research to produce point-of-view statements. Then, these statements are changed into useful information How might we (HMW) guide ideation
How might we help users locate farmers around them?
How might we help farmers increase sales and profit with our platform?
How might we save users from the stress of finding and going to the market?
How might we make sure that users get fresh farm produce?
How might we create a platform that is easy and straightforward to use?
User Flow
I created a user flow that illustrates how a user is going to navigate the application. I used Figjam to draw the flow
Prototype
This stage is totally experimental there is no wrong or right design, the main goal is to find the best possible solution to the problem/pain point identified in the earlier stage of the design process.
I started by using pen and paper to sketch down ideas as they come to my head. Then I moved on to creating lo-fi wireframes for more clarity because it contains basic elements. Lo-fi wireframes generally leave more room for iteration and can be easily understood by the rest of the team.
Digital Wireframe
After sketching ideas how they came to me I need to brush them up by adding some basic design elements for them to be presentable and understandable for testing
After creating the digital wireframes, I prototyped them so that they could be used in usability testing, which was carried out by five people to determine whether or not the solution I proposed resolved the issue at hand. The usability testing was done over google meet where the user was given some tasks while I observe how they interacted with the application The usability study’s findings demonstrate that I am on the right track, even though some iterations were made to increase efficiency.
Visual Design
The following step is to create the Hi-fi design to show the final design decision.
Typography And Color
Color Palette
The color green symbolizes nature, life, health, youth, spring, hope, renewal, growth, rest, and relaxation. Hence, a green color palette is fitting for an app that is all about nature Additionally, Green is known to immediately connect with consumers due to being a color of nature. I used grey for the text and included a great deal of white to give a calm and clean appearance.
Typography
I decided to go with Nunito Nunito is a well-balanced sans serif typeface superfamily.
Components
Here are some components I worked with to make it easier for me
Final design
Splash and on boarding screen
The onboarding screen as the name implies onboards users to know what the application is all about even when they’ve not gotten into the application's Home Screen. To shed light on the core functionality of the application. And also choose what users are on the platform to do maybe to shop or to sell their produce
Buyers flow
Simple log-in and sign-up process for buyers
The signup process is quite simple as the user creates an account with easily accessible data like phone numbers, email, and so on.
Home screen, single product screen, category screen
On the home screen users can see various product sections such as categories, popular products, and offers that are available and they can shop for different products from farmers around them. Users can also access their notifications and products in their carts as well.
A single product screen gives more detail about a product and also you can add to your cart from there.
Cart and saved items
While shopping users can add items to their cart for checking out and they can also add items to a saved list from the saved list items can be added to the cart also easily as the product added to the saved list are items that users are interested in. And remove items from both saved items or cart is very easy. Items can be removed by simply tapping on the cancel on the product in the cart or saved.
Orders, order details and order tracking
On the order screen, users get to see what you have ordered and their status be it delivered, processing, or canceled users also get to see your order history which contains orders that users have bought over time
Order details give full information about a particular order
Simple check out process
After users are done shopping and items are added to the cart. The next stage is order confirmation where users can see the delivery address and also change the address if they want. Users also get to choose a payment method, they can add a card or remove a card.
Shopping list
This helps users in listing out the items they want to get, this list is automatically synced and users get suggested items based on it which can then be added to their cart and will be checked out following the process
Farmers flow
Profile set up
As a seller, there's an additional need for verification and an idea of what your farm produces. So this process includes a means of verification maybe a national identity number (NIN), driver's license, or voter's card. You also set up the payment account at this stage
Homepage and product management
On the home page of the farmer, users get to see products they have available for sale. Users can also search for products and they can add and remove products too. The user is directed to order alerts and other notifications by clicking on the bell icon.
Community
Users connect and share ideas with other farmers.
Statistics
Statistics are frequently updated as activities occur and provide a summary of the activities that have been happening on the application, including the number of products sold, the number of customers, earnings, and more.
The user is directed to order alerts and other notifications by clicking on the bell icon.
Other screens
Conclusion
Impact
The prototype was sent out to potential users once again to find out how easy it is to use. They stated that it was very easy to understand and how the addition of basic elements even made it easier that the lo-fi prototype
What did I learn?
The process of designing the app has been both difficult and rewarding. Another important lesson I picked up was to never make assumptions and to always put the needs of the end user first.
What are the next steps?
- Conduct another usability study to know if the platform actually solved the problem it was meant to solve
- Deep research to know if there are other problems to be solved.
Thank you for reading my case study.
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