Local Food Network platform

This project represents a UX challenge completed over a span of three days. Please keep in mind the quality of the deliverables reflects the limited timeframe available.

TL;DR – A brief overview

For a brief overview, please refer to the slide deck provided below. The remainder of this post delves into the detailed process and decisions leading up to the final deliverable, which includes the prototype, user tests, and recommendations.

UX challenge - Local Food Network

Create a web application that connects local farmers, producers, and consumers. The platform should support farm listings, direct sales, and community-supported agriculture (CSA) subscriptions. Features should include a searchable directory, online marketplace, and CSA management tools. Design an interface that is fresh and inviting, promoting the benefits of local food. Consider the needs of farmers and consumers, ensuring a seamless and enjoyable user experience.

Approach and structure

1. Secondary research
   Domain-specific challenges, needs and opportunities
2. UX Strategy
   Principles and concept
3. UX design
   Flows and prototype
4. UX evaluation
   User tests and learnings

1. Secondary research

Given the time constraints and the lack of access to both experts in the field and users of such networks (producers, farmers, and consumers), we decided to conduct a literature review. We focused specifically on papers related to community-supported agriculture (CSA) models, platforms, and related experiences.

Here are the selected papers (first pass, best match) and the keywords used in the search query (Google Scholar).

A second selection process was conducted to narrow it down to four key papers for review.

• Freedman, M. R., & King, J. K. (2016). Examining a new “pay-as-You-Go” community-supported agriculture (CSA) model: A case study. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 11(1), 122-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2015.1045671
• Hvitsand, C. (2016). Community supported agriculture (CSA) as a transformational act—distinct values and multiple motivations among farmers and consumers. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 40(4), 333-351. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2015.1136720
• Stephens, R., & Barbier, M. (2021). Digital fooding, cashless marketplaces and reconnection in intermediated third places: Conceptualizing metropolitan food provision in the age of prosumption. Journal of Rural Studies, 82, 366-379. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2020.11.009
• Sulistyowati, C. A., Afiff, S. A., Baiquni, M., & Siscawati, M. (2023). Challenges and potential solutions in developing community supported agriculture: A literature review. Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 47(6), 834-856. https://doi.org/10.1080/21683565.2023.2187002

The analysis of the above literature lead to several key insights, thematised below.

a. CSAs challenges and barriers

The research identifies a range of complex challenges and barriers that CSAs encounter. Understanding these issues is crucial for developing effective strategies to overcome them and ensuring the long-term sustainability and success of CSA initiatives.

Challenges on farmer's side

• complexity in farm management
• Limited skills & labour shortage
• influence from government
• competition among CSAs and other marketing channels
• CSA sustainability[Challenges]members recruitment & retention
• gender & generational problems
• Changing food consumption habits
• expense of joining a CSA
• time for the working share contribution
• Expense conversion & maintenance sustainable farming
• self-exploitation by obligation to produce despite low-income
• more than farmers can handle

Barriers on user's side

• lack of variety/choice in each box
• desire for out-of-season produce
• discomfort discarding unused food
• overwhelmed by quantity in each box

b. Members' needs and opportunities

Our research highlights several key needs and opportunities for enhancing member experiences and engagement within the CSA platform. These insights offer valuable direction for designing a platform that meets user expectations while fostering community and sustainability.

Opportunities

• sense of supporting local farmers
• changes to dietary behaviours
• cost-effectiveness
• Drop-off points
• convenience
• provide a pool of resources/equipments shared amongst farmers
• use IOT devices & algorithms to help farmers
• recipes ideas
• Subscription + voluntary labour
• sub plans:- default: general $80- per farmer/hub:1. tier $60 + 1 day labour2. tier $30 + 2 days labour3. add custom nbr of labour days, reduces price
• Meet people, build a new food culture and closer relationship with the farm & members
• Events, like harvest day and season specific meetups
• Food democracy
• vote for things, e.g. what to plant for certain season, crowdfund farm improvements, etc.

User's motivation factors

• Access to local food
• be involved in growing our own food
• doing environmentally friendly actions in practice
• better selection of organic food
• support local business
• increase to increase organic food consumption
• eating more healthfully
• convience
• reasonable price
• organic produce for oneself and/or the entire family
• knowing where food comes from
• fresh picked produce

User's positive results

• trying new recipes
• dietary changes as a result of participation
• trying new fruits and vegetables
• higher motivation to stay & participate leads to changes in dietary habits

c. Positively Perceived Attributes and Categories

The research highlights several lifestyle and food quality attributes that are highly valued by CSA members. These categories underscore the importance of diet, nutrition, and food transparency, and they emphasize the appeal of local, organic, and fresh produce. Understanding these attributes can help tailor the CSA experience to better meet member expectations and enhance satisfaction.

Lifestyle

• Diet
• Food quality
• Transparency
• Flexibility
• prosumption
• Nutrition
• Identity
• Third place

Food qualities

• organic labels
• authenticity
• Local
• taste
• Artisan
• freshness

Food types

• raw foods (e.g., cabbage, honey)
• transformed foods (e.g., conserves, breads

Location

• Third places
• urban
• Peri-urban

2. UX Strategy

Using the insights and understanding from the field, we can now devise guiding principles and draw out a general concept.

Design Principles

1. Community: We foster a strong sense of community and support for local farmers, to increase member participation in farm activities and events, and strengthen relationships between members and farmers.
2. Fexibility: We enhance convenience and flexibility for users so they can experience greater ease in managing their subscriptions, enjoy more flexible and accessible options for receiving their produce, and feel a higher level of satisfaction and commitment to the community due to the seamless and accommodating user experience.
3. Health & Transparency: We encourage healthy, sustainable lifestyle choices and transparency by supporting users to adopt healthier eating habits and gain a deeper understanding of nutrition and food origins. They also become more engaged with sustainable farming practices, leading to improved well-being, greater trust in the food supply, and a stronger commitment to environmentally-friendly actions.

Concept

Main inspirations
Finding open access CSA platforms online is challenging. Most platform publishers focus on B2B, targeting existing physical CSAs, often government-funded, seeking to digitalize their management processes.

This indicates that we are entering an emerging and largely untapped market. Given that this concept will be entirely new to many potential customers, it is prudent to adapt an existing and well-established paradigm while retaining the essential characteristics of this new context.

Based on this understanding, here are the selected inspirations.

Airbnb
Finding and supporting local farmers should be as easy and obvious as finding a destination for your next trip/vacations using airbnb.com. This will be our established paradigm, and a strong concept.

La Ruche Qui Dit Oui!
From the literature, laruchequiditoui.fr is a domain-specific platform publicly available which will help identify some of the main features/characteristics.

Colour palette

"Solar Green" is the designed color palette for this project, inspired by our extensive research. This palette embodies the themes of sustainability and vitality central to this project.

The colors have been thoroughly tested for accessibility using a color contrast grid to ensure a seamless user experience for all.

3. UX design

User flow of a new user who subscribes

For the challenge and time constraint purpose, we will focus on one user flow that illustrates the experience for new users joining our digital CSA platform. From the moment they arrive on the web app to becoming active community members, each step is designed to enhance engagement and convenience:

1. Starting Point: New users arrive at the web app, where they begin their journey by exploring available options.
2. Local Farm Discovery: Users find a local farm and community that aligns with their preferences and values.
3. Subscription: After selecting a farm, users subscribe, choosing amongst different plans.
4. Pickup Location Selection: Users then select a convenient pickup location for their fresh produce.
5. Community Integration: New members receive invitations to join events, connect online, and participate in community activities.
6. Recipe Ideas: Users access seasonal recipe ideas, fostering a deeper connection with the produce they receive and encouraging culinary creativity.
7. Ongoing Engagement: Members stay informed about upcoming community events and continue to integrate with the CSA community through various channels.

Prototype

Figma

Created with Figma

Figma

5. UX evaluation

User test: structure

Due to time constraints, we chose an unmoderated user test methodology. Since we are in the early stages of the conceptualization process, we are asking broad evaluative questions along with performance metrics like success rate and time on task.

Structure

1. Task 1: Exploring the Homepage and Discover local farms
   1. Evaluative question: What was your first impression of the homepage?
2. Task 2: Subscription Process
   1. Evaluative question: How easy to understand were the options and pricing ?
3. Task 3: Find recipe ideas
4. Experience evaluation: Overall, how would you rate your experience?

Results

Summary
Overall, participants reported a satisfactory experience. The discoverability of the homepage and the clarity of the first two tasks are both excellent, scoring well in usability tests. However, task three had a lower success rate, likely due to its higher cognitive load.

Recommandations

Read the full report from Maze:

Resources

The Miro board of this project:

Figma project: