Locavore
Farm fresh produce delivered to your doorstep.
THE AMBITION
How do we make the farmer’s market more accessible for everyone?
Boise residents struggle to easily access and purchase fresh, local produce and specialty items from farmers' markets, hindering their support for local agriculture.
"Locovore" is an app that connects Boise residents with local farmers' markets and vendors, offering a seamless way to discover, shop, and support local agriculture through convenient browsing, ordering, and delivery options.
TIMELINE
3 months
ROLE
UX / UI Design
PLATFORM
Mobile App
TOOLS
Figma
WHAT HAPPENED?
Pandemic Exposes Food Access Issues in Boise
The pandemic-driven pivot to online and drive-thru operations at Boise Farmers Market highlighted a significant challenge: people without cars struggled to access fresh produce.
This situation inspired the creation of an app aimed at facilitating easy ordering and delivery from the market, ensuring everyone in the community could enjoy farm-fresh goods.
"I love supporting local farmers, but without a car, accessing fresh produce from the market has been a real challenge."
— BFM Market Patron
RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
Understanding Barriers to Fresh Produce Access
A focused exploration was undertaken to identify the barriers Boise residents face in accessing fresh produce from the farmers market. The investigation involved:
Surveys and Interviews at the market to capture direct insights.
Secondary Research to contextualize local findings within broader food access trends.
Data was organized using affinity mapping, revealing key challenges and informing the user-centric development of the Locavore app.
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"The research validated my assumptions and uncovered deeper insights into the community's needs, shaping the Locavore app into a truly user-centric solution."
— KLNKEY FINDINGS & INSIGHTS
Transforming Barriers into Solutions
Through my exploration of the challenges Boise residents face in accessing fresh produce, I've distilled crucial insights that directly informed the design of the Locavore app. Each obstacle identified has been converted into a practical solution, ensuring the app addresses the real needs of its users.
Transportation Difficulties: The struggle to access the farmer’s market due to transportation issues was a recurring theme. In response, the Locavore app features a home delivery option, making fresh produce accessible without the need for personal transportation.
Time Constraints: Many expressed frustrations with the market's limited hours, often conflicting with their schedules. To counter this, flexible ordering options were implemented within the app, allowing users to schedule deliveries at their convenience, and making fresh produce accessible on their terms.
Digital Navigation Challenges for Seniors: Insights from interviews highlighted the digital divide, especially among seniors. This led to the development of a simplified and intuitive user interface, ensuring the app is accessible and easy to navigate for users of all ages.
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USER PERSONAS
Reflecting the Community's Diversity
Informed by the diverse needs uncovered in my research, I developed user personas to guide the design of the Locavore app. These personas represent the real challenges faced by Boise residents:
Evelyn, the Community-Supporting Retiree
Evelyn is a retiree who values her independence but no longer drives, making trips to the farmers' market challenging. She seeks the convenience of home delivery for her groceries, mainly to avoid the difficulty of carrying them up the stairs to her apartment. Evelyn remains passionate about supporting local agriculture and enjoys the freshness and quality of locally sourced produce.
Michael, the Tech-Savvy Professional
Michael is a young professional living in the city center. He's conscious of his carbon footprint and prefers to order online rather than drive to the supermarket. He values convenience and speed in his services but doesn't want to compromise on food quality.
Sophie, the Busy New Mother
Sophie is a new mother who juggles childcare with her part-time job. She looks for the most nutritious options to feed her growing family and appreciates services that save her time. She's interested in services directly providing healthy, local produce to her doorstep.
85% of senior respondents found navigating online platforms for food purchases to be a challenge.
INITIAL CONCEPTS AND SKETCHES
Transforming Insights into Tangible Designs
Armed with insights about Boise residents' needs, I began turning these ideas into initial design sketches for the Locavore app, ensuring each concept closely aligned with our users' experiences and expectations.
FROM INSIGHTS TO DESIGN
Boise Residents Deeply Value Fresh, Local Produce
Identifying the gap between Boise residents' love for fresh, local produce and their access to it catalyzed a critical pivot in my design approach. It posed a fundamental question:
“How can we design a solution that not only simplifies access to fresh produce but also caters to the diverse needs of the Boise community?”
This question became the guiding light for every design choice, ensuring the Locavore app addressed the core needs of all users, including those with mobility constraints and busy schedules. The community feedback further affirmed the importance of this mission, with one Boise resident noting:
The idea of an app that delivers the farmer’s market experience directly to my home is revolutionary. It effectively dismantles the barriers to accessing local produce."
— A BOISE RESIDENTADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE
Creating a More Inclusive Farmers Market Experience in a Post-Pandemic Boise
The pandemic not only disrupted our daily lives but also cast a spotlight on the pressing issue of food accessibility in Boise. Despite innovative adaptations like the drive-through service at Boise Farmers Market, it became evident that not all community members could benefit equally. Those without vehicles or facing mobility challenges were left at a significant disadvantage, underscoring the need for more inclusive solutions.
"The drive-through service was a step in the right direction, but the pandemic showed us it's not enough. We needed to think bigger and more inclusively. The Locavore app represents that leap, ensuring no one is left behind in accessing fresh, local food."
— BFM MARKET ORGANIZER
FINAL SCREENS
The Final Product
Below you can check out hi-fidelity designs for 3 flows: the discover flow, the onboarding flow, and the checkout flow.
PROTOTYPE
Feel free to click through the individual prototypes listed on the left hand side to explore the various flow starting points.
SUMMARY
Refining Locovore's Design
Locavore was developed as a mobile-first solution aimed at connecting local food enthusiasts with nearby produce, employing agile methodologies to create a user-centric interface. The project was an opportunity to refine design techniques, emphasizing simplicity and user engagement. Adopting the Law of Prägnanz, the design was streamlined to focus on essential user interactions, enhancing the overall user experience.
"In designing Locovore, simplicity was my compass—steering every decision towards clarity and intuitive user experiences."
Implementing a design system early in Figma enabled quick prototyping and ensured consistency, highlighting the importance of adaptability in design. Key feedback, obtained through targeted engagements, was crucial in the iterative process, maintaining the design’s intuitiveness and relevance.
Locovore exemplifies the effectiveness of a simplified, agile design approach and the continuous integration of user feedback, affirming the principles vital for impactful design work.
WHAT I LEARNED
Embracing Platform Flexibility
The Locovore project highlighted the importance of platform selection in reaching the intended audience. Initially conceived as an iOS app, the transition to a responsive web application was driven by the need to accommodate a wider and more diverse user base, including older demographics. This shift emphasized the value of inclusivity and the advantages of web-based solutions in terms of accessibility and development efficiency. The experience reinforced the necessity of adaptability in design, ensuring that the final product resonates with user needs and preferences.
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