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Design Innovation · Planning & Implementation · Research & Strategy
Re-imagining
Sustainable
Farm Practices
Role
Researcher
Strategist
Skills
Design thinking
Design management
Trend analysis
Roadmapping
Market research
Storytelling
Duration
10 weeks
Opportunity
Leverage user insights + business frameworks to explore urban farming systems and strengthen local food systems
Problem Statement
Urban communities grapple with a food security crisis, marked by limited access to fresh produce, rising costs of healthy food, and a lack of sustainable farming knowledge, which has fostered an unsustainable reliance on distant suppliers and disproportionately impacted vulnerable populations.
Addressing urban food challenges through 3 key concepts:
Proposed Strategy
The why?
The average food travels 1,500+ miles from farm to plate
23.5 million urban residents lack easy access to fresh produce
I challenged myself to think differently, here's what I asked myself.
About 39 million people in the U.S. live in low-income and low-access areas
After years of failed attempts to solve this problem, what breakthrough concept could actually make a difference. How can I inspire action and transform the urban landscape
USDA's 2022 food access report, AgEcon, foodwise.org, formerly CUESA
The problem is that...
Despite increasing awareness of the importance of fresh local food, 23.5 million American urban residents, struggle to access it due to economic challenges and geographical limitations. Reliance on long-distance food transportation inflates costs and harms the environment.
So, we spoke to real people
and discovered 3 distinct archetypes shaping our urban food landscape...
What's really stopping them from buying local?
Inconsistent fresh produce availability
Difficult to access due to transport + convenience issues
Limited selection at the local store
xx%
High cost of local produce
xx%
High cost of local produce
xx%
High cost of local produce
xx%
xx%
High cost of local produce
xx%
High cost of local produce
xx%
High cost of local produce
From our user stories emerged these findings..
Consumers prioritize quality and freshness but also COST
There is an opportunity to create a multi-channel system connecting consumers directly with farmers and thereby reduce costs
HMW create seamless farm-to-table connections that preserve the human relationship between growers and consumers?
30% of our survey respondents said they always or most of the times research the quality of the fresh produce they buy
The journey from environmental awareness to execution is unclear
There is an opportunity to guide users from asking "How do we?" to asserting that, "This is how we do it"
HMW empower people to become confident experts who can guide others on their journey to sustainability?
We learned that people want to make sustainable choices but often lack the practical knowledge or convenient options to do so consistently
"Local" is defined by connection to the source
Our community has a local logic gap that prevents efficient connections between consumers and local producers. Closing this gap would make supporting local sourcing both easier and more cost-effective.
HMW enhance sustainability through direct producer-consumer transactions?
HMW promote the purchase of locally produced goods to be cost-effective?
77.4% of our survey respondents said they are interested or somehow interested in purchasing local fresh products, but high costs limit them to purchase those items
Our competitive edge: breaking away from the pack
Finding our blue ocean advantage by...
Pushing for
start-to-end sustainability
Create an
embedded everyday habit
Broader accessibility, in food deserts
Final outcome
How FarmFolio works
Splitting our archetypes into 2 distinct user groups
Alex the grower/
seller
Anna the buyer
FarmFolio from Anna & Alex's perspective
Anna's Substock
27
28
36
27
1/9
Alex the FarmBuddy
38
39
49
38
1/12
Why they would buy local now
Regular access to local fresh produce
Through a centralized marketplace for community produce
More profits = more growers = more produce
BTS from our user testing
What they said + how we incorporated feedback
Buyers favor store accessibility for fresh produce purchases
The core motivator to become
a grower is community growth
followed by additional income
Quality and price drive buyers' purchase of Farm Buddy produce
Having that 'daily space' to sell produce is crucial
Impact & value - the so what?
What's next?
Seedling
Growth Spurt
Full Bloom
-
Trade or swap seeds/plants/crops
-
Launch mentor program
-
Advanced SubStock features
-
Community event series
-
City-wide implementation
-
Full certification program
-
Corporate partnerships
-
National expansion planning
-
Launch in 2-3 pilot neighborhoods
-
Build initial user base of 100-200 users
-
Establish 10-15 Farm Buddies
-
Basic free SubStock functionality
My learnings & reflection
This project has been incredibly rewarding, and to fully understand it, I highly recommend exploring our detailed and fascinating process book, available here!
This project gave me the chance to explore the intersection of design and business. Food and sustainability are topics close to my heart, and working on a start-up simulation to research and ideate solutions was on my to-do list. One of the most valuable takeaways from this class has been learning timeless business frameworks that I can apply in my future roles.
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