The Project
Feirinha is a local farmer’s shop mobile application. It is the result of the Final Project of my MBA in Interaction Design course at IGTI – Belo Horizonte.
As the sole UX designer, I designed Feirinha using Agile Methodologies. I delivered a complete project, from User Research to the Final Design presented on this page.
Timing: 7 months
Methods: Field research, Interviews, Surveys, Persona, User Mapping, Information Architecture, User Story Mapping, Wireframes, User Testing, Prototyping
Tools: Adobe XD, Trello, Miro, Skype
Context
In Januária, a small town of 67852 people in the southeast region of Brazil, Local Farmers live a very simple and collaborative life. Their productions are usually very small and are used for their own consumption but also for sale. The Farmers depend on third parties for the commercialization of their products, therefore losing part of the profit in the final price of the product.
Following the research, it was concluded that the creation of a direct sales mobile app would increase profits for Local Farmers.
The Process
The execution of the project was divided on sprints:
Research
Field research, Interviews & Surveys
To understand the needs of both Local Farmers and Customers in the city of Januária, I visited 5 Local Farmers and surveyed 25 Customers with different profiles. I questioned the Customers about how they met the local farmers, how they usually buy from them and how often do they buy.
Key Findings and Insights
The Field Research, the Interviews, and the Surveys helped me understand the needs and the frustrations of the users, resulting in a few key findings that helped to shape the project:
Customers always prefer to buy products from local farmers. Therefore, there is a high-demand for Local Farmers but finding them is a challenging task.
Needy region: both Local Farmers and Customers lead a very simple life. Farmers are always trying to increase their profits and Customers want to save money.
User Stories
After finishing the Research and the Findings, I mapped the User Stories to better define and visualize potential needs. This helped me decide what the functional requirements could be to have the first MVP of Feirinha.
Define
Problem
Local Farmers need an easy and inexpensive way to sell their products directly to the Customers.
User Personas
Three user personas were created: two Local Farmers and one Customer. They are the reflection of the day to day life of future users of Feirinha. I have faced them often to remind myself who I was helping and what the needs and frustrations of the users were, maintaining the focus during the entire project.
Core Features
Selling a product. Allows the local farmer to create an online shop, where he can create a profile for his products, including pictures, descriptions, prices, etc.
Chat with each other. Feirinha has a room where both the Local Farmer and the Customer can chat for potential deals.
Search. Finding a product or a local farmer is easy.
Make a deal. Choose a type of delivery and payment.
User Flow
The creation of the user flow gave me a full picture of the steps that the user would need to do in order to achieve a goal in the app.
Sitemap
Using card sorting and the research as a base, I projected the sitemap to be more intuitive, according to the final users.
Ideate
I always like to start from paper, to get some ideas. Some of these ideas are below:
Wireframes
The wireframes were designed taking into account the users and their needs. The number of functionalities per screen was kept at a minimum, avoiding distractions from overwhelming screens. I also designed a combination of icon features and elements that would translate the functionalities into actions:
Test
Micro Usability Test
The first round of tests started with 5 users when I made a 1-1 call with them. They were asked to do tasks and talk as much as possible about what their thoughts and what difficulties they met during each task.
Key Findings
I created a report with all the aspects revealed during each session. The user flow showed great results since all of the tasks involved were completed quickly. However, some words and some icons were difficult to understand at first sight. This was taken into account for the next sprint of the project.
Prototype
The feedback from the Usability Tests makes the creation of the High Fidelity Prototype more current and intuitive. The design system was also taken into consideration, creating a consistent and strong design.
Test Again
The same line of testing was used, with 5 users in a 1-1 meeting during the last session with the proposal of the prototype. It was great to see the design validated by the users. They thought the design easy and simple enough to bring their business online.
Final Product
I present the final product below:
Feirinha – Local Farmer
Feirinha – Customer
You can also use the prototype on the links below: