Pocket Market Case Study
Project Overview
Design a mobile app that solves a real need in a person’s day-to-day life.
Role and Responsibilities: UX Researcher / UX Designer
Duration: 3 weeks
Team: Sahand Hasani, Julia Legge, Maddie Edgington
Deliverables: Design Process (Research > Design > Iterations > Testing) & High Fidelity Prototype
Tools: Figma, Google Suites, Photoshop CS5
Project Ideation
Our team collaborated together by thinking of ideas for our final group project that would helpful for people in their daily lives or a redesign of an existing app. In a Figjam board - we put our ideas onto sticky notes and then we each voted for our top three ideas from the options. We then landed on the idea of a eco friendly shopping app where you could substitute your regular shopping items for eco friendly options on your list -as it would have multiple benefits and help support local business.
Pivoting paths
Although there were exciting opportunities had we pursued the initial project, we realized during our preliminary discussions that we lacked potential interview subjects. This prompted us to reassess our approach. We ultimately decided on a similar yet more localized concept: a farmers market shopping app. This new direction allowed us to continue supporting small businesses while still promoting sustainability.
User Research Phase
In this phase of the project, our team conducted a competitor analysis to assess the strengths and weaknesses of our competitors' products. We also carried out both in-person and remote user interviews to identify key challenges and guide the creation of human-centered design solutions. Additionally, we distributed a Google survey across various platforms, including Reddit and Instagram, to gather broader user insights.
Competitor Analysis Findings
Farmerish Strong Points: Extensive category selection, affordable, user-friendly website, AI to assist with content creation for farmers.
Weak Points: Limited inventory and options, higher price points, and lack of local offerings.
Fellow Farmer Strong Points: Promotes healthy eating and supports local farmers, straightforward listing creation, and affordable pricing.
Weak Points: Limited number of farmers and products, lack of market listings, and a non intuitive purchasing process.
Farmshare Strong Points: Wide range of products, high-quality photos, and availability of monthly subscription boxes.
Weak Points: Products seem to be sourced from a single farmer, and the service is limited to the East Coast.
Quantitative Research
We conducted user interviews with five participants, aged 26 to 75, all of whom have attended a farmers market. From these interviews, we discovered that half of the users felt overwhelmed by the market experience and expressed a desire for a more streamlined visit. One participant remarked, "It would be nice to know in advance who’s going to be there and what they’re selling because the kinds of things I purchase dictate what I’m going to be cooking for the week." Another noted, "I might be more likely to buy because I know exactly what I’m gonna get, how much I’m going to spend, and where it’s located."
Interestingly, most interviewees were not interested in another food delivery app, which led us to reassess the shopping feature of our app. Instead, we shifted our focus to assisting users in preparing for their farmers market experience, helping them plan their visits more efficiently.
Survey Insights
Through our surveys, we discovered that limited parking and inconsistent product availability were among the top frustrations for respondents. This insight led us to consider highlighting parking information within the app and addressing product availability issues by showcasing which vendors will be present and what specific products they’ll be offering.
Our survey findings also revealed that a significant majority of farmers market attendees prefer to buy the same items each time. Additionally, many visitors have regular favorite products but also enjoy exploring new options. This suggests that users are likely to check item availability for products they've purchased before, highlighting the importance of providing a feature to save and track their favorite items and vendors.
Problem Statement
Farmers market attendees often face frustrations due to limited parking and inconsistent product availability, making it difficult to plan their visits. Users need a streamlined experience that provides real-time vendor and product information, favorite item tracking, and essential information.
Proto Persona
Kelly Miller
Age: 42
Occupation: Oncology Nurse
Status: Married
Location: Longmont, CO
About
Kelly is best known for juggling her duties as a mom, and her role as a full-time nurse. Kelly solely relies on her planner to get through the day. She is extremely organized, and enjoys planning her day in advance. When she can make the time, she enjoys hiking, thrifting, and herbalism.
Frustrations
Disorganized schedule.
Limited parking in her busy city.
Feels that grocery store products are full of single use plastic leading to the widening of her carbon footprint.
Goals
Reduce her carbon footprint.
Cut down on grocery expenses and staying within budget.
Quickly find and purchase their favorite products without spending too much time.
Ideation Phase
During our ideation phase, we developed a storyboard that visually maps out the user journey. This approach not only provides a clear narrative of the user's experience but also helps with creative brainstorming. By analyzing the storyboard, we can identify key touchpoints, pain points, and moments of delight that can inspire innovative features and enhancements for our product. This process helps ensure that our solutions are deeply aligned with the real needs and behaviors of our users.
Kelly is a full-time nurse and busy mom who values spending quality time with her family and feeding them nutritious, locally-sourced food. However, her hectic schedule often forces her to shop at grocery stores, missing out on the fresh produce she prefers from farmers markets. One day, Kelly discovers an app that streamlines her market visits, saving her time by consolidating vendor information for all the farmers markets in her area.
After using the app, Kelly discovers a nearby farmers market that offers all the organic products she wants. At the market, she connects with Bonnie, a farmer she learned about through the app, and feels more confident in her purchases knowing Bonnie’s farm is family-owned and sustainable. Kelly returns home with her groceries, fulfilled by the personal connections and the time saved, allowing her to enjoy more quality moments with her kids.
I Like, I Wish, What If Ideation
Next, during the ideation phase, we used the 'I Like, I Wish, What If' method to generate a diverse range of ideas. Each team member contributed insights, which were then voted on to identify the most promising concepts. We then transitioned to the feature prioritization matrix to evaluate and rank these ideas based on feasibility, impact, and alignment with our project goals.
Feature Prioritization Matrix
We utilized a feature prioritization matrix to evaluate potential features for our app, organizing them based on their value and priority. This process allowed us to identify and select four key features that effectively address different crucial areas we aimed to cover, ensuring a balanced approach that meets uses needs while aligning with our overall product goals. As part of this process, we engaged in a voting system where team members cast their votes for their favorite features. This democratic approach helped us identify and agree on four key features, with many votes converging on similar ideas.
This post-it note highlights a key user need: the desire to know which vendors will be at the farmers market and what products they’ll offer ahead of time. Addressing this would enhance users' ability to plan their visits efficiently, ensuring they find the products they want while also supporting vendors by increasing their visibility. This insight underscores an opportunity to improve the market experience by aligning our app’s features with users' planning preferences
By providing timely notifications and updates, our app can help users plan their visits, ensuring they don't miss out on local events. This feature enhances user engagement and encourages regular participation in the markets.
Adding this feature to our app would simplify users' search for nearby markets, making it easier for them to find and visit different locations.
Implementing this feature that allows users to bookmark preferred vendors would help them remember and revisit these vendors, enhancing their overall market experience and fostering customer loyalty.
Our app introduces four essential features to elevate the farmers market experience. The Events feature keeps users informed about special happenings and activities, ensuring they never miss out on exciting market events. The Map offers detailed information on vendor locations, parking areas, and bathroom facilities, helping users navigate the market with ease. With the Favorites feature, users can save and quickly access their preferred vendors and market details, making it easy to remember where to find their favorites. Lastly, Vendor Profiles provide insights into each vendor’s farm, sustainable practices, and personal stories, fostering a deeper connection between users and the vendors they support.
Prototype Phase
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.
Above are some of our initial sketches, we eventually ended up combining our favorite ideas from each others into our first prototype. We enjoyed the simplicity of Julia’s home page, the rest of the team liked my vendor page, and we also took inspiration from Maddie’s homepage.
Low Fidelity Prototype
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.
Design Blueprint
Inspired by the vibrant vegetables found at farmers markets—like yellow squash, cucumbers, and earthy mushrooms—we crafted an earthy-toned color palette that is WCAG compliant. This ensures optimal contrast for outdoor use, vital for our app's accessibility. We selected Bogart Trial for headers to bring a playful, rounded aesthetic, balanced by Spartan for body text to enhance readability.
Testing Phase
Once we had our mid fidelity prototype completed, we moved onto our user testing. We had tasked users to read a vendors profile and add it to their favorites. As well as enter information into the map in order to view farmers markets in their area. The last task they were given was to find information regarding music and activities.
Feedback and Iterations
Some of the feedback we observed during user testing
Feedback and Iterations
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Second Round User Testing Insights
While we didn’t get any feedback regarding the flow of our app, we did receive some feedback on some of the aesthetic choices.
Improving Style Choice
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Adding Modalities
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Improved Tab Navigation
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
High Fidelity Prototype
This is our high fidelity prototype after making iterations from our previous user testing results.
Final Thoughts
Some next steps we would like to take would be adding labels to the tab bar so that we were HIG compliant. It did not appear to be an issue during testing however that is something we want to implement. Some feedback we got from our professor was to remove unnecessary modalities during the map portion of our app as it could be disruptive to the users overall experience. We would also like to include a page for recommendations as well as filters for product and vendor categories.
