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UC Berkeley

Los Angeles

Mayor's Office

About Me

UC Berkeley Precision Urban Agriculture Initiative

There are so many different parts to the process of the food getting from the source to the consumer, I had to do a tremendous amount of research to discover where to inject my design within the process.

My Challenges

Food insecure populations need access to fresh and healthy foods.

The Problem

As this was a case study, I did all of the work myself, including research, ideation, prototyping and user testing.

My Role

A SOLUTION IN SEARCH OF A PROBLEM

“What if we could grow healthy vegetables in our urban centers, in a way that conserves water, minimizes the use of pesticide and fertilizer, is cost-competitive with conventional agriculture, and provides affordable, accessible, nutritious food for low-income urban communities?”

Berkeley had provided a brief that, while extremely thorough, was equally broad in scope. I still needed a specific problem to solve. I researched various user groups that might be affected by this apparatus.

UC Berkeley wanted to create a system to grow crops in an urban environment that was sophisticated enough for a large scale operation, but simple enough for individuals or members of a community garden to use as well. The food grown would then be used to serve food insecure populations. The final design was a matchmaking app to connect food agencies to each other. Here is the clickable prototype I designed.

Phase 1: Research

Food deserts are defined as parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas. This is largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers' markets, and healthy food providers.

I went out to spaces identified by the USDA as food deserts in Los Angeles to ask food insecure people their take on urban farming as a source of food. The people all echoed the same few pain points regarding the concept of growing their own food:

Not enough physical space for an apparatus that could sustain a family
Not enough access to sunlight.
Requires a tremendous amount of research to implement
Not enough resources in other languages

Overall, the conclusion seemed to be that urban farming wasn’t going to be a practical option to solve the true problem, access to healthy food options for .

SCARCITY

I wanted to discover just how much food scarcity there was, so I interviewed coordinators at a few of the local food banks. The food banks get donations from all over the world and then distribute those donations to food agencies (food pantries, mobile food pantries, churches, etc.) which then distribute directly to the population. This is the flow of the food’s journey.

According to the food banks they have more than enough food to meet the needs of the population, quantitatively speaking. It wasn’t until we researched the food agencies that we realized what the actual problem was: selection, storage and distribution.

Selection: Foods being given out aren't culturally relevant. A traditional Hispanic family has probably never seen or cooked with kale and has no idea how to
Storage: Most agencies don’t have enough refrigeration or physical storage space for what they receive.
Distribution: There is a huge challenge to acquire food from food banks and then distribute it to the food insecure, especially considering some operations are only a handful of people with a single vehicle.

AT LAST: THE PROBLEM

The problem was a logistical one: How might we help agencies get the right amount and right kind of food from the food banks and to the food insecure populations they serve?

VISITING FOOD DESERTS

I dived right into the research by interviewing anyone and everyone that might be remotely connected to the urban farming ecosystem. The most insight came from the people who would be receiving the food.

Phase 2: Ideation

FEATURE LIST AND PRIORITIZATION

It was clear from the research which needs had to be met for the agencies to be more effective. How might we connect agencies to each other so that they can get what they need from each other? How might we make it easier for them to get what they need? The key features had to:

Create a marketplace for the agencies to serve each other.
Connect the agencies to each other.
Facilitate both finding what agencies need and giving away what they have.

These are the features I prioritized in accordance with both necessity and developmental feasibility

Agatha is an educated employee in a leadership position at a non-profit food agency. She believes in the work she does, but gets frustrated by all the food that is wasted. She wishes there was an easier way to both acquire and distribute the food.

In order to remember the primary user, I made a persona based on my research and developed an empathy map to really flesh out our persona and make sure she was grounded in reality.

PERSONA DEVELOPMENT - AGENCY AGATHA

Phase 3: Sketches and Wireframes

SKETCHES

Before prototyping, I sketched the key features needed as per the feature prioritization matrix.

WIREFRAMES

Phase 4: User Testing and Iteration

After the first round of user testing via a clickable prototype, I received actionable user feedback immediately. The scheduler was too complicated.

ITERATION: REVISED WIREFRAMES

"The calendar thing didn't make a whole lot of sense. I can't tell how to change the time if I hit the wrong one."

"I couldn't figure out how to get past the calendar."

Users didn’t want to spend any more time on the app than they absolutely had to. They wanted a tool that was simple, yet effective at getting their inventory needs met. I removed all but the absolute key features that were vital to the core experience of exchanging food amongst the users. The key user experience I ideated simply requires the user to search for what they need and upload what they have. These are the updated wireframes.

This iteration uses a matchmaking algorithm so the user can find what they need and make an even exchange. It lays them out on a map and provides contact information so that agencies can make their own arrangements on when/where to exchange goods, solving the problem of the overly complex scheduler.

MOCK UPS

After testing this iteration, users stated that they preferred having the flexibility to make their own plans rather than having to adhere to the rigidness of the scheduler.

Phase 5: Branding

It was important to retain the collegiate feel given that the client is a university while communicating the central theme of fresh produce and healthier food options. This application is a tool for professionals, and the style guide reflects this. I took inspiration from food photographer David Loftus for the mood board, which, in turn, inspired the color guide.