Step 1: mindmaps around our theme
We were assigned the following topic: "Increase the incomes of small-scale food producers", a theme defined on the basis of the 17 Sustainable development goals.
To better understand the issues at stake, we each made a mindmap with Miro. This exercise allowed us to question ourselves, to discover certain dimensions of our subject and to define it more precisely. The use of Miro allowed us to link certain concepts together around our subject and to put all our ideas and questions into graphic form.
The mindmap was an important step in the development of our application because it allowed us to really understand the issues of our subject and therefore to propose - with our application - the solution that we thought was the most adapted to this problem.
To access all our mindmaps, click here:
Step 2: project draft
After developing our mindmaps, we thought about the concept of our application. After defining the central idea and the way it would work, we used Glitch to support and clarify our proposal. With Glitch we detailed our service a bit more: it allowed us to define the context of our application creation, define our targets, specify our service and analyse the competition.
What is our application and who does it target?
The app offers mealplans that include recipes according to the
consumer diet.
Within these recipes, there is a list of ingredients leading to
addresses of local food producers. The users can either go by
themselves or get their food delivered. Our application can be
used by the user at any time of the day, when planning their
next meals or shopping. It is intended for all people who want
to adopt a healthier diet, based on more local products. It is
also about supporting small local producers in their region.
The target customers are the Young working people (24-45 ans)
willing to follow the locavore movement and who have enough
purchasing power to do so.
The point is to put through local food producers and
people willing to diversify their food while helping their local
producers.
In terms of competition, we have identified several potential competitors, such as La Ruche qui dit oui, Mooveat and Locavore.
References:
The Minnesota Homnegrown Cookbook. This book gives recipes using local and sustainable foods.
Other editions from other locastions exist, such as the Chicago
one.
How to buy local food, This BBC article gives tips to buy and cook local Discover
local food,
Discover local food ,
This UK website tracks local food producers in your area
This step was very important as it allowed us to better define our project and to better identify our users.
To have access to our glitch, it's here : Glitch
Step 3: wireframes
After defining the function and purpose of our application, we thought about the overall functioning of the application. To do this, we made what is called a wireframe: it is a black and white layout that allows us to define the size and location of our elements. This allows us, for example, to define how to move from one screen to another. It's about building the structure of the application without any real design (we didn't have to integrate images, colours or particular fonts)
To create our wireframes, we used Figma, a browser that allowed us to prototype our application by collaborating together.
We have determined the main functionalities of our application: the user chooses a diet from among those proposed, and is then redirected to a page that offers a variety of recipes corresponding to the diet he has chosen. They are then free to browse the recipes and add them to their shopping cart. Once the user has selected the ingredients they need for their recipes, they can choose to pick up their ingredients directly from the farm or have them delivered to their home.
With this wireframe step, we were able to define the most important features of our service in a few screens. This is a crucial step that allows us to focus on user scenarios.
To access our wireframe, click here: wireframeStep 4: mockups and tests
We then worked on the first visuals of our application. Thanks to
Figma, we were able to turn the wireframes we have done into
mockups.
Mockups are more detailed wireframes, to which we added the
design part of the application: we integrated colours (thanks to
coolors), fonts (with google fonts), images or logos (with
thenounproject).
These mockups give a global vision of the concept of our
application with a more meaningful visual.
The use of the application remains the same: choose recipes and
ingredients according to a specific diet.We kept the same functionalities as in the wireframes (back,
menu, shopping) cart) by adding explanatory text and detailing
the last screens.
After choosing whether to pick up the selected ingredients at the
farm or to have them delivered to the user's home, the user can
then choose a date - for delivery, or to arrange a meeting with
the producer. If the user chooses to go to the farm, they can then
enter their location and choose from among the farms proposed near
their home.
The user can then click on the image corresponding to the farm
that suits him, and that's it!
We then tested these mockups with potential users. We recorded these test sessions and noted all the testers' remarks. For example, it was suggested that we change the design of our buttons, or add text to better explain each step to the user Thanks to their feedback we were able to improve our mockups.
To access our mockups, click here: mockupsTo access our user tests, click here: user test
Step 5: Technologies
To develop the application, the use of certain technologies will be required:
A geolocation tool: we will ask the user to enter his geographical position (address) so that he can be delivered, or to propose a variety of farms nearby.
A machine learning algorithm: the more the user uses the application, the more we will be able to propose recipes that are similar to him, and ingredients that he likes (depending on the number of orders of the product for example). In this way, the application will be personalised to each user.
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A database that lists all the partner farms, and that allows customers to have a wide choice.
How could the project be developed to grow further?
We are thinking about how to develop our project further. First of all, regarding the use of the application itself, we are thinking about adding more options: for example, creating a community section where people can put their own recipes and addresses. This would make the application more interactive and allow users to feel more included in the project.
In terms of the visibility of our application, we are considering the possibility of expanding abroad.We have the ambition to establish new partnerships with European small-scale producers.