UX Research & Ideation | Service Design
SPROUT NOLA
THE PROBLEM
SPROUT NOLA provides technical and social support to build a stronger, more equipped community of growers in New Orleans. At the conclusion of their first urban agriculture cohort, SPROUT leadership wondered what a phase II program might look like. They tried surveys, but needed a deeper understanding of cohort members’ experiences, motivations, and pain points.
THE SOLUTION
UX research methods provided a more in-depth view of the current needs of urban growers in New Orleans. The artifacts from this research fueled an ideation workshop, which allowed key program stakeholders to center their users in the phase II program design.
MY ROLE
UX Strategy
Secondary Research
Competitive Analysis
User Interviews
Research Artifact Design
Workshop Facilitation
Report & Recommendations
“A lot of farming is needing money and resources that you have to apply for. And it’s really difficult to know how to handle all of it.”
Urban Ag Cohort Member 1
“I think I feel unsure every day at this point. Farming doesn’t have a very guaranteed success rate.”
Urban Ag Cohort Member 2
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Starting with secondary research, I focused on deepening my understanding of the current state of urban agriculture in Louisiana and the goals and pain points of urban growers across America.
What pain points currently exist for urban growers?
Land Access:
Financially, the cost of land in urban areas is often unattainable to growers. According to SPROUT’s own research, “lack of funds was cited as a rationale for not attempting to access land 3x more than any other survey response.” Coupled with unsustainable lease terms, barriers to financing and competition with developers, land access appears to be the most urgent issue for urban growers.
Logistics:
Contaminated soil is a major issue. According to the LSU Ag Center, “Land that is contaminated with heavy metals or other pollutants and the use of wastewater for irrigation without proper treatment also can pose health hazards for consumers.” Even if the land has been secured and the soil is healthy, many urban growers are turned off by the difficulties of navigating city utilities like electricity and water. Once operational, many growers complained of their land being improperly cited for blight.
Climate change:
Perhaps especially relevant to Louisiana growers, climate change brings a host of problems including storm intensification and unpredictable temperature swings. With that being said, urban agriculture fits neatly into sustainability trends and can be used as a tool to fight climate change, which bodes well for the industry.
What tools or resources do urban growers currently use to solve their problems?
Current education-based solutions seem to be split into three categories:
Local nonprofit organizations with urban agriculture programming (similar to SPROUT)
University and college programs with a focus on urban agriculture
Technical programs through the National Resources Conservation Service (USDA)
The nonprofit programs have the lowest barriers to entry and are therefore the most accessible ways for urban farmers to find guidance/training.
Current funding-based resources range widely - from small-scale local grants to federal funding. Approaching this research from an outside perspective, it was incredibly difficult to find relevant funding opportunities. I was surprised by how many opportunities had an incredibly high barrier to entry that would prevent most small and mid-scale urban growers from accessing these resources.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
A competitive analysis confirmed that opportunity access for urban growers is a problem space ripe for exploration and (re)design, and local nonprofits seem the best equipped to provide user-focused solutions. SPROUT is already ahead of the curve compared to other education-based solutions.
“Long-term goals… probably something with expansion. I would love to create a kind of model that can be replicated.”
Urban Ag Cohort Member 2
“I believe that small impactful changes and a collective will benefit us all on a macro and micro level.”
Urban Ag Cohort Member 4
USER INTERVIEWS
I conducted four user interviews with cohort members. The questions focused on their goals, needs, and pain points in urban agriculture - within and outside of the cohort.
Going into the interviews, I knew that we were covering a lot of ground and I was worried that the information gathered would be too broad. Affinity mapping helped group the wide range of thoughts, feelings, and emotions about the cohort and urban agriculture at large.
Key cohort findings:
All participants enjoyed class variety, but many wanted opportunities to dive deeper into certain subjects
More experienced participants requested tiered classes or the ability to bypass intro-level classes
All participants were surprised and delighted by the quantity and quality of resources provided - tools, services, and opportunities
While hearing about their experiences in the cohort was extremely helpful to solve the problem of program optimization, the larger problem extended beyond the cohort and into urban agriculture in New Orleans.
Key urban agriculture findings:
100% of participants expressed an interest in continuing their urban ag education, noting that independent study through books and YouTube videos just isn’t cutting it
75% of participants are seeking mentorship from and community with other farmers, noting the isolating nature of farming
100% of participants noted money as their primary obstacle, especially regarding investing in land and equipment and investing in themselves via a livable wage
75% of participants requested additional help with finding and writing grants
100% of participants mentioned expansion as a goal, including land growth/acquisition, implementing additional agricultural profit streams, and creating new models or spaces for focused community-building and educational advancement
Click image to view full research synthesis in Miro
RESEARCH ARTIFACTS
Focusing on my primary questions about urban growers’ wants, needs, and pain points, I further distilled my findings via an empathy map.
Empathy mapping is usually my next step after thematic analysis, as it helps me put aside my own assumptions and empathize fully with the users. The pain and gain sections of the map offered some of the most valuable insight as I drafted my persona.
This project called for actionable personas, so I focused on what cohort members want and need right now. Timely and targeted information leads to timely and targeted solutions.
Here are a few of my notes as I moved from empathy map to persona.
Goals & Motivations:
Expansion - Taking their farms to the next level
Career - Making farming their full-time job
Education - Continuing to learn and be in community with other growers
Needs:
Monetary Support - For expansion, stability, and opportunity to grow full-time
Resource Support - Plots, tools, grant assistance, etc.
Community Support - Opportunities to learn and make connections
Pain points:
Lack of Time - For furthering education, applying for grants, being in community, etc.
Lack of Land - Buying in New Orleans isn’t affordable
Lack of Guidance - Not knowing where to find resources or how to obtain them
This persona represents our career growers. I also built an empathy map and persona for hobby growers in case SPROUT decides to add an introductory course in the future, but they are out of scope for this particular case study.
IDEATION WORKSHOP
After presenting this research to SPROUT’s Executive Director, I led a two-part research presentation and ideation workshop for SPROUT’s Urban Agriculture Program leadership team.
When planning the ideation workshop, I looked for techniques that met the following criteria:
Easily understandable for non-designers
Offered opportunities to see the problem from different angles
Emphasized the “more is more” or “yes, and” ideation approach
Ideation Artifacts
PROGRAM DESIGN HANDOFF
The best design handoff is no handoff at all. Because I had included key stakeholders along the way, the Executive Director and Program Manager could immediately take the UX research and ideation artifacts to the implementation stage.
They are ready to move forward with at least two of the ideas gathered from this design thinking process. Impact data coming soon!
Stakeholder Feedback:
“Thank you for all your work on this, and for giving us space to brainstorm and share ideas and focus on our urban growers! Very valuable for me.”
“[This workshop] exceeded my expectations.”
“Lots of generative space and ideas.”