An App with an Appetite
Community Supported Agriculture gets a lift into the 21st century — placing sustainability on the virtual table with the FreshConnect mobile app.
- Client
- FreshConnect (concept product)
- Category
- Mobile · Marketplace · Community · Identity
- Year
- 2021
The problem
Community Supported Agriculture is rooted in community, but the digital experience for local producers has stayed stuck in directory-style websites. Producers struggle to gain business traction and need a marketplace for promotion and community that connects them directly to consumers year-round. Consumers, meanwhile, want a more customized food experience focused on quality, health, and knowing where their food comes from.
My role
Product Designer — end-to-end concept
- Created the product idea and concept from opportunity framing through final deliverable.
- Led research, design audit, competitive analysis, and usability testing.
- Defined information architecture, user flows, and the underlying business model.
- Designed the brand identity, visual system, and high-fidelity mobile screens.
- Conducted the usability study and iterated the final deliverable.
Process
- Step 01
Background & Opportunity
2020's pandemic shifted consumer concerns toward food safety, supply chain security, and quality. Google trend data and article coverage reflected a growing appetite for customized, health-forward food purchasing — a ripe moment to modernize the CSA model.
- Step 02
Research & Competitive Analysis
Studied markets around the world alongside hand-crafted, holistic, and health industry business models. Surfaced consumer needs (convenience, customer care, customization) and social networking needs (recipe sharing, interest groups, neighborhood connection).
- Step 03
Problem Framing — How Might We
Framed the core question: How might we improve the visibility of local farms to promote sales through community connection? Grounded the answer in FreshConnect's two halves — an open market plus an individual market per farm, and a trust-building channel between consumers and producers.
- Step 04
Product, Identity & Usability
Defined user flows and information architecture, designed the FreshConnect identity, and built high-fidelity screens across onboarding, dietary preferences, market, product detail, checkout, and community feed. Validated with usability testing and iterated the final deliverable.
Measurable results
CSA is a business model built on trust. The design work was less about a shopping cart and more about translating an in-person farmer's market — its serendipity, its relationships, its cross-marketing — into a digital surface that could actually grow both sales and community.
Modernizing Community Supported Agriculture
FreshConnect is a concept mobile product that reimagines the CSA model — Community Supported Agriculture — for a digital-first consumer. The work spans opportunity framing, research and competitive analysis, business model, information architecture, identity design, and usability testing, delivering an end-to-end product concept that pairs an open marketplace with per-farm storefronts and a community layer.
What is a CSA?
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Its roots trace back to Booker T. Whatley, an African-American horticulturist and Tuskegee University professor whose 1960s–70s "Clientele Membership Club" let members pay upfront to pick their own produce all season. Formalized in the U.S. in 1986 with Indian Line CSA (South Egremont, MA) and Temple-Wilton Community Farm (Wilton, NH), the model funds farmers before planting season so they can invest in equipment and seed for higher yields and healthier food.
The need, the problem, and the goal
The need
CSA is rooted in community. There is a ripe area of need for a digital product that lets consumers connect with — and support — local farmers for regular, convenient selection and delivery of fresh produce.
The problem
Producers struggle to gain business traction. They need a marketplace for promotion and community that connects directly to consumers to deliver fresh, locally sourced food year-round.
The goal
Create a digital product with a community network and marketplace where producers and consumers meet — giving producers a more innovative platform to gain visibility in a competitive marketplace and giving consumers more knowledge and access to fresh goods.
Interrogating the producer's marketplace problem
- Step 01
Why 1
Why don't producers have the technology, marketing, and support they need to get their businesses online?
- Step 02
Why 2
Why are traditional in-person promotions so important at farmer's markets?
- Step 03
Why 3
Why do producers need to define their niche to compete in the expanding marketplace?
- Step 04
Why 4
Why are shipping speeds and prices a key factor in a digital market?
- Step 05
Why 5
Why have corporations started to produce products in the same space?
What consumers actually want
Consumer needs
Convenience, customer care, and customization surfaced repeatedly across hand-crafted, holistic, and health-industry models.
Social networking needs
Sharing ideas for using produce and products, interest-based groups and communities, and neighborhood or local connections.
Digital opportunity
Most existing sites are directory listings. There is a glowing opportunity to replicate the in-person market experience digitally — and, in doing so, encourage more real-world events and engagement, not less.
Improve the visibility of local farms to promote sales through community connection?
Fresh — an open market and an individual market for each farm partnership. Connect — an avenue for consumers to build trust with their producers by communicating directly with farms and community.
What FreshConnect stands for
Integrity and trust
Direct, transparent relationships between producers and the people they feed.
Environmental stewardship
Sustainability placed on the virtual table — local, seasonal, responsible sourcing.
Community and accessibility
A digital surface for the serendipity and cross-marketing of a real farmer's market.
Equity and health
Broader access to fresh, quality food for more consumers, in more neighborhoods.
Brand loyalty and sales for farmers
Per-farm storefronts and community trust turn one-time buyers into subscribers.
Common questions
What tools did you use?▼
Figma, Figjam, Miro, Google Docs, and Storyboard That across research, IA, flows, identity, and high-fidelity screens.
What was your role?▼
End-to-end — from product idea and concept through research, design audit, usability testing, ideation, information architecture, user flows, business model, usability study, identity design, and final deliverable.