Farmers.gov Redesign
Users make the best experts.
Growing a New Generation of Farmers
The redesigned Farmers.gov website showcased an updated design based on user requirements which were developed through our team's research, and direction from members of the FDA who wanted to emphasize ease of use for a younger user base. Over twelve straight hours teams conducted user research and analysis, used expert usability testing methods, and created a working prototype of our vision for the future: results and our prototype were presented at the end of the sprint to a group of judges from the FDA, MetroStar Systems, and George Mason University.
Know Your User:
Subject Matter Expert Interviews
Persona Creation
Know Your Product:
Concept Mapping
Usability Testing
Design & Test:
Prototyping
A full list of methods used for this project includes: concept mapping, persona creation, subject matter expert interviews, user-testing, sticky note brainstorming, dot voting exercise, and prototyping.
Full Project Details Below
Overview
The Challenge
Usabilithon 2019 was sponsored by MetroStar Systems® and the United States Department of Agriculture and presented teams with the challenge to solve hack-a-thon style, with the competition taking place over 12 consecutive hours. The challenge was to design an interface that both new and existing farmers can use to browse, view, and consume information specific to them to make better informed decisions about how to manage their day-to-day operations and increase the long-term viability of their farms. Additionally, the proposed solutions should be customizable to the farmer's specific location.
My Role
I worked on a team of five students through several stages of the development process. My primary focus was on user analysis, concept mapping, prototype development, and creating our final presentation for the judges.
Tools
Figma, Balsamiq
Methods
SME Interviews, Personas, Concept Mapping, User-Testing, Prototyping
Our Team's Approach
Our team began the development process by speaking to staff of the United States Department of Agriculture, and some of the designers of the old Farmers.gov website to better understand their goals for the redesigned service.
Usabilithon2019.pdf