Overview: Inspired by the countless vacant lots and underutilized grassy acres around my hometown, I aimed to investigate (sub)urban land use patterns and community greening projects currently underway. St. Louis is the sixth most food-insecure city in the U.S., and I hoped to find innovative ways to amplify my neighbors' existing efforts to reclaim these unused spaces for food production or green restoration
Resolution: Enhancing food security through efficient greenspace use and local networks.Role: Product Planning & Research, Competitive & Comparative Analysis, User research, User Interviews, IA, Affinity, Empathy, Journey Mapping, User Personas | Task Analysis, User Flow , Wireframing /Prototyping, Guerilla, Moderated Testing, Data Analysis, Visual Design, Heuristics Evaluation, Usability Testing, Lo-fi & Hi-fi mockups
Challenges:
* This systemic problem is associated with deeply embedded inequities
* Changes in land use patterns will require a shift in cultural values and norms
* Multiple categories of products must be fused into one consistent architecture to fill this niche
* An independent designer could better explore possible solutions with support of a team
Objective
Increase access to healthy, locally sourced food. Many U.S. cities have unused land that could help address food insecurity. By managing resources better and promoting sustainability, we can engage communities to solve this issue and benefit both people and local wildlife. Spore would be the catalyst for this change.
Collaboration
Ujima Project
Feed the People Co-op
Missouri Coalition for the Environment
Saint Louis Botanical Garden
Feed the People Co-op
Missouri Coalition for the Environment
Saint Louis Botanical Garden
Exploratory Research
I delved into academic and governmental studies to guide my initial research. This led me to sharpen my focus, zeroing in on the critical intersection of Food Access and Land Management.
* The project focused on food security, highlighting land management as a key symptom of broader systemic issues.
* By leveraging data, we can promote sustainable cooperation, collective innovation. Small projects are beginning but require support to grow.
* A consensus amongst researchers is clear. Collecting data at city, state & federal levels can drive development.
* The lack of data presents challenges for individuals and businesses. The solution lies in improving access to sustainable resources, connections, recruitment, and collaboration.
The deficiencies are endemic to marginalized communities. As a person of color, I wanted to know what products were addressing this problem. The hidden potential became clear.
Competitive Research
Uraban Rake (Deceased), Twitter, MeetUp, Greenery, Facebook, Instagram, OpenPD
No company or utility covered all areas, except:
Educational, Eco-Centric, Social Venn Diagram
OpenPD specializes in plant health and advice only. OpenPD is also based in Europe.
A Budding Prototype
After conducting surveys and interviews, I distilled the key demographic findings into key personas to guide the design process.
Personas Deck
From there, I ran through possible solutions which morphed into wireframes/flows, validated and modified through multiple rounds of testing and elimination. You can find additional artifacts by following the link below.
Refining through Branding
I closely examined the gathered data and revisited project goals to plot a development trajectory with a solidified aesthetic. This brought the constraints and development process into focus
Spore Style Guide
Spore Style Guide
Outcome
BUILD, TEST, LEARN, REPEAT
Learnings
Consensus
Land management is a symptom of systematic issues to tackle. Researchers agree that gathering more data at city, state, and federal levels could support development efforts.
Access
A lack of data hinders both individuals and businesses. The problem is access to the exchange of sustainable material, connections, recruitment, and collaboration.
Potential
Scattered small projects are underway but need support to grow. Leverage this data for sustainable cooperation and collective innovation
