Neighborfood
Creating mutual benefits among homemade food sellers during COVID-19
Problem
Solution
Scope
Individual project for undergraduate thesis
Research skills
User interview, market research, target segmentation, user journey, benchmarking
Design skills
Concept design, wireframing, UI design, prototyping, branding & illustration
Duration
January - April 2021 (4 months)
01 Discover
The rise of selling homemade food
The Covid-19 situation has caused Thai people to seek second jobs due to the employment uncertainty. Data from the Bank of Thailand in 2020 indicated that more than 23% of the Thai population of working age between 18-59, or almost 1 in 4 of the country, had more than one job. One of these jobs with the highest growth was selling homemade food with the sellers' growth at 54% annually.
Homemade seller characteristics
From a secondary research and short user interviews, I found that homemade sellers have different characteristics from general shops or restaurants.
Target segmentation
The user research started by collecting data from a group of homemade food sellers who are the new generation aged 20-35 years old, which is the group with the highest growth rate. It is found that each seller had different cooking and selling styles.
User journey
Surveying the target group's behavior, both the sellers and the buyers of homemade food, through an online interview and further study helped me gain insights into activities.
I discovered the problems encountered, how existing products do not meet current needs, and solution opportunities. The User Journey could be divided into 6 main steps:
Pain points summary
02 Define
Target personas
By interviewing in-depth target audiences, the following characteristics of target sellers and buyers could be identified
Opportunities summary for sellers
Opportunity
Opportunity for sellers to learn by trial and error
Opportunity to receive guidance for business success
Area
Area for more exposure
Area to reach their actual customers
Customer
Customer based expansion
Customer acquisition with less effort
Benchmarking
Mapping competitors provides insights into current standards, identifies selling points, and highlights areas that could be improved. It appears that all the platforms do not promote mutual benefits among sellers and buyers. This could be a key factor in making the homemade food community sustainable in the long-term.
Problem statement
How might we enhance the experience of selling homemade food online to increase mutual benefits for both sellers and buyers?
03 Develop
Concept exploration
I started by exploring Chula Marketplace Facebook group, an online selling community started during COVID-19 with over 200,000 members within 7 months. I found that most shops sell only one type of food. For example, there were 89 shops that sold only bread, while there were also many shops that sold plain jam.
On the other hand, in the context of eating together in Thai style, there are also many shops that sell only noodles, fish balls, or dipping sauces.
These foods have a compatible eating culture. They are often eaten together and enhance each other's flavors.
"Then, what if we pair these shops together?"
I then came up with the shop pairing idea. I further explored the concept into 3 directions and tested with potential sellers and buyers.
Concept development
Paper prototype
App structure
Usability testing
Seller's side
Set up your products
Add your ingredients and food allergies information to help us inform users
Seller's side
New seller?
We help you find the best store to pair
The system help filter out a limited number of suitable stores as a starting point to increase the opportunity to expand customer base
Seller's side
If the store has been opened on the platform for a while and meet the criteria, they can select another store to pair
Buyer's side
Buyers can choose their preferences
Choose your favorite food categories, the data will be used for personalization
Buyer's side
Pair for you
Buyers can notice the store and pairing store immediately, knowing whether the open orders are almost full yet and any of their friends has ordered from this store
Buyer's side
Delivery alternatives
There is an additional sharing option, the delivery route is shared with others. which could save a lot on delivery cost and energy
Buyer and seller's side
Real-time order monitoring
In the cooking process, sellers can specify the status and time of each step, keep buyers informed and able to follow up on the current status
Buyer and seller's side
Extend selling
opportunities
Sellers can make trial and error by pairing with new stores to continually expand the customer base
What I learned
Need finding helps guide the direction
Understanding user needs, through various research methods, was a crucial step that helped me identify requirements and design solutions.
Problem solving skill is essential
I learned that good problem-solving skill is very important for designers, as they ensure that the solution solves the challenges and aligns with the user needs
Design for 2 different user groups
This project challenged me to think holistically when designing, considering both sellers' and buyers' needs, as well as their interactions.