My Role
UX Designer
Researcher
Business Analysis
Team
Duration
2 Designers
1 PM
1 Engineers
6 Months
Planting digital seeds in traditional farming to bring farmers into the 21st Century.
Overview
In collaboration with Microsoft Research (MSR), I led the design of Farmable — a platform connecting small farms with restaurants(30k+ stakeholders) through intuitive digital tools. By reimagining complex supply chain processes into simple workflows, we created a solution that addresses critical inefficiencies in the local food system.
Inefficient management costs farms an average of $12,000 per year.
Economic Losses
Small and medium farms drive local food system,
but outdated systems hold them back.
Local farms are the backbone of our food system, yet inefficiencies drain resources and limit growth. These structural barriers do more than slow operations—they drive massive waste across the food network, from unharvested crops to lost revenue. Without the right tools, farms remain stuck, unable to scale, adapt, or thrive.
PROBLEM
62% of farmers cite sales channel diversification as their top challenge.
Sales Channel Barriers
Through 1-on-1 interviews with farmers and restaurant owners, we discovered that many still rely on manual processes for procurement and inventory management, leading to inefficiencies and miscommunication.
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
Disconnected: how manual systems force farmers to choose between growing and selling.
💡 Manual Inventory Management → Farmers rely on paper notebooks, basic spreadsheets, or simply memory to track inventory.
💡 Lack of Data Insights → Without demand forecasting or automated stock updates, farmers operate reactively, limiting growth.
💡 Fragmented Communication → Multiple untracked messages across different channels lead to 5+ exchanges per order and 40% restaurant uncertainty
Pain Points Map
"I spend hours updating inventory, time I should be using to plan next season's crops."
"I waste countless hours contacting multiple farms just to confirm they have enough ingredients for service."
Arturo
(Farmer)
John
(Buyer)
Existing solutions fail small farmers with overly complex systems. With local food demand growing 48% over five years, there's a clear opportunity to create intuitive tools that strengthen the farm-to-table ecosystem
The need is clear—A streamlined digital platform could connect farmers and buyers
How might we create a farm management system that transforms manual record-keeping into strategic market connections—helping farmers grow their business, not just their crops.
Prioritizing farm reality over technological complexity
The wireframes illustrate the Farmable MVP, focusing on essential features to streamline farm-to-table operations. It includes:
Inventory Management /Order Management /Dashboard /Notification System
I conducted usability testing with 8 farmers of varying tech proficiency, measuring two critical metrics:
Task completion rate: Only 40% successfully completed inventory updates without assistance
Time efficiency: Users spent 3x longer than expected on basic tasks
Feedback Revealed three primary pain point:
Through multiple iterations, we refined Farmable’s inventory and order management experience by addressing key usability issues identified in testing.
Marketplace-Style Order Matching
Engineer Effort
Rationale
Creates a structured order flow but requires complex logistics and high user adoption.
User Impact
Timeline
Web App for Sales, Inventory & Order Management (Winner!)
Engineer Effort
Rationale
A centralized platform for farmers to sell, manage inventory, and process orders efficiently.
User Impact
Timeline
V2
Dashboard(Before)
Dashboard(After)
→
Order Page(Before)
Order Page(After)
→
V2-Inventory
V3-Inventory
If Farmers Can’t Use It, It Doesn’t Work—Go back to our user
User Think:
Difficult to track status
Limited stock visibility
No batch management
User Think:
Unclear Order Status
Lack of Prioritization
No Real-Time Inventory Visibility
User Think:
Difficult to Track Inventory Status
Limited Visibility on Stock Levels & Actions
Process
With limited time and engineering resources, I focused on balancing feasibility with impact. Our research revealed two viable paths forward—each with distinct tradeoffs for our technology-reluctant farmer audience.
Confusing navigation paths
Missing real-time stock visibility
Unclear inventory status indicators
What we changed
Easy listing management (+60% faster scanning)
Detailed product info (fewer inventory errors)
Batch tracking added
What we changed
Refined page structure
Enhanced order details (faster decision)
Clear fulfillment status (faster decision))
What we changed
Easy listing management
Detailed product info
Batch tracking (3 minutes saved per task)
Final Design
1️⃣ Onboarding & Registration
The registration process is quick and straightforward, ensuring farmers can start using Farmable with minimal effort.
2️⃣ Dashboard Overview
The dashboard serves as the central hub, giving farmers a clear snapshot of their inventory, orders, and urgent actions at a glance.
3️⃣ Inventory Management
Farmable simplifies inventory management with two-step efficiency, reducing manual effort for farmers.
4️⃣ Order Management
Farmable empowers farmers with advanced order filters for easier tracking and decision-making.
Highlights
Farm Philosophy Page: A dedicated section allows farmers to share their farming values, sustainability practices, and certifications—helping them build trust with buyers and stand out in the marketplace.
Highlights
The dashboard provides real-time order and stock insights, actionable notifications for low inventory and order confirmations, and quick access to inventory updates and order management.
Highlights
Farmers upload their produces once, with the system automatically saving them for future use, while restocking requires only quantity and price input, significantly simplifying the process.
Highlights
Farmers can filter and sort orders by buyer history, urgency, or size, while the system automatically checks inventory availability and provides a one-click option to contact buyers if stock is insufficient, streamlining order management.
Farmable: The ”Shopify“ of Local Food Networks
Farmable empowers small- medium farms with a Shopify-like system, streamlining inventory, orders, and sales to drive efficiency and growth. This section covers four key steps:
Impact
40% efficiency gain: Farmable is More Than Just a Tool—It’s a System-Level Solution
By liberating small and medium farmers from hours of weekly paperwork, we enable them to grow more produce or simply join their families for dinner—transforming livelihoods while strengthening local food systems.
Efficiency & Waste Reduction
↑
↑
+40%
80%
Efficiency improvement in farm management
Farmers willing to adopt the platform
Business Opportunity & Market Potential
Untapped Market Demand
Microsoft Research, has expressed strong satisfaction with our findings
Existing solutions fail to support our target users
Endorsed by Our Sponsor
Ecosystem-Level Change
20%
Enhancing community resilience and food security
Projected 20% reduction in food waste
More reliable networks
↓
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