Festada

At the time of my involvement, Festada project was in a rough MVP version that consolidated the main requirements and use cases. My role as an UX and UI designer was to transform the main needs of the users into a solid foundation for ever-growing unique platform used in fairly unique environment.

During my work on the project, I was able to work with the main stakeholders of the project on information architecture, basic layouts and beginnings of the global visual style.

Tasks and goals

I started my work by getting to know the domain and data gathered previously by stakeholders. Process was accelerated by the fact that there was a strong documentation of interviews and surveys done with the customers. Founder of the project compiled an impressive amount of information related to the domain.

We distilled the data into the most important tasks and goals of our two main personas. Farmer, looking for an overview of the whole herd with the trends in particular datasets and also a Helper, more interested in the particular animals and data specific to them.

We also identified specific circumstances of the potential usage. Such as the environment of the farm where a lot of information needs to be accessed on the go. Clear navigation throughout the main parts of the application and elimination of unnecessary visual artefacts.

Information Architecture

We started the process by updating the information architecture. We used an open card sorting exercise where we tried to emphatize with our personas to create a clear and understandable sections of the application that would be later taken into account in new navigation structure.

Final version of information architecture was then created by validating the results of the card sorting with the personas and data gathered by the stakeholders. (Note: This exercise would most certainly created better results by doing it with real-world users however this was not an option.)

Sketching and wireframes

First ideation sketches of individual sections were done in quick brainstorming session and rapidly  validated inside the team. By sketching the proposed high-level solutions we were able to quickly iterate through the main ideas to the more solid foundation, which we subsequently transformed into digital wireframes. These were then validated with the wider audience.

Designs

After the wireframes were properly validated, my approach to design was to create a modular design system that could be easily used on current functionality set. I also aimed to create it to be easily expanded to cover future expansions of the application.

Elements of the system were designed to provide very clear readability, even in the sunlight of the farm environment. Affordances of the design were clearly distinguished by location, color, usage of icons and interactivity. I strived for unification of controls throughout the application to provide an easy navigation and quick completion of tasks.

Outcome and takeaways

Outcome of the project was an application with simple navigation corresponding with the information architecture. It has a unified look and feel based on a basic modular design system.

My takeaway is an interesting opportunity to work on an application intended for a very specific end user working in a very specific environment. It was certainly challenging to keep the unusual particulars of the personas in mind throughout the whole design process.

I believe we were able to create a great foundation for a start-up application that could be used to prove that its concept is sound. Festada application could once be used on farm throughout the Europe and perhaps even the world. I am glad I could be a part of it and hope to help it further in the future.