Grassy Pastures
Project Overview
My Role
Grassy Pastures ™ is a mobile phone app for health-conscious individuals and families. This application utilizes the power of your smartphone’s GPS system to connect you with local butcher-shops and small businesses that sell Organic, Hormone & Antibiotic-Free, 100% Grass-Fed Beef.
Idea, UX/UI, Research
Project Duration
2 weeks
Target Audience
18-60 years old
Tools
Figma, Adobe Illustrator
The Problem
58.6% of Americans buy their groceries online, 61% of the Americans that buy their groceries online buy beef products, and only 4% of that beef is 100% grass-fed USA beef. True American farming is dying. Industrial agriculture is not sustainable, and let's be honest... lab-grown meat is a little unsettling.
The Solution
Grassy Pastures has taken all of the guesswork out of buying beef. Grassy Pastures’ innovative software allows you to source organic, hormone & antibiotic-free, 100% grass-fed beef for you and your family with ease. Enter your zip code to be matched with local butcher shops, grocers, and wholesale farms that can get you what you need, any day of the week. Once you allow the app to use your location, you will be able to find directions to the store of your choice, save and share your favorite local markets, and read and leave reviews. No more waiting for your meat delivery service to arrive, wondering how on earth will it be preserved, or where the heck it came from. Happy, healthy, humanely-raised beef.
Design Process
Empathize
- User Research
- Competitor Analysis
Define
- User Personas
- Empathy Maps
Ideate
- User Flow
- Journey Map
- Info. Architecture
- Wireframes
Design
_ Typography
- Colors
- Illustrations
- Branding
- Prototyping
User Research
In order for me to conduct my user research I surveyed as many people as I could outside of local grocery stores and markets.
I asked them the following questions
Question 1: "How often do you eat beef?"
a. very often ( 3-4x per week )
b. often ( 1-2x per week )
c. sometimes ( < 1x per week )
d. rarely ( < 2x per month )
Question 2: "Do you struggle to find 100% grass-fed beef in stores?"
a. yes
b. no
c. sometimes
Question 3: "Do you ever worry about hidden hormones and antibiotics in the food that you are eating?"
a. yes
b. no
Question 4: "Would you use an app that helped you find healthy, humanely raised beef locally?"
a. yes
b. no
Competitor Analysis
The main competition for Grassy Pastures is other grocery stores, and online meat delivery services. The most popular meat delivery services right now are Butcher Box, Good Chop, Omaha Steaks, and Snake River Farms.
Although these delivery services all offer grass-fed beef, only 3 source their beef from American farms, only 2 offer 100% grass-fed and finished beef, and only 1 offers completely hormone free meat.
Wild Pastures sources their beef from sustainable, regenerative farms. All of their beef is 100% grass-fed but they do not state that they are also hormone and antibiotic free.
Good Chop sources their beef from the United States and it is 100% grass-fed, but not hormone and antibiotic free.
Butcher Box sources their beef from Australia and New Zealand, but it is 100% grass-fed and hormone/antibiotic free.
Snake River Farms sources their beef from the United States but do not offer 100% grass-fed beef. The beef that they offer is corn-finished and the cows have been treated with hormones and antibiotics during their lifetime.
Many users have left reviews stating that their meat had defrosted in transit or had tears in the product packaging, causing them to worry about contamination and bacteria, wasting the food and canceling their subscription services.
Insights
My user research started by interviewing friends, family, and peers. I also read various articles on industrial agriculture, grass-fed beef vs. corn-fed beef, sustainable cattle farming, and e-commerce meat suppliers.
I started this project because my family and I were personally struggling to find grass-fed, hormone free, antibiotic free, sustainably raised beef. We felt that the beef we were buying at supermarkets lacked in flavor and nutrients; it tasted funny and our bodies did not digest it well. When we switched to eating 100% grass-fed and finished beef from local ranches while we were living in Texas, there was no denying that the meat we were eating before was of low quality. When we first moved to Colorado we found ourselves leaving most butcher shops and markets empty handed because a lot of the locally raised cattle is grass-fed, but corn-finished for extra fat marbling. We tried it, but it simply lacked flavor. Plus, it just did't feel right knowing that the beef was likely coming from industrial farms.
After stopping people at our nearby grocery stores I realized that a lot of people struggle with the same problem, and end up ordering their meat online. But because of this they found themselves questioning the freshness and quality of the product that they were ordering even though it claimed to be everything they were looking for.
User Journey
User Personas
Because this app is targeted towards those who are going out and buying groceries on their own, our ideal user is aged between 18 and 65 years old. They live somewhere where they have access to grocery stores and farmers markets, and they prioritize eating healthy.
Alex
Age: 33
Education: PhD of Nutrition
Occupation: Metabolic Specialist
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Family: divorced, 2 sons
Alex is a Metabolic Specialist in Los Angeles. Alex is in his mid-thirties and living alone during the week, on the weekends his young sons come to stay with him. He is a metabolic specialist, and has always had a fondness for animals, but he can't go vegetarian due to dietary restrictions. When he eats beef, he prefers to know where it came from, and how it was cared for, but he finds it difficult to access this information at the supermarket or through online meat subscription services. On his daily commute home he often finds himself wishing that he had access to this information, and could shop from small butcher shops with confidence, this dad uses grassy pastures.
Paige
Age: 19
Education: Sophomore in college
Occupation: Psychology Student
Hometown: Provincetown, MA
Family: lives with 2 roommates
Paige is a student at the University of Colorado - Boulder. Paige is an athlete, and so are her two roommates. Recently they have been having trouble purchasing beef from their local supermarket because they are learning about the industrial agriculture industry in the USA and want to support family farms instead. She uses grassy pastures to find local butcher shops, and support small farms.
Melissa
Age: 62
Education: MSW (Masters of Social Work)
Occupation: Therapist
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Family: Husband, 1 Cat
Melissa is a Therapist who works with young adults in Seattle, Washington. She typically does her grocery shopping at their Local Safeway but recently has been unimpressed by the meat selection, seeing graying meat and wondering how long it has been sitting in the case for. She has recently been trying to improve her and her husband's health by avoiding meat that is grain-fed with added dyes, hormones, or antibiotics.
User Flow
Design
While designing the museum talk interface I went through many different iterations of wireframes before deciding on one to move forward with for the initial prototype. I explored different GPS Navigation apps and online food delivery apps, studying their UI. I decided to keep all main elements of the app simple enough for all ages to navigate, but I added some themed icons to make the interface stand out and to keep the user engaged.
When iterating my initial wireframes I knew that I wanted the map interface to be sleek and minimal but I wanted the icons to be unique and specific to the brand identity. I wanted navigation buttons on the bottom of the screen to be there if you need them, but not to be the center of attention.
After deciding on my final wireframes and user flow, I got to designing! I first began with the main map page, and after that got started on the branding. I wanted the app to feel nature inspired and used colors that are typically found on a farm. I played around with a minimalistic and modern design before diving head first into the logo that you see on the app. I made various logo designs and ended up settling on a set that can be used for different merch or socials. I really leaned into the cattle idea and made the letters "GP" look like a brand.
Final Screens
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Summary
This is a project that I completed during my Google UX Professional certification. Ideal next steps would be to connect with local stores in my area, verify that their meat has been raised in a healthy and sustainable way, and then develop and launch the app.
Thank you!
Thank you so much for your time and support! xo