Digishop App
Digishop App is a one-stop online platform that connects smallholder farmers to quality inputs, services, and information.
Revolutionizing Rural Africa by enabling farmers to increase their farm productivity, sustain their farm and their household income.
Tools
What The App has Achieved so far
The App has had tremendous success in terms of user experience efficiency, serving farmers in the rural areas and raising growth at shamba pride by raising over 1 million US dollars for expansion and scale.
Here are some of the stats for the achievements so far.
1,000,000 + USD
10,000 +
210+
3000+
My Role
Lead UI/UX Designer
User Research
Prototyping
Stakeholder Engagement
Background Story
Agriculture is the primary source of income for most of the families in the African Village. Many farmers in the rural areas need assistance getting good quality seeds and inputs to increase their yields. They need to gain modern farming techniques and most importantly they need direct access to markets for their produce. Unfortunately, farmers have limited knowledge and still utilize outdated methods.
As a result, crop yields are declining, and many families struggle to make ends meet. Lack of investment in the agricultural sector makes it difficult for farmers to compete with larger, more established farms in nearby.
Occasional droughts and other natural disasters make farming more challenging. Lack of infrastructure makes it difficult for farmers to recover from this shock. The number of workers in villages is significantly declining.
Discovering The Problem
Rural distribution of agriculture inputs, services, and information is informal, poor and inefficient trapping farming families in cycle of poor farm productivity and poverty. While there are many innovations and technologies around agriculture inputs and services, they remain poorly accessible to rural farmers who need them most. It is evident that most farmers in rural Africa do not have access to quality farm inputs and access to markets.
What the Platform Aims to Accomplish
Digishop App is a one-stop online platform that connects smallholder farmers to quality inputs, services, and information.Through the APP, existing last-mile agro dealer entrepreneurs are able to digitalize their operations and provide smallholder farmers with right and affordable technology, quality products and services.
The model establishes a network of smart micro-entrepreneurs serving the smallholder farmer community, allowing farmers to increase their farm productivity, sustain their employment and their household income.
Establishing User Needs
I and the team developed a point of view statement based on the insights and data gathered from the users. It is a concise statement that captures the user’s needs and the problem that needs to be solved.
Access to good quality seeds and inputs
Access to market
Quality Support and Information
Modern and Efficient equipment
Access to affordable and reliable labor and farm hands
The Design Process that we adhered to
Our approach to problem-solving involves following the various steps of the design thinking process, which enables us to provide solution-based outcomes. A well-defined process is essential for the successful implementation of any plan. Hence, we would like to share our design process with you.
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Understanding the User: Qualitative Research
In the agricultural sector of the village, it is clear that majority of people do not get good quality fam inputs for cultivation or cannot take proper care of them. Furthermore, farmers are having a difficult time accessing markets, and when they do there are middle men who take up parts of their profits.
Interview Questions:
I usually source around from local markets and shops which sometimes are inadequate and expensive
I usually set aside some of the crop seeds from my harvest. Later try to collect seeds from here.
Yes I am very willing to sell my produce because it will generate extra income for me and my family
No, I don’t have enough equipment for my cultivation.
Yes, it is a blessing for our farmers to get low-priced fertilizers.
Yes, I want, But I only have a little experience in modern farming
User Persona
To complete the project, we tried to get some feedback from users about their current experience. Their characteristics and the main insights we got are based on the survey results.
Raymond Ombuni
Age: 55
Occupation: Farmer
Location: Kakamega County, Kenya
Crops: Maize, Beans, Crops (Mrenda)
Bio
Raymond Ombuni, a village farmer. He enjoys working hard in the field. He also prefers to stay current with agricultural information. He still uses traditional farming practices despite having access to technology to increase his harvests.
Pain Points
Goals & Needs
-Wants good machineries.
-Need quality seeds and seedlings.
-Want to buy seeds at a reasonable price.
-Wants access to direct market
-Want to learn updated info about agriculture.
Paul Mwamba
Age: 55
Occupation: Farmer
Location: Vihiga County, Kenya
Crops: Maize, Beans, Crops
Bio
Paul, a village farmer. He is a very hardworking person. But he doesn’t know the proper guideline about cultivation of crops. He is still use backdated machinery and doesn’t have good quality fertilizer.
Pain Points
Goals & Needs
-Want the best price for crops.
-Need updated cultivation process.
-Need crop disease solution and medicine.
-Updates on crop market prices so that he can sell at a better price.
Empathy Map
To complete the project, we tried to get some feedback from users about their current experience. Their characteristics and the main insights we got are based on the survey results.
Says
Inadequate number of shops is available.
Need proper cultivation guidelines. Rent machinery for harvesting
Thinks
How can I get more income profit?
What is the current price of my product?
Where I can learn all these?
Does
Price check for product in market.
Buy seeds, fertilizer, etc, from market.
Feels
Need to buy seeds and seedlings.
Unsure of the perfect time to cultivate crops?
Says
Need access to good quality seeds and seedlings.
Want to hire reliable labor and rent good equipment.
Need expert advice on crop diseases & management
Thinks
Affordable and reliable seed and seedling sources.
Trusted and skilled labor for farm work.
High-quality equipment and machinery for cultivation.
Does
Search online for agricultural solutions.
Visit nearby markets for seeds and seedlings.
Ask farmers for advice on crop diseases & solutions.
Feels
Frustration about good quality seeds and seedlings.
Worried about crop diseases and how to solve them.
Concerned about not having the proper machinery.
Solution
Most of farmer’s stumbling blocks can certainly be solved through an app or an online application. The same farmers can order quality seeds and inputs for their farms from anywhere in the country with the solution. Furthermore, farmers and agro-dealers can be linked directly into the market place improving their income capacity and profits.
The solution also gives farmers ability to locate and order inputs and fertilizers from the nearest physical Digishop making it immensely seamless process in terms of delivering the products.
In terms of labor, the solution also allows farmers to identify and hire reliable farm hands and workers that are located near the farm. Lastly it successfully allows farmers to get quality consultancy services and rent farm equipment and machinery.
The Main features
After deliberation and analyzing the user needs, we settled to have these features to be the face of the application. Although the app has other functions and sections , these are the most important features according to the data analysis.
Access to inputs and Fertilizer
Find the Nearest Digishop
Access to market
Rent Machinery
Request Expert Advice
Hire a Worker
Comperitor Analysis
Information Architecture
User Flow
Low Fidelity Wireframes
Mid Fidelity Wireframes
Style Guide
Onboarding Screens
More Screens
Prototype
