Case study · Concept · Direct-from-farm produce platform

Local Host

A concept that lets farmers sell produce straight to customers and keep a fairer share.

The customer: Independent farmers and growers wanting fairer margins and more control over sales
Team: Solo designer and researcher
Skills: Product design (end-to-end)
Concept development
Customer research
Rapid prototyping

The problem

Australia’s farmers lose margin to the major supermarkets and middlemen, with few ways to sell directly to customers.

01Defined a two-sided model: an app for customers to buy direct, and a dashboard for farmers to manage produce.
02Spoke with farmers about adoption barriers, pricing and their current workflows.
03Prototyped the farmer dashboard to manage harvest cycles, inventory and orders.

Farmers showed strong interest but raised concerns about logistics and steady demand, pointing to where the business model needs work next.

Farmer logs in and reviews what needs to be prioritised today: tasks, productivity and costs.
Sees what produce is growing, harvested or ready to dispatch. A real-time snapshot of the harvest cycle shows which items are ready to move into orders.
Manages pending orders in one place: who’s buying what, order value, and what’s left to do before dispatch.
Completes orders and keeps in touch with buyers. Produce is sold and shipped efficiently; communication stays transparent and logged.
Reviews profits on the revenue dashboard and plans the next cycle. Knowing profitability and resource efficiency helps them plan better.

Example journey flow.

The concept has emotional pull and social value, but needs deeper testing to prove it can run day to day.