Price Transparency
The Price Transparency project aims to improve the way agricultural product prices are evaluated by providing comprehensive, transparent, and user-friendly pricing information.
Company: Farmers Business Network
My Role: Lead Designer
Timeline: 2 Months (2024)
Responsibilities: Design Direction
Data Visualization
UX & UI Design
Prototyping
Research
By addressing current challenges and incorporating user feedback, the project seeks to empower farmers with the tools they need to make informed purchasing decisions.
My Role
Throughout my career as a designer, I've held a deep fascination for data visualizations. Working on a project that allowed me to delve into this passion has long been a dream of mine. As a visually-oriented individual, I understand the immense value of presenting data through graphs rather than tables or spreadsheets.
The Price Transparency component has been a longstanding feature on the FBN website, cherished by farmers for its utility and insight. However, it had been somewhat overlooked in recent years. When the decision was made to redesign it to accommodate more data and better reflect current market needs, I couldn't have been more thrilled to be assigned to the project.
To begin, I engaged with stakeholders, the product manager, data analysts, and backend engineers to gain a comprehensive understanding of the existing design's challenges. I also conducted competitor analysis and research to draw inspiration and identify industry best practices. Experimenting with various concepts and chart types, I aimed for the most intuitive and effective approach for conveying the desired information.
During the iterative design process, I gathered feedback from all parties involved to ensure alignment with project objectives. Additionally, I conducted research sessions with farmers and account executives to assess their comprehension and usability preferences. This collaborative approach allowed us to create a redesigned Price Transparency feature that not only meets the needs of our users but also enhances their overall experience.
What is the problem we are trying to solve?
Data Consolidation: Current solution of product transparency component requires navigating multiple product detail pages, hindering comprehensive analysis.
Price Trend Visibility: Users lack visibility into historical price trends, making it challenging to assess whether current prices are fair or competitive.
Timeline: Users are unable to evaluate the fairness of prices over different time periods, including historical, current, and market averages, leading to uncertainty in decision-making.
Primary Product Comparison: Users face difficulty in comparing prices of similar products due to the lack of a streamlined method for primary product comparison.
Lack of Data: There is insufficient data available for effective price analysis, hindering users from making informed decisions.
Who are our users?
Farmers, the heartbeat of our agricultural community.
Community Builders (CBs), independent sales contractors integral to the FBN ecosystem.
Account Executives (AEs) are pivotal in fostering strong client relationships.
Research & Design Exploration
I began this project by engaging with stakeholders, PMs, and data scientists to understand our objectives fully. The primary goal was to explore more effective ways of visualizing data compared to the existing Price Transparency graph. I conducted research and analyzed current data representations, identifying three potential formats: Dot chart, Bubble chart, and Bar chart. After creating mock-ups for each, we conducted a quick usability test with farmers and stakeholders, which revealed that the dot line chart was the most straightforward and effectively conveyed the information.
Refinement & Platform Compatibility
With the dot chart selected as the optimal format, the next step was to refine and adapt it for multiple platforms—ensuring clear, consistent readability across mobile, tablet (both portrait and landscape), and desktop views. I iterated on layout, spacing, and data density to maintain usability without losing information. Additionally, I verified that all essential chart elements, such as labels, legends, and interactive features, were easily accessible and functional across devices, creating a cohesive experience for users regardless of how they access the data.
Expanding the User Experience Flow
This project extended beyond the graph itself, requiring a comprehensive design for related user flows. We aimed to display the Price Transparency graph exclusively to FBN members, while encouraging non-members to register and upload invoices from non-FBN purchases to enrich our data.
I developed solutions for multiple user scenarios, such as non-member views, FBN members with and without recent invoice uploads, the upload process, handling invalid invoices, and associated Admin tools. This broader approach ensured a seamless and consistent experience across all user interactions.
