🌱 From Seed to Market: Leading the Development of Cubeseed — A Platform Empowering West African Farmers
Role: UX/UI Designer
Duration: 2 months
Platform: Mobile (Android-first)
Live Site: cubeseed.com.ng
🚧 The Challenge
Small-scale farmers in West Africa often face:
Dependence on intermediaries reducing their profits
Limited access to buyers, tools, and reliable market information
Insufficient financial and educational support
Cubeseed aimed to create a mobile-first platform connecting farmers directly with buyers, investors, and resources, thereby transforming the agricultural ecosystem.
🧠 My Approach
While my primary role was UX/UI design, I took on additional responsibilities to ensure project success:
Stakeholder Alignment: Coordinated with cross-functional teams to align on project goals and timelines.
Feature Prioritization: Collaborated with stakeholders to prioritize features based on user needs and business objectives.
Risk Management: Identified potential risks in user adoption and proposed mitigation strategies.
🔍 Research & Strategy
To inform our design and development process:
User Interviews: Conducted interviews with farmers and agri-cooperatives to understand their challenges and needs.
Market Analysis: Reviewed existing agri-tech solutions to identify gaps and opportunities.
User Journey Mapping: Mapped the typical farming lifecycle to guide feature development and user flows.
🛠 Design & Implementation
Led the design and prototyping of key app features in Figma:
Farmer Dashboard: An intuitive interface displaying tasks, updates, and metrics.
Marketplace Integration: A platform for direct access to buyers with filtering and search capabilities.
Learning Hub: Modular learning cards offering quick tips, tutorials, and certifications.
Investment Portal: Profiles for farmers to attract backers and microinvestors.
Messaging Tools: In-app chat to facilitate collaboration across the agri-network.
Resource Finder: A tool to help farmers locate inputs, equipment rentals, and nearby services.
🧪 Testing & Iteration
To ensure usability and accessibility:
Prototyping: Developed interactive prototypes for testing.
User Testing: Conducted sessions with farmers, translators, and stakeholders to gather feedback.
Iteration: Refined designs based on feedback, focusing on simplifying language and improving icon clarity.
Accessibility: Ensured high-contrast UI, large touch targets, and audio hints for better user experience.
📈 Outcome
The platform successfully:
Reduced reliance on intermediaries, increasing farmers’ profits.
Enhanced market access for small-scale farmers.
Received positive feedback from users, highlighting the platform’s ease of use and relevance to their needs.
🔄 Reflection
This project allowed me to blend design execution with project management:
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Worked closely with various teams to ensure project alignment.
Strategic Planning: Developed strategies to align features with real-life workflows and business goals.
Performance Metrics: Considered key performance indicators such as user adoption and transaction rates.
💡 Future Considerations
If I were to continue in a project management role:
Define KPIs Early: Establish clear metrics to measure success, such as the percentage of farmers completing their first transaction.
Localized Onboarding: Develop region-specific onboarding paths based on crop types and locations.
Phased Launch: Implement a staged rollout to gather localized feedback and iterate accordingly.