2014 Team A_Ubi Farm

Team AUbiFarm

Team Instructor / Tsen-Yao Chang (Taiwan)

Facilitator / Ikea Lee (Taiwan)

Team members / Yao-Ting Hsieh (Taiwan)Shu-Ting Chuang (Taiwan)Veranika Lim (Netherlands)Whangjae Lee (Korea)Lim Zhi Ying (Singapore)

Final Projects 7170 Asian Smart Living International School Report. 2014 7170

　Background ExplorationThe current main problem with the Friendly Life Shop is a lack of income and human resources, so it can only help a few small-scale farmers in environmentally-friendly farming through the difficult start-up time. In the exploration process, the design team interviewed many stakeholders, including managers and staff at the Friendly Life Shop, small-scale farmers that are currently cooperating with the Shop, and small-scale farmers that have not cooperated with the Shop. After the interviews, the students found that, for the small-scale farmers that are currently cooperating with the Shop, the Shop is not their sole sales channel, and there was a lack of special irreplaceable value. In addition, the team also discovered that because the farmers are usually busy farming, the farmers that use conventional farming methods and the farmers that use environmentally

friendly farming methods do not have many chances to interact. Furthermore, small-scale farmers that are not members of the Shop believe the Shop is too far from their farms; they prefer to sell their produce by themselves or through other channels. The main challenges faced by the Friendly Life Shop are: 1) to increase customer volume and sales volume, in order to further increase the number of cooperating small-scale farmers; 2) to assist more local farmers to practice environmentally-friendly farming to fulfill the future needs of environmentally-friendly consumption; 3) to promote the values of environmentally-friendly farming and change the ecology of local mainstream conventional farming.

8

Figure 34 The Ubi Farm app design thinking process


　Design Target PositioningIn order to improve the above communication problems and increase the importance of the Shop, the design team proposed the design of an official website and the idea of an "Ubi Farm" app, in hopes of establishing an exchange platform between small-scale farmers and consumers, as well as among farmers, to improve the information transparency and create opportunities for exchanges. In other words, through exchanges and cooperation, there was a chance that the drastically different local farming methods, environmentally friendly farming and conventional farming, could find a common ground. In addition, it allows consumers to have a deeper realization of the value of environmentally friendly farming and environmental sustainability, and it also increases their willingness to consume at the Shop.

　Design DetailsThe Shop was first established to provide customers with safe, reasonably priced, environmentally-friendly produce, and to serve as a sales channel for local farmers willing to adopt environmentally-friendly farming methods. The Shop also hoped that this business model could be expanded to other areas in Taiwan in the future. In order to achieve the design purpose, the design team first defined two types of target groups: customers that purchase in the Shop and new small-scale farmers. The reason the customers visit the Shop is mostly to pursue healthier and more environmentally-friendly lifestyles. Consequently, the production process of the produce needs to be more transparent in order to increase the willingness of customers to revisit and promote the Shop. The new farmers hope to accumulate agricultural knowledge and to use farming methods that are better for the environment, but they lack experienced guidance to get them started.

In response to the challenges faced by the shop and the critical needs of target customers, after going through concept development, PEST implementation, and business model draft evaluations, the design team finally proposed the design concept of an Internet platform and the "Ubi Farm" app. Through the establishment of an Internet platform, the production information of the environmentally-friendly produce can be more transparent, which can serve as a bridge for farmers to exchange experiences. Furthermore, utilizing the location-based services of mobile devices, customers can instantly learn stories about local farmlands during their tours, to increase the depth of their experiences.


In the following, the service design content will be illustrated from the perspectives of customers and new farmers’ experience journeys. First, general customers can connect to the Shop website through the QR code found on product packaging at the physical store, allowing them to learn about the story behind the products and the services provided by the Friendly Life Shop. It also links to the download page for the "Ubi Farm" app. After logging on to the app, local customers can get information about different farmlands that they pass through, including produce farmed, the farming methods, expected harvest dates, the sales channels, etc. The local customers can establish emotional bonds with the farmlands more directly through this process; after grasping the idea of the production process, customers may increase their desire to choose environmentally-friendly agricultural products. In addition, when touring the farmlands, the app will automatically launch an "Environmentally Friendly Farming Quiz." If customers get enough correct answers, they can win Friendly Life Shop e-coupons that serve as a stimulus for customer to revisit the Shop.

New farmers, besides discussing environmentally-friendly farming techniques with farmers from different areas of expertise through the Shop's Internet platform, can also input the techniques they would like to learn during the app’s account registration process. Later on, if they pass by farmlands that practice related techniques or are framed by farmers who acquired the specific technology or knowledge the user is seeking, the app will automatically inform the users so they can get the chance to get acquainted with one another and exchange information. By consulting experienced farmers directly, new farmers can more quickly become stable producers of environmentally-friendly produce. The design team also hopes that learning farming knowledge can be a turning point for farmers to interact with one another and break the barrier between conventional farming methods and environmentally-friendly farming methods. With these methods, the initial goals of the Friendly Life Shop can be achieved.

Figure 36 The Ubi Farm app interface for travelersFigure 35 The Ubi Farm app interface for farmers