Integrating user research into our approach was a critical aspect of our development process. Products and services often fail, not because of the technology itself but, because they are designed without proper consideration for the audience that will be using them. Companies sometimes come up with a "brilliant idea" and implement it without speaking to potential users, only later to be puzzled by its lack of adoption. User research focuses not on creating solutions but on defining problems. As Mike Kuniavsky, founding partner of user experience design firm Adaptive Path, puts best, "When you know what problems people have, you are much less likely to create solutions that address the wrong problem, or worse, no problem at all."

With this in mind, we set out to understand the problems faced by different participants in the food system, interviewing 47 people ranging from farmers to chefs to direct consumers (see the individual participant findings pages for more information about our interviewees). We chose to focus our interviews on small-scale farmers (i.e. farmers who operate direct marketing family farms and who do not grow Genetically Modified Organisms), retailers who source locally, and consumers interested in eating well. We believed that by focusing on this subset of people who were already interested in connecting with each other and working toward an improved food system, we would be able to create real solutions and eventually provide a space for a more extended community.

Consumers

We conducted interviews with 11 consumers. Most of our interviewees were from the Bay Area and they ranged in age from 23 to 37 years old. The majority of these interviews were face-to-face, conducted at a café but, due to logistical constraints, one of these interviews had to be conducted over the phone. We selected a mix of people including those who primarily shop at a farmers market, those who primarily shop at a grocery store, and those who subscribe to a CSA. We also tried to select both people who felt strongly about eating locally and people who had thought about it but may not have put that thought into action yet.
 
Consumers were asked to explore topics such as: purchasing and cooking food, the farmers market, communication with local producers, seasonality, “organic” and “local” labels, and use of technology.

Producers

We conducted interviews with 15 producers and 4 apprentices. Most of our interviewees were from Northern California and they ranged in age from 22 to 59 years old. The majority of these interviews were face-to-face, conducted at the producer’s farm or ranch but, due to logistical constraints, a few of these interviews had to be conducted over the phone. In order to select our producers we used a mixture of both snowball and theoretical sampling.
 
We began by interviewing some producers from our local farmers market, but then continued by selecting a broad range of producers to represent relevant groups across the possible space, making sure to talk with producers who grew different crops, used different distribution channels, lived in different areas, etc. We purposely sought out producers who may have held a different perspective than the ones we talked with previously, identifying people that could potentially counter our assumptions and attempting to “sample for innovation." For example, some producers had organic certification while others did not; some leased their land while others owned theirs. Additionally, we asked our interviewees to suggest potential people whom we could interview as well. This was especially helpful for finding apprentices since we were able to hear two sides of the same story from the view of both the apprentice and the producer. This method of snowball sampling was also helpful during our second round of interviews when we focused on new producers who were just starting out.

Producers were asked to explore topics such as: motivation, problems/challenges and success, communication with other producers, communication with customers, distribution channels,  “organic” and “local” labels, and use of technology.

Retailers

We conducted interviews with 18 retailers—9 people associated with restaurants, 4 people associated with stores, and 5 people associated with other types of retail channels such as wholesale and home delivery. Our interviewees ranged in age from 27 to 56 years old and in experience with less than a year to 31 years of experience working in their current position. All of the retailers were located in the Bay Area, primarily within San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. The interviews were face-to-face and most were conducted at the retailer’s place of business. Like with producers we also used theoretical sampling to select retailers.

We began by interviewing a few chefs known for their mission involving local food or awareness of food issues, but then continued by selecting a broad range of retailers to represent relevant groups across the possible space, making sure to talk with retailers who had varied levels of experience, serviced different types of customers, were located in different neighborhoods, etc. For example, one retailer was in the process of opening a new restaurant while others worked at restaurants that had been established for many years; some were well-known for their food blog and online presence while others used the Internet primarily for research.

Retailers were asked to explore topics such as: motivation, problems/challenges and success, ways, challenges, and benefits of sourcing locally, communication with producers, communication with other retailers, communication with customers, distribution channels,  “organic” and “local” labels, and use of technology.