Day 6: User Testing / Union Square Green Market

Davyhughes

I spent some time at the Union Square Green Market hanging out with Mr. Davy Hughes. Davy was kind enough to invite me into the Green Market Van to get away from the cold. He is one of the managers at Union Square Green Market (USGM) and he kindly took time to hangout and answer some questions I had about Boca Loca, the market, vendors, and consumers. He tested my user interface and gave me some feedback.

Comments: Really easy to use. He liked how it wasn't platform specific and is a simple web application. The click flow works like this --- login screen --> manifest of inventory --> add new or remove existing --> if add, choose product (vegetables, fruits, meats) --> choose type for product (ie. Fruit --> apple, orange, grapefruit) --> text input for variety --> submit

I was the 5th person that has come up to him to talk about a "green platform". He's really excited about my thesis and it's focus on recipes. None of the other applications out there are focused on developing and sharing recipes, instead, they are the run of the mill app that shows you whats available and where. Sure, it's good to know what's available, but knowing what to do with these items is pretty important too.

Davy felt that it was beneficial for another text field for the vendor to enter in a description for the product. he gave the example of the potato and how many different varieties there are and the different uses. I asked if he thought producers would use Boca Loca, if the producers had access to the internet on their phone. He said the farmers are about two years behind in technology but would definitely be interested in ways they can increase their bottom line. I've started to think of ways to entice vendors to sign up -- perhaps a YELP or ZAGAT style of rating system complete with some sort of "badge" they can post.

After meeting with Davy, I tested my interface with two more vendors, Bread Alone (worker), and D&J Organics (owner). Both had mobile web access and both found the interface easy to use. They didn't think of adding a description text field though. Good thinking Davy. My roommate (MFADT 2009) also tested my interface and thought it was easy to use. She added a pomegranate to the inventory.


The USGM is pretty sparse on Mondays and Davy suggested I come back Wednesday when there are more vendors. I'll be back on Wednesday. Either way, today was a "fruitful" day, no pun intended.