Raíz

Self-Initiated Conceptual Project

Mobile App

Project Overview

Raíz is a mobile marketplace connecting El Bierzo's local farmers directly with urban consumers, transforming a fragmented regional food system into a thriving direct-to-consumer platform. The app eliminates the 45-65% retail markup forcing residents to choose between expensive local products or imported alternatives, while simultaneously increasing farmer revenue from 18-25% to 75% of retail value.

Through producer verification badges, seasonal intelligence features, and dual-sided interfaces optimized for both tech-savvy urbanites and elderly farmers, Raíz makes local agricultural abundance accessible year-round.

Role

Solo UX/UI Designer

Tools

Figma, FigJam, Claude

Skills Demonstrated

Information Architecture
Mobile-First Interaction
User Research
Visual Design & Brand Identity
Systems Thinking

The Challenge

El Bierzo residents who value local food traditions are forced to pay 45-65% retail markups for local products because traditional market operations limit access to just 3 days per week during working hours— when 73% of residents can't attend. Meanwhile, the region's 2,400+ small-scale farmers receive only 18-25% of final retail prices despite producing high-quality seasonal products. They spend 12+ hours weekly at physical markets reaching just 150-300 customers, making their operations financially unsustainable. Local seasonal abundance goes unsold while consumers unknowingly buy imported alternatives at supermarkets.

The Solution

I designed Raíz as a mobile marketplace connecting El Bierzo's local farmers directly with urban consumers through a delivery platform optimized for seasonal agriculture. The solution introduces three core innovations:

Producer Verification System: Trust badges, farm profiles, and transparent sourcing information help urban consumers verify authenticity and build confidence in local purchasing. Every producer shows their farm location, production methods, and customer reviews— making "local" verifiable, not just a marketing claim.

Seasonal Intelligence: Rather than hiding out-of-season products, Raíz educates consumers about availability windows through contextual notifications ("Cherries available June-July") and "Coming Soon" indicators. This rebuilds seasonal awareness lost in modern supermarket shopping where everything appears available year-round.

Competitive Landscape

Strategic Takeaways:

I analyzed four platform types across five criteria: local focus, farmer support, user experience, trust mechanisms, and delivery infrastructure.

1. No Platform Serves Regional Local Food Systems
National platforms (Freshly, Amazon Fresh) optimize for scale and logistics but ignore regional agricultural traditions. Local platforms (farmers market websites) provide directories but lack e-commerce functionality. No platform bridges this gap—enabling local discovery with modern shopping convenience.

2. Two-Sided Marketplaces Require Balanced Value
Successful platforms (Etsy, Airbnb) serve both sides equally. Food marketplaces often optimize for consumer convenience while adding complexity for producers. Raíz must provide equal value: consumers get fresh local products; farmers get expanded market access with simple tools.

3. Trust Mechanisms Make or Break Local Food Platforms
Without verified sourcing, consumers default to supermarkets with known brands. Successful local platforms build trust through transparent producer profiles (farm location, methods, reviews) rather than generic "local" marketing claims.

4. Seasonal Intelligence Differentiates from Generic Grocery
Supermarkets hide seasonality (everything available year-round via imports). Farmers markets assume knowledge ("everyone knows tomatoes are summer"). Raíz can differentiate by educating urban consumers about harvest windows, building anticipation for seasonal products rather than frustration at unavailability.

The Opportunity: Create the first platform purpose-built for regional local food systems—balancing modern UX expectations with agricultural realities, consumer convenience with farmer simplicity, and scale efficiency
with local authenticity.

I analyzed four platform types across five criteria: local focus, farmer support, user experience, trust mechanisms, and delivery infrastructure.

Problem Statement

El Bierzo's local food system operates inefficiently because there's no platform connecting the region's 2,400+ agricultural operations with 127,000 residents who prefer local sourcing.

Traditional farmers markets operate only 3 days per week during working hours (when 73% of residents can't attend), forcing consumers to pay 45-65% retail markups at supermarkets while farmers receive only 18-25% of final retail value and reach just 150-300 weekly customers—making small-scale agriculture financially unsustainable while local seasonal abundance goes unsold.

Information Architecture

I structured Raíz as a dual-sided marketplace serving distinct user needs through separate optimized interfaces. Consumers prioritize discovery and convenience. Farmers prioritize simplified order management without overwhelming complexity.

My initial approach tried creating one app with consumer/producer toggle. But through research, I learned these user groups have fundamentally different contexts, goals, and technical comfort levels.

The solution: distinct optimized experiences rather than compromised shared interface

Consumer Side Architecture:

Home prioritizes location-based discovery showing producers within 30km radius and seasonal highlights for current harvest window. Users see what's available now from nearby farms, not infinite scrolling through out-of-season
products.

Category-first navigation (Huevos y Lácteos, Carnes y Pescados, Frutas y Verduras) matches how people think about meal planning—by ingredient type, not by farm. This differs from farmers market mental model (browse by vendor) but aligns with familiar grocery shopping behavior.

Producer profiles accessible from product listings building relationship and trust. Every product shows farmer's face, farm location, production methods. Users can explore full farm catalog or stay focused on specific product, progressive disclosure supports both behaviors.

Seasonal indicators educate without restricting. When products aren't available, show "Coming Soon: June-August" with notification signup. Build anticipation for harvest rather than forcing users to imported alternatives.

My initial approach tried creating one app with consumer/producer toggle. But through research, I learned these user groups have fundamentally different contexts, goals, and technical comfort levels.

The solution: distinct optimized experiences rather than compromised shared interface

Consumer Side Architecture:

Visual Design System

Raíz needed to feel alive and natural—celebrating agricultural abundance without appearing rustic or dated. The brand bridges traditional food culture with modern convenience, making local food feel both authentic and accessible.

Design Challenge: Appeal to urban professionals expecting polished contemporary interfaces while resonating with farmers who value authenticity over slickness. Feel modern without feeling corporate. Celebrate tradition without feeling nostalgic.

Rather than stock photography (which feels sterile and generic), I created custom produce illustrations (vegetables, eggs, milk, meat, olive oil) providing visual warmth and category recognition while avoiding the cold perfection of commercial food photography.

Wireframe Evolution

High Fidelity Designs

Home screen prioritizing location-based discovery with seasonal highlights and nearby producer recommendations. Category navigation (Frutas y Verduras, Huevos y Lácteos, Carnes y Pescados) matches meal planning mental models. Seasonal banner educates about current harvest window ("Spring vegetables now available"). Design balances exploration (browsing categories) with efficiency (quick search access).

Producer profile showcasing farm credentials, available products, delivery methods, and customer reviews. Profile photo humanizes the farmer (not corporate logo). Farm location shown with distance from user. Production methods transparently listed (free-range, organic practices). "About the Farm" section tells story connecting consumers to agricultural traditions. Design builds relationship and trust through transparency.

What I Learned

This project fundamentally changed how I approach marketplace and systems design, teaching me lessons about serving opposing user needs, trust design, and the intersection of tradition with technology.

Learning 1: Designing for Opposing User Needs Requires Empathy, Not Compromise

When I started designing Raíz, I assumed I'd need to compromise between consumer expectations (sleek, fast, feature-rich) and farmer capabilities (simple, guided, minimal complexity). But through the design process, I learned that good dual-
sided marketplace design doesn't split the difference—it creates distinct optimized experiences for each user type that serve their specific contexts.

Learning 2: Trust Design Requires Evidence, Not Persuasion

Initially, I thought building trust meant writing compelling copy about quality, safety, and local sourcing—"Our farmers care about quality!" and "Verified local products!" But through competitive analysis and user research, I learned that trust comes from evidence-based design, not persuasive marketing.

The breakthrough came from analyzing why users trusted certain platforms over others. They didn't trust based on claims—they trusted based on verifiable evidence. Airbnb works because you see the host's face, read reviews from past guests, and view actual apartment photos. Etsy works because you see the maker's story, production process, and customer experiences.

For Raíz, trust isn't built by saying "local quality products"—it's built by showing Miguel's face, his farm location on a map, his production methods (free-range chickens, organic feed), photos of his farm, and reviews from neighbors who've bought from him.

Learning 3: Seasonal Knowledge Needs Context, Not Education

Traditional seasonal eating knowledge passes through generations via direct experience, helping grandparents at harvest, cooking with available ingredients, understanding crop cycles through lived observation. Urban professionals lack
this experiential learning but don't need intellectual understanding, they need contextual nudges during decision-making.

The design challenge wasn't creating educational content about when tomatoes grow, it was integrating seasonal awareness at the moment of decision: "Tomatoes available June-September. Sign up for notification when harvest begins!"

This taught me that knowledge transmission in design isn't about information architecture placing educational content somewhere users can find it, it's about surfacing relevant knowledge exactly when users need it to make decisions.
Context drives learning more effectively than curriculum.

Learning 1: Designing for Opposing User Needs Requires Empathy, Not Compromise

Learning 2: Trust Design Requires Evidence, Not Persuasion

Learning 3: Seasonal Knowledge Needs Context, Not Education

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