Metajua accelerates innovation in Agri supply chain management and traceability in rural Africa through a cloud based traceability platform. This project shows my ability to turn complex technical requirements into elegant, intuitive solutions. Also, my ability to design end-to-end user interaction including the full branding and marketing concepts.
I was the lead UX/UI designer for Metajua’s agri-supply chain traceability web application.
My direct contributions
- User Research
- UX/UI
- Conceptual frameworks, wireframes, flows, data visualizations, prototypes and responsive UIs
- Led design sprints alongside development sprints within an agile framework to deliver working software modules.
- Design system
- Brand Identity
- Marketing Design
What problem are we solving?
In the southern hemisphere large Agri businesses, SMEs and Cooperatives work with thousands of smallholder farmers. With micro-production, tough rural supply chains, and outdated, bulky documentation, Agri industries lack a tool that gives them a permanent 24/7 snapshot into what’s happening along their supply chain.
Metajua web application is a simple and cost-effective digital platform designed for Agri supply chain traceability, replacing paper forms, receipts and outdated reporting tools in Africa.
A web application allows agri-business organizations to trace real-time the activity in the field and gain visibility of the different stages of the supply chain.
An android mobile application is used by the field staff of the organizations to collect and input field data that is predetermined by the administrator – such as registration of farmer data.
Understanding how data collection and the supply chain work
My initial research focused on understanding the design case, the target users and how the Agri supply chain works in the given context. Engaging with my client, the key stakeholders and target users for the product. Specifically, I aimed to understand what the solution was designed to do exactly, how the data is collected, stored and used at different stages. I visited key locations that make up the target user’s supply chain and spent time familiarizing myself with how things work. From smallholder farms, collection points, bulking centers, co-operatives, processing plants and exporters.
Mapping out the solution
Out of the field my work focused on funneling the research findings and functional requirements outlined by the product owner into the design language and interface design.
It was time to map out visually and understand how the mobile application and the web application worked together as one system to achieve the desired functions. During this stage I worked on the first system flows together with the developers and as we refined these, I would later translate them into wireframes and eventually high-fidelity prototypes.
We worked towards building a shared understanding of the system and users through frequent in person co-design and quick and easy design iterations.
The end product
We used a Sprint methodology for our design and development cycles. I worked hand-in-hand with developers to deliver specific components/modules of the app at fast intervals and we tested these with real users. From a comprehensive app onboarding to report templates and vibrant dashboards. User feedback informed our design iterations.
I also designed the brand identity, a design system for the apps, various marketing materials and campaigns and a website to promote the new SaaS product to partners and clients.
Metajua is currently used by organizations across Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Madagascar and West Africa with over 50,000 farmers registered in the platform. To date I continue to work as lead UX/UI designer for Metajua, providing designs for extended modules and evolving and maintaining the design system.
Final Screens
Marketing Designs
What the Client Says
The team at Hybrid, led by Isabella Tustanovska are really great to work with! Their design process is inclusive, bringing both the client and end user into the process of co-creation. Their flexibility and consideration of the technical constraints in the software development environment made it easy for us to collaborate and iterate easily.
I can say that they truly transformed our brand and the application to a much more user friendly and intuitive product that has passed usability testing and we get great feedback on by our users in the Agri-sector. We have an active collaboration with Hybrid, and I highly recommend them for any of your strategic design needs.
Charles Angebault, Managing Director, Metajua (U) Ltd.