Summary
Designing a People-First system from research for the ethical rearing, farming, and delivery of livestock and the meats therefrom
Description & Timeline
- Researched grocery stores' inner-workings and supply chains, modern farming, and the slaughter of animals for consumption
- Designed a brand to convey and promote ethical animal rearing, slaughtering, and more in the aim to be fair for everyone from farmers to consumers
Problem
To design a system to promote all parties involved in the raising and consumption of meat. Organic foods while popular are still victim to profit margins and capitalist drive. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but all things in excess or at too maximum of an efficiency can be bad. Similarly, some farms have fallen into a cycle of making little to no profit and producing lower quality meat to the gain of the meat industry. And, lastly, the debate of animal suffering in slaughter.
Strategy
Researching, studying and surveying animals, farms, interviewing farmers, and visiting, observing grocery stores, with consent, and communicating with their management to better understand the problem at hand; and, to create an inclusive solution.
Challenges
One of the initial challenges I faced is how I could design a system that would have the most impact and convey a message of mutual growth and promotion of all parties.
Response
By making the decision to innovate to solve more problems rather than what may make money quicker and understand which problems to solve and create solutions for diversity through research. This style of investment thinking inspired me to create the hierarchies of innovation and problem solving as part of an article I am writing on human-centered UX strategy. These hierarchies help inspect the impact one's innovation will have and determine what needs to be done for a larger or more focused impact. Where a more focused impact will be more viable sooner, but a broader impact; which takes more investment, will be more viable over time.
Solution
I designed a system to stand for a higher standard of/for animal-involved industries. Other considered options included a social network between customers and farmers or a standard by which the internet of things can operate. The final result is Est, a meat brand standing for ethical practice of animal raising, slaughter, and distribution—promoting and profiting all the people involved through human-centeredness, quality, and values.
