Conducting User Research for a Local Farm’s New Website
Background
A local hobby farm reached out for support in designing a website from scratch. The farm specializes in raising Shetland sheep for small-scale meat and wool production, while also sharing their countryside journey with friends, visitors, and supporters. The website aims to serve as a hub for staying connected, telling their story, and gradually expanding their online presence as the farm grows. With this direction in mind, I began the project by conducting user research to inform the design process. This page focuses on the research phase—if you’d like to explore the website design process, you can view that work here:
Disclaimer! This project is currently ongoing and will be updated throughout
User Research Plan
To inform the design of the farm’s website, I developed a multi-step user research plan. This includes interviews with the farm owners and the sheep owner to understand their goals, priorities, and vision for the site. I will also gather insights from farm visitors through a short survey to learn what information and features are most valuable to them. Additionally, I will conduct competitor and inspiration research, reviewing other farm and lifestyle websites to identify effective design patterns, content strategies, and user experiences that could be adapted for this project.
As I keep updating this page, enjoy these lambs in the meantime :)
