Designing for Urgency & Scale
Scaling a Grassroots Food Aid Network with UX, Research, and Rapid Development
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Farm Fresh Food Relief (FFFR) connected California farmers' unsold produce with families facing sudden food insecurity. As FFFR expanded from 200 weekly boxes to serving 86,000 families, I led all digital aspects—creating the visual design, building the responsive website using Bootstrap/CSS, and applying UX principles to serve diverse user needs across this rapidly growing emergency food program.
Client
Industry
Non-profit, Charity, Food Access
Headquarters
San Jose, California, USA
Founded
2008
Role
UX/UI designer, web designer, graphic designer
Team
Stakeholders from over 20 partner organizations
Challenge
FFFR needed a website serving multiple audiences: food box recipients (often with limited tech access), grant administrators evaluating funding eligibility, and potential individual donors. My challenge was designing a platform that would increase program awareness, provide resources for recipients, support fundraising efforts, and reduce operational costs—all while balancing the needs of these diverse users under extreme time constraints.
Results
The two-phase development approach delivered immediate impact: Phase 1's MVP launched within a week, supporting the PR campaign that secured $2.6M in funding. Phase 2's redesign improved information architecture and accessibility for all users. The website became FFFR's central information hub, enabling program growth to serve 83,000+ households while saving thousands in printing costs by digitalizing resources.
Farms that normally sell their produce to restaurants are instead distributing their food to low-income families through CSA boxes.
Local non-profit organizations and community centers came together to create pick-up points for food box distribution.
Process
Research & Discovery: With urgent timelines, I adapted UX methods for rapid insights: conducting focused stakeholder interviews, developing proto-personas for three user groups (program participants, grant administrators, and individual donors), analyzing similar emergency food programs, and mapping potential user journeys. This compressed discovery process established a foundation for design decisions while ensuring all stakeholder perspectives were represented.
Design & Development: I created a site structure with clear pathways for each user group and developed a brand identity with earthy colors and accessible typography. The design and development process prioritized usability for those with limited web/mobile data access and varying degrees of English-fluency:
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A mobile-first approach
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A clear English/Spanish language toggle in the header to support our majority of box recipients who spoke primarily Spanish
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Minimal page weight and fast loading speeds
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Straightforward navigation
I built and implemented the site in phases, continuously optimizing for various devices and connection speeds.
Testing & Iteration: Despite recruitment challenges, I conducted testing with representatives from each user group and implemented analytics tracking. Key findings revealed that recipients struggled to find resources, some sections were difficult to read, and farm partnerships overshadowed recipient content. Through three major iterations, I improved homepage clarity, content readability, and navigation pathways, advocating strongly for underrepresented users.
Conclusion
The FFFR website supported distributing produce to 83,000+ households while eliminating thousands in printing costs. This project taught me valuable lessons about designing under pressure, balancing stakeholder needs, and advocating for underrepresented users. Even in my early design career, this work demonstrated how thoughtful UX can create meaningful impact during crisis response—skills I've strengthened throughout my career path.