Fruit Finder – Ethnographic Research & Design Process

Project Type: Ethnographic Field Study & Visual Research
Team: Revanth, Harshil, Manaswinee, Vani, Rupali, Krishna, Shreya, Daksh
Location: Ahmedabad & Gandhinagar
Duration: 1 week
Tools: Photography, Mapping, Field Notes, Adobe Suite

Project Brief

Fruit Finder is an ethnographic visual study that maps the fruit ecosystem in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Through fieldwork we tried gathering data of where fruits come from based on what season and map them in an easy to use information tool.

Design Process

1. Framing the Inquiry

We began with a simple question: Where does fruit come from, and how does it reach us in the city?
This led to sub-questions around sourcing, logistics, vendors’ routines, consumer patterns, and the roles different actors play in this journey.

We narrowed our focus to specific localities like Naroda Fruit Market and Kalupur Fruit market known for fruit vending hubs, wholesale markets, and roadside vendors.

2. Ethnographic Fieldwork

We adopted a grounded research approach involving:

• Shadowing & Observing Vendors

• Photographic Documentation

• Informal Interviews with Stakeholders

• Mapping Routes & Interactions

Our field visits happened at different times of day to capture variability early morning wholesale markets, mid-day carts, and evening retail spots.

3. Visual Data Collection

We collected a lot of data based on seasons and where it comes from.

4. Synthesis & Pattern Mapping

We decided to use patterns to simplify learnability

• Colors: Mapping colors for the countries the fruits come from.

• Rotating dial: So the User can match a month and see the relevant data quickly.

• Concentric Circles as data points: Crammed a bunch of complicated data into two simple categories, inspired from year calendars.

• Fruit icons: Using pleasing fruit imagery and wood, to invoke fruit in its own context.

5. Final Visualization

The output was a rotating dial tool that doesn't just showcase locations but tells a story highlighting movements of fruit across time and space.

Reflection

Took field work, observed patterns, amongst them choose something that might pique public interest and crafted a tool to make the process of learning where these fruits come from and how they change through seasons.