Buzzarek · Local-food marketplace

Making group buying work for local food.

In brief

Buzzarek explored whether neighbours could combine orders to buy directly from local growers. I joined the founder to research the service and design its identity, ordering flows, and interface.

My role

I worked across customer research, a WhatsApp pilot, and a working marketplace. The central design challenge was making a collective purchase understandable without adding unnecessary effort to everyday shopping.

The case follows the service from early exploration to use in Poznań, including the questions that still need evidence.

Role: Product designer and researcher
When: 2023
Team: Szymon ZmyslonyMaria RybakowskaLocal producers
Scope: ResearchProduct flowsUX/UIVisual identity

Defining the problem

Could buying together create a shorter route between growers and customers?

Local produce commonly reaches customers through several commercial layers, with each step adding coordination, time and cost.

Buzzarek explored a shorter route: combine demand from nearby customers into one larger order placed directly with a grower, then offer delivery or collection at a group price.

The question was whether collective ordering could make direct purchasing practical for both sides.

Diagram comparing a multi-middleman route with Buzzarek’s farm-to-table path

Research

Research from both sides: customers and producers

Nine conversations with potential customers revealed a recurring trade-off. People valued freshness, quality and direct contact with growers, but price, convenience and distance often determined where they actually shopped.

I also visited growers and spoke with them in context to understand the other side of the service. These were informal field conversations rather than structured interviews, so I used them to understand the practical conditions around selling and collecting local produce.

Research cards summarising interviews with consumers and farmers

Process

Testing before building

We moved from an early Facebook test through a WhatsApp pilot to a working marketplace.

Engaging with Facebook communities and using the WhatsApp pilot let us coordinate orders manually before committing to a full interface. Repeated questions showed us what the product needed to explain without our help.

Four steps from Pinduoduo and Facebook groups through a WhatsApp pilot to the branded marketplace

Group purchase

How to make buying together feel simple

Buzzarek could not behave exactly like an ordinary online shop. Customers needed to understand how joining with others affected the price, how close the group was to unlocking a discount, and whether their order would be delivered or collected.

The challenge was to make the collective mechanism understandable without making everyday shopping feel like extra work.

Six low-fidelity wireframes of the group-purchase journey from product card to checkout

Branding design

Giving Buzzarek a visual identity

The design intentionally blended Instagram-like familiarity with a natural photography, soft green tones, and clean layouts. Designed primarily for women 30–60 who seek direct, trustworthy connections with local growers.

Outcome

Buzzarek in numbers

Buzzarek became a working marketplace connecting customers and local producers in Poznań, with 45 weekly orders, more than 150 community members, and over 10 producers.

Bar chart of Buzzarek monthly turnover from April to September 2023 — Monthly turnover

45: weekly orders
150+: community members
10+: local producers