Episode 13: Human-Centered Design in a Food Desert

A mechanical engineer originally from Malalysia, Vanan Murugesan helped develop the concept and led the process to open North Market, a nonprofit grocery store in North Minneapolis, a community designated as a food desert because of the lack of access to fresh foods.

Though people in the neighborhood would spend 45 minutes on a bus or $5-10 each way on cabs to get to a good grocery, the primary motivation to open a nonprofit grocery was community health and wellness. Once a market analysis confirmed that the community was spending enough on food to support a grocery, the concept for the store was developed with local residents. The result: North Market is a place to buy fresh food and a community center, offering Yoga, Zoomba, cardio kick-boxing and a wellness center. “The additional services came from community,”  Murugesan says; “We weren’t planning yoga.”

Some of the lessons from opening North Market might be applicable to transit providers putting a new emphasis on the customer experience: the importance of human-centered design and of marketing.  “The definition of better has to be in the eyes of the customer,” he says, and, “We fall in to a trap of falling in love with our solutions. We are in competition. . . . You can provide the best solution, but no one will  know about it if you don’t market and advertise accordingly.”

Also on the podcast: pros and cons of the farm bill, technology and convenience, and new initiatives in workforce development.