Desk research: understanding the landscape
Before conducting primary user research, I reviewed existing agritourism research to understand established patterns in how visitors discover, evaluate, and plan farm experiences.
What was already known about agritourism visitors:
• Visitors need clear access to hours, directions, seasonal availability, and visit expectations.
• Because farm offerings change throughout the year, seasonal information needs to remain current and easy to locate.
• The digital experience helps set expectations for the physical farm experience.
The research highlighted the growing role of agritourism and the need for clear, current information that supports planning and sets expectations before their visit.
What are our competitors doing?How can we do better?
I then benchmarked Sun High against three comparable competitors to identify strengths, gaps, and opportunities across five key areas of the digital experience.
Competitive Insights
Discovery outcomes
-Make visit planning effortless
Prioritize essential information such as hours, seasonal availability, pricing, directions, and activities so visitors can quickly understand what to expect before arriving.
— Design for seasonality
Create a flexible information structure that makes frequently changing products, activities, and seasonal offerings easy to update and find.
— Give the full farm experience greater visibility
Better communicate the range of experiences available at Sun High beyond individual products, helping visitors understand everything the farm has to offer.
— Modernize without losing authenticity
Improve navigation, mobile usability, accessibility, and visual consistency while preserving Sun High’s established family-owned character.
These outcomes established the strategic direction for the redesign and informed the next phase: primary user research.