When the Minnesota State Fair was cancelled in 2020, I designed and built the Fair Food Finder web app to help people discover and locate fair food vendors operating locally. The app reached over 11,000 unique users in the first week and logged more than 150,000 food stand views.
Research Wireframing Prototyping Logo design UI design Coding
In 2020, the Minnesota State Fair was cancelled due to the pandemic, but demand for iconic fair foods remained strong. Vendors operated pop-ups and events across the state, but there was no central resource to find them.
To validate the idea and shape the product direction, I conducted a user research survey through Google Forms alongside a lightweight prototype built in Adobe XD.
Survey results showed strong interest in State Fair food, but users didn’t know where to find it or when events were happening. Key user needs included:
I also analyzed existing platforms like the MN Food Truck Association, Roaming Hunger, Food Trucks In, and Thrillist. While some listed vendors, they lacked real-time updates, event-specific filtering, and State Fair food coverage. Many also had outdated information or complex vendor sign-up processes.
This research confirmed a clear opportunity: create a mobile-first, real-time platform tailored to State Fair food lovers and vendors, with flexible filters and a simple vendor dashboard.
I researched scalable solutions with minimal maintenance needs. Early brainstorming and whiteboarding and wireframes in Adobe XD helped define the core features:
The visual design was inspired by classic fair themes, with bright colors and playful typography. Visual design work included:
The app was built using React, enabling fast rendering and interactive features. The user experience included:
Before the vendor dashboard was fully developed, I used a Google Form to collect vendor data and populate listings manually. This allowed a fast launch and validated vendor interest.
Strong Vendor interest, combined with large amounts of manual work inputting events, lead me to quickly build the Vendor Dashboard in React, and allowed vendors to:
The app launched to high praise from both users and vendors alike. Usage and key stats from the first week:
All of this was achieved with zero marketing budget, relying entirely on organic Facebook reach and word-of-mouth. Vendors reported increased traffic and awareness.
The app became a go-to hub for State Fair food fans and demonstrated how user-centered design and fast iteration can drive meaningful impact—even on a small scale.
This project was a crash course in full-cycle product design:
Fair Food Finder logo design.
Wireframes built in Adobe XD.
Vendor dashboard developed in React.