NMIX 4410: New Media Capstone Case Study and Narrative

My capstone group and I built a mobile-first website and digital brand presence for an emerging agricultural technology platform

Project Date: Spring 2026

My Role: Lead Developer/Web Designer

Project Overview

Harvest Capture is an agricultural technology platform focused on crop monitoring, productivity analysis, and field data visualization. The project goal was to help transform a new business with a limited digital presence into a launch-ready brand by creating a polished, mobile-first website that clearly communicated the company’s mission and directed users toward its software login experience. I led all website-related work, including wireframing, platform buildout, page development, responsive design decisions, and final launch preparation. The tools that I used were Figma and Squarespace.

The Problem

Harvest Capture was still a very new business, which meant the project came with unusual challenges. We were designing for a company that had little to no digital footprint and was still defining how it wanted to present itself publicly. The website needed to do more than simply “look good,” but it needed to serve in a way where our client could showcase at expos or conventions. It had to establish credibility, communicate the founder’s mission, introduce the brand to potential users, and create a clear pathway to the platform itself. The project was also complicated by an early client contact mix-up and a limited scope brief, so part of the challenge was building a useful, professional web experience while navigating incomplete information. On top of that, our team had to quickly learn an unfamiliar industry and design something that felt modern without losing trust with an agriculture-focused audience.

The Solution

As lead developer, I approached the website as both a branding tool and a functional user entry point. I began by creating an initial homepage wireframe in Figma to establish the structure of the experience and test how Harvest Capture’s information could be presented in a way that felt clean, accessible, and visually credible. From there, I translated those ideas into a functional build using a visual website builder, refining the layout into a responsive, mobile-first experience.

figma screenshot of me doing the wireframe of the website

One of my main priorities was clarity. Since Harvest Capture is a technical platform, I wanted the site to feel informative without overwhelming visitors with too much jargon. I focused on structuring the site so users could quickly understand what the company does, why it matters, and where to go next. This meant developing pages and sections that highlighted founder information, company mission, community-facing values, and a straightforward login path for users already interacting with the software. That structure supported the broader project goal of making the site both a brand debut and a practical launch tool.

I also had to think carefully about audience trust. Since the company operated in agriculture, the design could not feel overly corporate or disconnected from the field-based realities of the farm industry. I worked to balance a modern digital aesthetic with visuals and layout choices that felt grounded, approachable, and easy to navigate. As the semester progressed, I continued building additional screens and landing pages, incorporated visual elements that strengthened the user experience, fixed bugs and unlinked pages, and pushed the site toward a handoff-ready final version with minimal tweaks needed.

final homepage of harvest capture

With Harvest Capture, I was building for a client that was still growing, still shaping its public identity, and still working through how it wanted to present itself. That meant my development decisions had to support flexibility, professionalism, and future growth all at once. It was a very rewarding experience, and I am grateful to the NMI for the opportunity!!

Results

The final result was a polished website that gave Harvest Capture a stronger public-facing identity and a clearer entry point for users. Beyond the build itself, the project showed me how much thoughtful web development can shape the way a new company is understood. I strengthened my ability to move from wireframe to functional product, design for responsiveness, and adapt quickly when project conditions changed. If I were to continue iterating on the project, I would expand the site with deeper product storytelling, stronger SEO implementation, and more measurable user testing to evaluate how effectively visitors understand the platform and move through the site.

a sneak peak of our visual design guide

title slide for our presentation

New Media Narrative

I began taking New Media Institute classes in Spring 2024 with very little coding experience and not much sense of what role digital media could play in my academic or professional future. At the time, I mostly saw the program as a way to challenge myself after transferring to UGA as a sophomore. What I did not expect was that it would give me an entirely new skill set and, more importantly, a new way of thinking.

My first web development course was a turning point. For the first time, coding felt less intimidating and more like a creative problem-solving tool. I realized I genuinely enjoyed the process of building something from the ground up, and thinking through how users move through a digital experience. That interest pushed me to continue into more advanced coursework, where I became more confident not only in development itself but also in the decisions behind it: structure, usability, branding, and communication.

Over the course of the certificate, I have grown from someone with no prior coding background into someone who can approach a project strategically and execute it with intention. More than anything, the New Media Certificate gave me a unique angle during college. It pushed me academically, but it also gave me practical skills that feel directly relevant to the kind of work I want to do in the future. I now know that web design and development is not just something I learned in class. It is something I want to keep building on professionally.

Harvest Capture reflects that growth clearly. It brought together the exact areas where I have developed most: web development, visual communication, user-centered thinking, and adaptability. It represents more than a finished capstone project; it represents how far I have come and the place I will go in the future. THANK YOU TO THE NMI!!!!