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As we see the devastating effects of climate change, combined with dramatic demographic and geo-political events, it is clear that the agriculture industry will have to innovate and adapt to more challenges constantly. A big part of that involves agriculture professionals and agronomists conducting field research trials and experiments. Agmatix wanted to solve that growing need in order to increase crop yields and quality, reduce water usage, and promote sustainable agriculture. Zemingo was asked to help turn everything that goes into these field trials into one effective user experience.
We started, of course, by going out to the field and observing that process up close, learning all we could from our end-users, who were not your typical persona in app design projects. Most farmers who are in charge of performing these tasks are close to 50 or older, with low familiarity with digital products and common UX practices. In addition, the extreme environment in which they would use the app required extreme solutions. The first was the weather - Farmers have to use the app outside during intense heat, blinding sun, pouring rain, and strong winds while needing to focus on properly documenting their findings. The second factor was the type of work itself - Examining different plants and produce while also handling various tools, often with gloves, and dusting off dirt or wiping mud.
The solution required significantly simplifying features and flows, enhancing contrast and visibility, retaining and updating data if the user is offline, and providing updates and insights while still in the field, and more. We then conducted a lot of testing in the UI process, in different environments and conditions, to confirm good visibility. Eventually reaching a very high contrast level, large input fields, elements, and font sizes to reduce errors and ensure that you are collecting the right information in the right location. We also combined elements to include both functionality and information, like progress bars on large buttons, to use the screen real estate more effectively. At the same time, the UX process had to optimize the flow and information available on every screen to the bare minimum needed for that approach while still allowing complex processes required for setting up field trials. From easily viewing your farm layout on a map, accessing crop information, utilizing geolocation when possible to reduce steps, organizing research forms and data, and more.
