Revamping the user experience of an Agri-tech mobile platform
USER RESEARCH | UX DESIGN
We revamped the Cropwise Grower mobile application which has seen an increase of app engagement from 40% to 75% on monthly basis. The platform provide growers with access to important agronomic information and tools that can help them make better decisions about their crop management practices in an easy to interact experience.
PROJECT IN A NUTSHELL
Growers infrequently use the application and struggle with timely decision-making due to a disconnect between generational farming knowledge and the information provided by Cropwise, leading to suboptimal outcomes.
How can we enhance the app to ensure growers return and receive the information they need?
PROBLEM STATEMENT
With improved user engagement focusing on key features and a data-driven business model, monthly app engagement has increased by 75%.
OUTCOME
Design Lead, Project Manager, 2 UX Designers, 2 UI Designers
April - June 2023
COLLABORATION & TIMELINE
I worked on revamping key features like weather, farm area calculator, referral and loyalty program to create a more intuitive experience and provided support to cross-functional teams.
MY ROLE
Feedbacks from farmers across APAC regions
While a few interactive elements received medium-low rankings in usability testing, the key features were highly appreciated by users across APAC. The main functionalities were easily discovered and effectively utilized by the users.
IMPACT
“...Most users were happy with the readability and usability of the revamped version.”
“...The colors, icons and visuals were liked by the users though they felt they would require time to learn & get used to this version. ”
UT FEEDBACKS
All interfaces on this page are representations of the final interface since my actual deliverables are under NDA.
The final experience
Weather
Temperature
Humidity
12:08
Lahore, Amdal
Change location
Spray Guide for 12 hours
Best time to Spray
Possibility to Spray
9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
5:30 PM to 6:00 PM
3:00 AM to 3:30 PM
4:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Follow steps to apply your spray correctly!
14th June, 2023
Mon
14
Sun
13
Thu
17
Tue
15
Wed
16
Sat
12
Find out if the weather is right for you to sow seeds
Current Weather
Rainy
High
Low
C
o
Temperature
Table
Graph
Bringing in the self-explanatory updates!
Given its high usage, weather posed a challenge in developing features from daily forecasts to spray guide updates. With the latest update, users can now access daily, weekly, and monthly weather forecasts.
Additionally, the integrated real-time spray guide and sowing window in Cropwise facilitate growers in seamlessly maintaining a regular routine.
WEATHER #1
Usability Test - Feedbacks
Understanding the grower’s field life
INITIAL RESEARCH & UNDERSTANDING THE USERS
The primary research was conducted by the research and design team with cohort all across the three geographies, Pakistan, Indonesia and Thailand which helped us uncover a lot of information on the farming practices and their behaviors.
The discovery sessions with stakeholders gave us insights on business motivations and goals that has to be achieved in this redesign.
User Persona Snippet from the Research Cohort
KEY PROBLEM STATEMENTS
Emotional connect
Key problem statements of Growers
Doubts over solutions suggested by Cropwise
Lack of clarity with recommendation of products
Low frequency of application usage due to the confidence over the traditional farming practices
Key problem statements of BUSINESS
Lack of effective communication to portray Cropwise as one stop solution
Infographics are not utilised to make business decisions yet
Unable to showcase the benefits of using features of the app.
Value to growers?
Need of a grower?
Traditional practices
Education
Engagement
Community
Data-driven business
Growers’ behavioural insights
This helped us to conclude on few of the major gaps of growers’ lack of cropwise usage on their daily farming practices.
01
Smart phone market penetration (between 20-35 years of age)
02
Old Fashioned buying habits from trusted retailers
03
Target large grower, they look for more advanced means of farming
04
Traditional farmers no longer want future generations to continue farming.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A GROWER
0:00 AM
05:00 AM
08:00 AM
12:00 PM
Land Size: Mid-Size holding
Crop: Rice
Crop Cycle: 90-100 days (3 months)
03:00 PM
05:00 PM
8:00 PM
Wake up
Get ready for working day
Go to visit field
Ploughing
Sowing
Harvesting
*the timeline is just a generic understanding and varies according to the cropping cycles
Lunch time
Take nap
Socializing and leisure activities
Spending time with family
Go back to visit field if needed
Other tasks
Tend to buy CP product/product in the morning
How might we help farmers relying on traditional farming practices and win their trust to adapt to modern techniques that are available for the rapidly changing climate and environment?
To summarize our final objectives,
Scale to large number of growers
Increase sales of products
To become one stop solution for agronomy practices and value added services
01
02
03
Highlights from the Persona(s)
BUILDING THE USER PERSONA(S)
Structuring the product
The data restructure was needed to enhance the key features including the onboarding experience, digital monitoring the crops via crop calendar, getting weather updates etc.,
An information architecture with the recommendations was briefed to the stakeholders to highlight the high user benefit and scope for future features.
Highlights from the Information Architecture- Structure of a feature
KEY FOCUS AREAS
Animated content for user engagement
Audio instead of reading information
Personalised grower experience
Voice search
Design for poor network
Self explanatory contents
Simplified shop experience
Final outcome : Highlights
The designs were aligned with user interview feedback for thorough research validation and implementation. They were then advanced to the high-fidelity visual prototyping stage. Following this visual phase, usability tests were conducted, leading to the iteration of a few screens to reduce funnel drop-offs.
The easy skim-through onboarding experience
Research (keyword data, user interviews, research reports) indicates that users often depended on the Cropwise support team to locate or comprehend features.
With the new update, we’ve introduced visually engaging and lightweight content to help growers easily understand the application's key USPs.
ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE #1
BEFORE UT
AFTER UT
Usability Test - Feedbacks
Contextual information on the decision makers
To ensure users have a positive platform experience and can perform actions with confidence, we’ve added contextual text on each screen to explain its purpose.
This helps users navigate easily and balances ease of use with trust.
ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE #2
Designing to enhance comprehension using visual cues.
We recognized that sometimes context alone doesn't assist users effectively, so we explored using visuals as an alternative.
Following usability testing, we brainstormed ways to improve the contextual relevance and helpfulness of OTP verification. Feedback from users revealed their preference for clear actions after completing tasks.
As a result, we streamlined the process to include only one visual action item, ensuring the OTP auto-fills within a maximum time limit of 60 seconds.
ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE #3
Usability Test - Feedbacks
Usability Test - Feedbacks
UX Recommendations
I assisted the visual design team with the prototype and development handoff and created detailed documentation of the interactions. Based on user feedback, the changes we implemented reduced friction and enhanced ease of use. The design aligned with the users' mental models, particularly benefiting first-generation users transitioning from basic to smartphones, providing a more intuitive experience.
Implementation and Validation
This project gave me the opportunity to understand the impact of design within a product and business team. I also adapted my design process to fit into an agile environment so that I can deliver results efficiently within the fast-paced sprints.
WHAT I LEARNED
One stop solution with more benefits !
Farmers can effortlessly map their farm area and digitally track harvested crops. The farm's location and crop data integrate with weather and crop calendar features for more data-driven insights. This feature opens up possibilities for future enhancements.
Farm area calculator
Usability Test - Feedbacks
Scoping the interfaces for better readability
Taking into account the significance of warning alerts, our attention was directed towards improving the layout by incorporating sections, icons, and pointers, facilitating growers in swiftly navigating between different sections.
We emphasized sections with labels, icons, and images while also making the copy more conversational in tone.
WEATHER #2
BEFORE UT
AFTER UT
When creating for a wide demographic, designing without bias is key.
Wearing multiple hats
"Aha" Moments From Users
Designing without bias helped us ensure inclusivity, enabling the product to effectively serve a diverse user base and meet various needs.
Participating in various discovery and research activities has really helped me see the product from the user vs business lens.
Gathering feedback form users through the enhanced usability testing helped us uncover insights and rework on better design solutions.
Weather
Today
7 Day Forecast
30 Days Forecast
12:08
Rain expected to be extreme this week
10 AM
36°
11 AM
33°
12 PM
32°
1 PM
29°
2 PM
28°
3 PM
27°
4 PM
24°
Hourly Forecast
Temperature
Precipitation
Wind
Lahore, Amdal
Change location
Spray Guide for 12 hours
Best time to Spray
Possibility to Spray
9:30 AM to 12:30 PM
5:30 PM to 6:00 PM
3:00 AM to 3:30 PM
4:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Follow steps to apply your spray correctly!
Sowing window
Find out if the weather is right for you to sow seeds
25ºc
18ºc
Current Weather
Rainy
High
Low
22
C
o
Bringing in the self-explanatory updates!
Given its high usage, weather posed a challenge in developing features from daily forecasts to spray guide updates. With the latest update, users can now access daily, weekly, and monthly weather forecasts.
Additionally, the integrated real-time spray guide and sowing window in Cropwise facilitate growers in seamlessly maintaining a regular routine.
WEATHER #1
Usability Test - Feedbacks
Usability Test - Feedbacks
UX Recommendations