Farm.co
A mobile app connecting farmers with agricultural technicians for expert advice and community.
Connecting farmers with expert guidance.
Farm.co is a mobile application designed to connect farmers with agricultural technicians, providing expert advice and guidance to improve crop or plant production. With reliable and professional technicians at their fingertips, farmers can carry out their farm activities without worry or delay. In addition, the group discussion feature of the application allows for increased communication and collaboration among farmers, creating a strong and supportive agriculture community.
A problem I witnessed firsthand.
During my tenure as a consultant artist at FHI 360, USAID, I developed strong connections with farmers from the Shan and Kachin States. My artistic work required me to make field trips to their farms and observe their daily tasks. During these visits, I observed numerous challenges they faced in their farming activities. As a result, I decided to create an app to enhance their farming quality. This app will also foster communication and collaboration between farmers and agricultural technicians, thereby contributing to the success of modern farming practices.
- Farmers around the world face numerous difficulties and challenges, such as pests, diseases, and unpredictable weather.
- Farmers often have to search for, and waste time on, reliable sources of assistance when their own knowledge is insufficient.
- Without effective communication channels, farmers risk falling behind and missing out on crucial information and solutions to their challenges.
- Farmers don't know exactly what kind of problems are happening on their fields since they are not professionals like agricultural technicians. They become confused and sometimes let their farms go to waste.
- Design and develop a user-friendly and effective platform that connects farmers with agricultural technicians to provide advice, support, and networking opportunities.
- Identify the challenges and difficulties that farmers face in their farming practices and understand their needs and preferences for support and advice.
- Explore the role and impact of agricultural technicians in improving farming practices and yields.
- Reduce farmers' difficulties and miscommunications and build a helpful farmers community by using this app.
Farmers
Struggling with crop problems, pests, disease, and weather — and with no fast, reliable way to get expert help when they need it most.
Agricultural Technicians
Want to provide structured support to farmers and expand their reach — needing a system to manage inbound requests and track progress over time.
Product Design Owner
Full ownership of user research and product design. Tools: Pens and Papers for brainstorming, Viber / Zoom / Messenger for user interviews, Whimsical for UX flows and IA, Figma for visual design.
My design process
Understanding users and their behaviours.
UX research is a process of studying users and their behaviours to inform the design and development of products and services that meet their needs and expectations.
What each side told us.
- 01How do you currently manage challenges related to farming?
Farmers: "I usually only reach out to agricultural technicians if I'm having a major problem that I can't solve on my own." Technicians: "Farmers usually reach out to me via phone or email if they have a specific question or problem."
- 02What features would you like to see in an app connecting you with agricultural technicians?
Farmers: "I'd like to be able to easily upload photos or videos of my crops so that the agricultural technician can see what I'm dealing with." Technicians: "It would be helpful to have a record of all the requests and solutions we've provided to each farmer, so we can track progress over time."
- 03Would you be willing to pay for such an app?
Farmers: "I'd be willing to pay if it provides value and helps me save time and money." Technicians: "I think it would be reasonable to charge a small fee if it provides valuable support and saves farmers time and money."
- Farmers are interested in networking and sharing information with other farmers in their area.
- Farmers need direct connection with their technicians via video, text, and voice calls.
- Farmers need reliable sources and guidance for their farm challenges from qualified technicians.
Quantitative Research — User Surveys
Competitor Analysis
Competitor Analysis
Creating fictional representations of typical users.
User personas guide design decisions and ensure that the product meets the needs of target audiences.
User Persona — Farmer
User Persona — Agricultural Technician
Both user empathy maps help to illustrate the challenges faced by small-scale farmers and agricultural technicians, and how the app can help to bridge the gap between them. By connecting farmers with expert advice and helping agricultural technicians to expand their reach, the app can provide value to both groups and help to improve the overall state of agriculture.
User Empathy Map — Farmer
User Empathy Map — Agricultural Technician
A user journey map is a valuable tool that helps designers understand how a user interacts with a product or service.
The user journey map helps to illustrate the steps taken by a farmer to connect and benefit from the app's services. By providing a seamless process for signing up, matching users, and tracking progress, the app can help streamline the agricultural advice process and improve outcomes for farmers.
User Journey Map
Storyboard
Pain points mapped to goals.
- 01Time is taking too much on finding the technicians.
Goal: A fast technician and farmers connecting app.
- 02Users are unable to get their choice of technicians and contacts until they call them.
Goal: Having an adjustable schedule feature for making meetings and calls with technicians.
- 03Users find difficulty making group chats with other community members.
Goal: Creating a feature for making meetings and chats for all farmers in the available area.
- 04Users want to adjust the time schedule given by their technicians if that time is not comfortable.
Goal: Technician-choosing feature with rankings and achievement badges.
Design Research — Card Sorting
User Flow
Information Architecture
Wireframes
Visual Design
- Features like a marketplace for farmers to buy fertilizers and cures for their agricultural needs and solutions.
- A business feature where farmers can sell their Farm.co-approved products.
- A business feature for merchants to buy farm products (fruits, vegetables, etc.) directly from farmers.
- Due to the above future steps, responsive and accessible user interface and user experience will be included.
- The importance of communication, flexibility, and user-centric design.
- We can optimise the process to reduce time cost.