Precision Conservation Management
Precision Conservation Management
A nonprofit platform allowing farmers to protect their bottom line while adopting sustainable agriculture practices.
A nonprofit platform allowing farmers to protect their bottom line while adopting sustainable agriculture practices.
Agrotech
Stakeholder interviews
User research
Prototyping
UX/UI
Usability testing
Overview
Overview
I was tasked with the redesign of PCM's onboarding and annual reporting interface which allows farmers to participate in company-sponsored projects and earn revenue for upholding specific conservation guidelines.
I was tasked with the redesign of PCM's onboarding and annual reporting interface which allows farmers to participate in company-sponsored projects and earn revenue for upholding specific conservation guidelines.
Team
Team
I worked as a contractor under Heartland Science and Technology Group, which is a non-profit organization of engineers and scientists who developed the original version of PCM. They consisted of two software engineers, an account lead, and a technical PM. Our team had weekly calls with two client stakeholders of the PCM program. I was responsible for all UX and UI work on this project.
I worked as a contractor under Heartland Science and Technology Group, which is a non-profit organization of engineers and scientists who developed the original version of PCM. They consisted of two software engineers, an account lead, and a technical PM. Our team had weekly calls with two client stakeholders of the PCM program. I was responsible for all UX and UI work on this project.
Core Redesign
Core Redesign
As part of my stakeholder and user interviews, I identified the major pain points of the PCM platform and focused my redesign efforts on solving those problems first.
As part of my stakeholder and user interviews, I identified the major pain points of the PCM platform and focused my redesign efforts on solving those problems first.
Pain point #1
The data entry workflow didn’t match how farmers think.
The data entry interface was split into discrete activities, but farmers think in “field passes” comprised of multiple activities.
The data entry interface was split into discrete activities, but farmers think in “field passes” comprised of multiple activities.
For example, check out this John Deere 1590 Box Drill. It uses vertical disks to slice into soil, which is a common no till conservation practice, while simultaneously planting seeds. Farmers can even add fertilizer attachments so they are applying nutrients at the same time. That’s three different activities all being applied by one machine during a single field pass! This is incredibly important for farmers because fuel, machine maintenance, and labor costs are all minimized by reducing the number of passes taken on a field.
For example, check out this John Deere 1590 Box Drill. It uses vertical disks to slice into soil, which is a common no till conservation practice, while simultaneously planting seeds. Farmers can even add fertilizer attachments so they are applying nutrients at the same time. That’s three different activities all being applied by one machine during a single field pass! This is incredibly important for farmers because fuel, machine maintenance, and labor costs are all minimized by reducing the number of passes taken on a field.
This creates a lot of friction for enrollment specialists. Since farming records are often organized in passes where information is chunked to show multiple activities. This forces specialists to bounce in and out of different sections when adding records to a farmer’s account.
This creates a lot of friction for enrollment specialists. Since farming records are often organized in passes where information is chunked to show multiple activities. This forces specialists to bounce in and out of different sections when adding records to a farmer’s account.
Solution
The solution was to restructure data entry in PCM to match the same structure commonly used for farming records.
This is a big win for the farmer and the PCM specialist. Specialists have an easier time updating seasonal records for year-end reports, and farmers have an easier time reviewing records with specialists now that the UI presents information in a format that reflects a timeline of events.
This is a big win for the farmer and the PCM specialist. Specialists have an easier time updating seasonal records for year-end reports, and farmers have an easier time reviewing records with specialists now that the UI presents information in a format that reflects a timeline of events.
In this new design, adding records is simple and specialists can converse with farmers in a natural way.
1. When did something happen on a field?
2. What activities took place on that same day?
3. What are the specific management details of those activities?
In this new design, adding records is simple and specialists can converse with farmers in a natural way.
1. When did something happen on a field?
2. What activities took place on that same day?
3. What are the specific management details of those activities?
This small change had a ripple effect on the entire sitemap allowing many duplicate or buried pages to be dropped completely in favor of a one-stop shop for entering management records. Click through the following screens to see it in action.
This small change had a ripple effect on the entire sitemap allowing many duplicate or buried pages to be dropped completely in favor of a one-stop shop for entering management records. Click through the following screens to see it in action.
Pain point #2
The vast majority of farming records submitted by specialists were redundant to previous years, which was wasting a lot of time redoing the same work over and over again.
Farmers decide what to grow on their fields year-over-year following something called a crop rotation. A crop rotation is basically a repeatable pattern where farmers cycle between different crops. This helps improve soil fertility since different crops take, but also give different nutrients back to the soil. It ensures sustainability and long-term productivity for farms.
Farmers decide what to grow on their fields year-over-year following something called a crop rotation. A crop rotation is basically a repeatable pattern where farmers cycle between different crops. This helps improve soil fertility since different crops take, but also give different nutrients back to the soil. It ensures sustainability and long-term productivity for farms.
There are many variable inputs when it comes to any commercial farming operation, but the crop rotation will often remain unchanged once established.
There are many variable inputs when it comes to any commercial farming operation, but the crop rotation will often remain unchanged once established.
This should mean that record keeping gets easier over time since farmers rarely break from a set crop rotation. Unfortunately there was no way to easily duplicate identical data between years in the existing app experience.
This should mean that record keeping gets easier over time since farmers rarely break from a set crop rotation. Unfortunately there was no way to easily duplicate identical data between years in the existing app experience.
Solution
The solution was to support a quick entry system to get specialists 90% percent of the way to a complete annual submission with minimal effort.
We supported two different ways to do this:
1. Define a template that includes all the typical passes nd activities for a field per crop in its rotation.
2. Allow copy/pasting the passes and activities from a previous year.
We supported two different ways to do this:
1. Define a template that includes all the typical passes nd activities for a field per crop in its rotation.
2. Allow copy/pasting the passes and activities from a previous year.
Now that we have a flexible way for specialists to get the annual report 90% of the way to complete in a fraction of the time, things are looking pretty good! That’s when we hit a roadblock.
Now that we have a flexible way for specialists to get the annual report 90% of the way to complete in a fraction of the time, things are looking pretty good! That’s when we hit a roadblock.
Roadblock
During an early design review, key stakeholders expressed concerns that the quick entry system would make data entry too easy and specialists would miss important changes, which would impact the integrity of farmer’s annual reports.
Roadblock
During an early design review, key stakeholders expressed concerns that the quick entry system would make data entry too easy and specialists would miss important changes, which would impact the integrity of farmer’s annual reports.
Roadblock
During an early design review, key stakeholders expressed concerns that the quick entry system would make data entry too easy and specialists would miss important changes, which would impact the integrity of farmer’s annual reports.
While this was a setback, I still felt like the quick entry solution was viable. My counterproposal was to move ahead with a new quick-entry system, but to enforce an extra level of integrity checks on key data points. I worked with stakeholders to determine which inputs would be critical to verify in order to get buy in before moving ahead with a design.
While this was a setback, I still felt like the quick entry solution was viable. My counterproposal was to move ahead with a new quick-entry system, but to enforce an extra level of integrity checks on key data points. I worked with stakeholders to determine which inputs would be critical to verify in order to get buy in before moving ahead with a design.
Important details like activity dates and amount of fertilizer are still copied in, but flagged for validation. If the data is accurate, specialists can click the check and move on. If it’s not accurate, then changing the value still ensures the proper data was reported and clears the flag. This was acceptable to project stakeholders, and while it does slow down data entry for specialists, I believe it was a successful compromise and response to a valid concern.
Important details like activity dates and amount of fertilizer are still copied in, but flagged for validation. If the data is accurate, specialists can click the check and move on. If it’s not accurate, then changing the value still ensures the proper data was reported and clears the flag. This was acceptable to project stakeholders, and while it does slow down data entry for specialists, I believe it was a successful compromise and response to a valid concern.
Pain point #3
Some conservation practices were not properly supported because they required their own unique boundaries that were separate but still associated with a cropping field.
Nutrient management, aka fertilizer application, is a big deal in conservation. Improper regulation of nutrient runoff can result in water quality issues like algal blooms and hypoxia zones that wreck our natural habitats. The goal for projects sponsoring farmers with improved nutrient management is to keep fertilizer out of our natural water supplies.
Nutrient management, aka fertilizer application, is a big deal in conservation. Improper regulation of nutrient runoff can result in water quality issues like algal blooms and hypoxia zones that wreck our natural habitats. The goal for projects sponsoring farmers with improved nutrient management is to keep fertilizer out of our natural water supplies.
Solution
The solution was to add a new boundary type called “edge of field” as a static addon to existing field boundaries.
I redesigned PCM’s map editing features to allow this new associated boundary type so it would be defined in the context of an enrolled field. Since these conservation practices are effectively a permanent installation on a field, they could completely bypass the data entry workflow with a simply on-map wizard walking specialists through the process of adding this new boundary type.
I redesigned PCM’s map editing features to allow this new associated boundary type so it would be defined in the context of an enrolled field. Since these conservation practices are effectively a permanent installation on a field, they could completely bypass the data entry workflow with a simply on-map wizard walking specialists through the process of adding this new boundary type.
Full redesign
Full redesign
Now that the core experience of PCM had been reworked, I set to work filling in the gaps and tweaking the rest of the app’s IA and workflows. I pruned away obsolete functionality and streamled the entire PCM experience.
Now that the core experience of PCM had been reworked, I set to work filling in the gaps and tweaking the rest of the app’s IA and workflows. I pruned away obsolete functionality and streamled the entire PCM experience.
Impact
Impact
I was able to make a considerable improvement to the PCM platform that targeted the primary bottlenecks that were preventing the program from scaling to more farmers in more regions.
I was able to make a considerable improvement to the PCM platform that targeted the primary bottlenecks that were preventing the program from scaling to more farmers in more regions.
Page consolidation
>50%
Annual reporting time
Saved 3+ hours
Page consolidation
>50%
Annual reporting time
Saved 3+ hours
Page consolidation
>50%
Annual reporting time
Saved 3+ hours
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