How can IoT transform livestock management & drive data-driven decisions?
Partner
My Contribution
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Research: Surveys, Competitive Analysis, Interviews, System Maps Affinity Mapping
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Design: User Flows, Iterative Wireframing, Prototypes
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Business impact: Define OKRs
Project Timeline
3 months,
Mar - May 2018
Tools
Figma, Miro, Google Workspace
Problem
Farmers unequipped with advanced tech for livestock management
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The traditional livestock industry is a sector that is widely overlooked and under-serviced, although it is arguably the most vital. Livestock provides much-needed renewable, natural resources that we rely on every day. So why is the process to adopt technology so slowly within this industry? What are the areas to intervene, spot opportunities in the system and provide value through technology?
Objectives
Identify the unmet needs within the system.
Define the integration of the developed technology
Deliver the MVP and define the OKRs
Approach
Multi-disciplinary work
Within our multi-disciplinary team I looked at the product through three lenses in order to evaluate its value:
'Business' for revenue and costs;
'UX' for user gains and pains;
'Data' as it supports these values.
PRODUCT STRATEGY
OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS
DISCOVERY
Business
UX
Data
Wore many hats as a designer.
I worked on this project as a product designer and also defined the product's strategic value. I collaborated closely with the founder, engineers, subject experts, and business stakeholders.
I started on the project by first taking a holistic and analytical view of the context, I also tackled the UI redesign and visual improvements that resulted in creating a new style guide. I also identified the total value delivered within constraints in a highly uncertain environment.
My Role
Process
Research
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Mapping & Ideation
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MVP Planning
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Design exploration & Prototyping
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OKR Mapping
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Build & Beta Launch
Primary Insights
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Keeping your farm up to date is a breeze, move livestock by selecting their new location on the map, each herd has a history so you can look back and see who was grazed when.
Fragmented Market
Conducting market analysis as per to better position your the products and also reduce risks by better informing the business decisions.
Several providers available for individual requirements but not an end-to-end service
Lack of region specific focus
Need to adapt to changing conditions
Customer Behaviour
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In order to identify the variables that influence the farmers habits and the motives, priorities, and decision-making methods I gathered insights through focused interviews.. It also helped you understand how customers feel about the service and if that perception aligns with their core values.
Co-creation
Require continuous
monitoring of the farm events
Getting overwhelmed by technology
Need of hands-on assistance
Mapping how the sub-systems interact
Before starting on only the livestock area of farming, we took a step back and mapped all related systems and factors. This not only helped us to better identify the areas for intervention but also propose to the client ideas for future scoping.
Key insights we identified
✅ Instability: The environmental factors effecting it
🔎 Transparency: Standard measurements and methodologies anyone can understand and audit.
📈 Scalability: An efficient, automated system that reduces time and cost for getting credits to buyers.
Opportunity Areas
Categories defining the service features
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Based upon the mapping done along with the stakeholders, below four areas were identified to be the main areas where the farmers voiced need for intervention and also the proposed technology can support. .
Livestock Database as per different categories
Cattle History, Cattle Health & Cattle Distress Alert
Feed ,Nutrition Guidance, Breeding & Birth Mgmt
Growth Mgmt., GPS tracking & Geo Fencing
Core technology transition to a micro-services-based architecture identified to be the unlock.
The technology monitors cows 24/7, 365 days a year, analyzing their well-being, productivity, and performance. Using computer vision and artificial intelligence, they can be translated into visual information into actionable data.
Product Concept
Co-creation
Explored ideas
Creating a low-fidelity prototype was meant to highlight only the high-level functionality of the design. This step displayed what type of interaction I had in mind without requiring every element to go into the final prototype. ​
I learned how important and time saving a low-fidelity prototype might be. First, all stakeholders can agree on the base functionality before valuable time and resources are put into building the app. If someone disagrees, the prototype can be tweaked in a matter of seconds.
Feature Integrations
At this stage, I connected with the tech lead to map the flow of information and further identify the features. Through user interviews and market analysis, I gained insights into the critical functionalities required to streamline livestock management processes. I then worked hand in hand with the tech team to translate these requirements into technical specifications and feasibility assessments.Through brainstorming sessions and design reviews, I ensured that the proposed features aligned with the app's overall vision and user experience
📶 Statistics
🚥 Operational Dashboards
📟 Geo-tagging
The last step of this stage is to interpret the insights in a business context, and share and validate them with business stakeholders.
I further went on to partner with the client to define the MVP launch and make sure of the alignment of the design intent with the business goals.
MVP Planning
Prototyping
Primary User Flow​
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Based on the insights from previous stages, I explored and sketched many ideas. I defined the hierarchy of items on screens and communicated what we should test. The task flo1s highlighted four key areas for design work, which also was included as an 'MVP' scope due to its need and feasibility. These can be summarised under the following themes:
Discover - How would users identify which cattle are in need of care/attention? Additionally, how would we allow users to view details based on specifically selected
Inform & action - How would we communicate the information associated with the concern and the next actionable steps?
Help - How could we provide additional support and learning to the users?
Wireframes​
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Next, I moved on to refining the sketches in Figma and deciding on a design system and its subsequent patterns.
Wireframes​
Creating a low-fidelity prototype was meant to highlight only the high-level functionality of the design. This step displayed what type of interaction I had in mind for Xpert without requiring every element to go into the final app. ​
Prototype
Visual Designs & Interactions​
After 3 iterations of user feedback, the final solution ended up focusing on a smooth onboarding, multiple ways to interact with the student community, and a way to earn and redeem rewards for participation
Set up livestock groups and monitor their location
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Set up herds with animal type and count, record where your animals are and see them on the map. Can be used for many different animals including sheep, cattle and horses.
UI Decisions​
The key visual flourish was an icon set for the cattle categories which was designed inspired by them and in-style with the brand guideline
Uncover invisible patterns
Keeping your farm up to date is a breeze, move livestock by selecting their new location on the map, each herd has a history so you can look back and see who was grazed when.
Data Visualizations
Showing the data captured about the castles and their environment in a way that could easily be readable by the user was a vital task.
Cattle Feed Tracking
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Each card represents a feed bunk location. It also shows how many cattle have been using the feed bunk and how much feed remaining in the bunk can be tracked.
User can switch over to the cattle tab to view individual cattle feed information.
Evaluation system
Defining the OKRS​
Based on the interactions defined at the development stage, I defined the Objectives and Key Results to develop the evaluation systems to be used when the MVP is launched in the target market.
Outcome
Showed the value of a strategic approach to design ​
My work achieved product and business buy-in and was being planned to be launched in its MVP phase as a new addition to their portfolio.
This project showed the client how significant an informative design process could impact the business model development. Th system mapping also helped in future scopping of the product
Learnings
Making sense of data, creating insights and turning them into decisions
Rushing to research and design for the targeted feature can be tempting, but first taking a step back and analyzing how it interacts with the whole system adds real value.