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Contour mobile - 2019
Reducing complaints and increasing adoption
Contour mobile - 2019
Reducing complaints and increasing adoption
Contour mobile - 2019
Reducing complaints and increasing adoption
Scouting is an important part of monitoring whole farm performance through soil, crop development and pest and disease for agronomists and farmers. The initial launch was very successful, but after a year with little development, the app had become frustrating and unpredictable to use.
Role
I led design for the project and my role included interviewing users, QA testing and product strategy
Team
1 Product designer
1 Product owner
2 Full stack engineers
Scouting is an important part of monitoring whole farm performance through soil, crop development and pest and disease for agronomists and farmers. The initial launch was very successful, but after a year with little development, the app had become frustrating and unpredictable to use.
Role
I led design for the project and my role included interviewing users, QA testing and product strategy
Team
1 Product designer
1 Product owner
2 Full stack engineers
Scouting is an important part of monitoring whole farm performance through soil, crop development and pest and disease for agronomists and farmers. The initial launch was very successful, but after a year with little development, the app had become frustrating and unpredictable to use.
Role
I led design for the project and my role included interviewing users, QA testing and product strategy
Team
1 Product designer
1 Product owner
2 Full stack engineers
Approach
Approach
Approach
With only 6 weeks to complete this project, it was important to solve the right problems. To find these we analysed all the support tickets since the original app launch to identify common themes and conducted interviews with a number of agronomists, farmers and account managers. This allowed us to find out what made the app difficult to use and revealed more about why they used it.
Observations are the most used feature. The long press method to create them is inconsistent and frustrating
Initial loading of the app takes too long
Finding observations on the map was difficult
Users beginning to lose trust in the app because issues weren’t being fixed and concerns weren’t addressed
Key insights
Observations are the most used feature. The long press method to create them is inconsistent and frustrating
Initial loading of the app takes too long
Finding observations on the map was difficult
Users beginning to lose trust in the app because issues weren’t being fixed and concerns weren’t addressed
Key insights
Key insights
Observations are the most used feature. The long press method to create them is inconsistent and frustrating
Initial loading of the app takes too long
Finding observations on the map was difficult
Users beginning to lose trust in the app because issues weren’t being fixed and concerns weren’t addressed
Focus on the fundamentals
The primary use case for Contour mobile is for farmers and agronomists to make observations whilst on their crop walks. Making an observation previously required a long press on the map and had no identification of where in the field it was being placed. We had a number of complaints about the inaccuracy, inconsistency and intuitiveness of this approach.
With this feedback in mind, I designed a way for users to make an observation from anywhere in the app by tapping on the plus button in the main navigation tab bar. When making an observation a centred pin clearly shows the user where in the field they are making the observation.
Focus on the fundamentals
The primary use case for Contour mobile is for farmers and agronomists to make observations whilst on their crop walks. Making an observation previously required a long press on the map and had no identification of where in the field it was being placed. We had a number of complaints about the inaccuracy, inconsistency and intuitiveness of this approach.
With this feedback in mind, I designed a way for users to make an observation from anywhere in the app by tapping on the plus button in the main navigation tab bar. When making an observation a centred pin clearly shows the user where in the field they are making the observation.
Focus on the fundamentals
The primary use case for Contour mobile is for farmers and agronomists to make observations whilst on their crop walks. Making an observation previously required a long press on the map and had no identification of where in the field it was being placed. We had a number of complaints about the inaccuracy, inconsistency and intuitiveness of this approach.
With this feedback in mind, I designed a way for users to make an observation from anywhere in the app by tapping on the plus button in the main navigation tab bar. When making an observation a centred pin clearly shows the user where in the field they are making the observation.
Keep it familiar
Despite a disgruntled and disengaged user base, the app was still a fundamental part of the service that agronomists provide to their clients. To address this, we aimed to improve the app while keeping the familiar user interface. User interviews revealed that the content drawer was helpful but had issues with tapping and space usage.
To solve these problems, I added three pre-defined heights to the content drawer and included icon buttons that changed based on the drawer's state. This allowed users to easily view more information, hide the drawer to see more of the map, or close it completely. The changes were made to enhance user experience and make it easier to access information.
Keep it familiar
Despite a disgruntled and disengaged user base, the app was still a fundamental part of the service that agronomists provide to their clients. To address this, we aimed to improve the app while keeping the familiar user interface. User interviews revealed that the content drawer was helpful but had issues with tapping and space usage.
To solve these problems, I added three pre-defined heights to the content drawer and included icon buttons that changed based on the drawer's state. This allowed users to easily view more information, hide the drawer to see more of the map, or close it completely. The changes were made to enhance user experience and make it easier to access information.
Keep it familiar
Despite a disgruntled and disengaged user base, the app was still a fundamental part of the service that agronomists provide to their clients. To address this, we aimed to improve the app while keeping the familiar user interface. User interviews revealed that the content drawer was helpful but had issues with tapping and space usage.
To solve these problems, I added three pre-defined heights to the content drawer and included icon buttons that changed based on the drawer's state. This allowed users to easily view more information, hide the drawer to see more of the map, or close it completely. The changes were made to enhance user experience and make it easier to access information.
Speed it up
While developers could make most of the app's speed improvements, there was still potential for enhancing the UI and UX to make the app feel faster. The app's initial load time took around one minute 20 seconds on average, with the largest farm taking up to four minutes. However, users expected the app to load almost immediately. One of the reasons for the slow initial load was the amount of data the map had to load. Default settings also had field labels and observations turned on, making it difficult for users to locate specific observations from the map.
To tackle these issues, I introduced a dedicated Observations page as the home page. This page lists all observations for that farm and has simple and effective filtering options, making it easier to locate any observation. As a result, the average load time was reduced to under ten seconds and for large farms to under 45 seconds.
Speed it up
While developers could make most of the app's speed improvements, there was still potential for enhancing the UI and UX to make the app feel faster. The app's initial load time took around one minute 20 seconds on average, with the largest farm taking up to four minutes. However, users expected the app to load almost immediately. One of the reasons for the slow initial load was the amount of data the map had to load. Default settings also had field labels and observations turned on, making it difficult for users to locate specific observations from the map.
To tackle these issues, I introduced a dedicated Observations page as the home page. This page lists all observations for that farm and has simple and effective filtering options, making it easier to locate any observation. As a result, the average load time was reduced to under ten seconds and for large farms to under 45 seconds.
Speed it up
While developers could make most of the app's speed improvements, there was still potential for enhancing the UI and UX to make the app feel faster. The app's initial load time took around one minute 20 seconds on average, with the largest farm taking up to four minutes. However, users expected the app to load almost immediately. One of the reasons for the slow initial load was the amount of data the map had to load. Default settings also had field labels and observations turned on, making it difficult for users to locate specific observations from the map.
To tackle these issues, I introduced a dedicated Observations page as the home page. This page lists all observations for that farm and has simple and effective filtering options, making it easier to locate any observation. As a result, the average load time was reduced to under ten seconds and for large farms to under 45 seconds.
Results & Impact
As the app entered its first full spring crop rotation in 2021, the number of recorded observations has tripled compared to the same time last year, and there are no signs of growth slowing down.
300%
Increase in observations recorded
155%
Decrease in initial load time
Results & Impact
As the app entered its first full spring crop rotation in 2021, the number of recorded observations has tripled compared to the same time last year, and there are no signs of growth slowing down.
300%
Increase in observations recorded
155%
Decrease in initial load time
© 2023 Joe Williams. All Rights Reserved.
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© 2023 Joe Williams. All Rights Reserved.
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