A Season of Data-Driven Growth
Industry
Agriculture
Client
Simplot
Role
Lead Designer
Date
2.5 Years
Note that specific information has been redacted and designs are not included do to due their sensitivity. Please contact me to see more.
The Challenge
Crop advisors faced challenges due to fragmented workflows and outdated tools, hindering their ability to provide timely, actionable insights to farmers. This impacted crop yields and profitability. The goal was to develop a unified platform that empowers advisors with a seamless, data-driven experience to make better decisions and optimize farming practices.
The Team
We fostered an agile, collaborative environment. I initially led design solo, later managing a rotating team of five designers, ensuring a cohesive vision and smooth transitions.
2
Program Managers
3
4
Project Managers
2
Business Analysts
2
2
Designers
20+
Developers
2.5
Years
80k+
Hours
Process
Discovery: In-depth interviews and workshops with stakeholders to gather requirements, understand user needs, and pain points.
Design & Prototyping: Iterative design, user testing, and feedback incorporation to refine the user experience and ensure the platform met the needs of both advisors and growers.
Development & Testing: Close collaboration with developers, ensuring seamless integration of features and rigorous testing throughout the development cycle.
Phased Rollout: Incremental feature release, gathering user feedback in real-world scenarios, and continuously refining and optimizing the platform.
Key Features
I was responsible for the design and user experience of all the features listed below, ensuring they were intuitive, efficient, and met the needs of both crop advisors and growers. I focused on clear data visualization, ease of use, and seamless integration between different platform components.
Pre-Season Preparation
Crop Planning Module: Enables creation of comprehensive, data-driven crop plans, incorporating historical yield and soil data, fertilizer recommendations, seed selection, and crop protection strategies.
In-Season Monitoring
Real-time Dashboards: Provide actionable insights into field health, weather patterns, and scouting observations, enabling advisors to proactively address potential issues.
GPS-Guided Sampling: Facilitates precise tissue and soil sampling, delivering real-time data on crop nutrient levels and soil health to optimize in-season field treatments.
Satellite Imagery: Integrates real-time satellite imagery to offer a bird’s-eye view of fields, helping advisors identify areas of concern such as nutrient deficiencies, pest infestations, or irrigation problems.
Scouting Interface: Streamlines the collection of in-field data on crop health, pests, and diseases, complementing satellite imagery for a more holistic approach to crop monitoring.
Streamlining Workflows
Order Fulfillment: Simplifies the procurement of seeds, chemicals, and fertilizers, ensuring efficient inventory management and timely delivery.
Task Management: Centralizes the management of tasks and field activities, fostering collaboration and improving workflow efficiency between advisors and growers.
Pricing Tool: A specialized application that supports data-driven pricing decisions across multiple locations, empowering market and location managers to optimize profitability.
Post-Season Analysis
Yield Analysis: Provides detailed performance metrics, allowing advisors to gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of their strategies and make data-driven adjustments for future seasons to maximize yields.
Outcomes
Increased efficiency and productivity for crop advisors, enabling them to manage more fields and provide timely recommendations.
Improved decision-making through data-driven insights, leading to optimized crop yields and increased profitability for growers.
Enhanced collaboration between advisors and growers, facilitating better communication and more effective crop management plans.
Scalable platform that can accommodate future growth and innovation in precision agriculture technologies.
Support for sustainable farming practices by promoting efficient resource use and data-driven decision-making.
Conclusion
This project exemplifies the transformative potential of technology in modern agriculture. By addressing the pain points of crop advisors and providing them with the tools to leverage data-driven insights, the platform has the potential to drive significant improvements in productivity, profitability, and sustainability within the agricultural sector.