Mobile Field App
Allows USDA staff to understand if producers are complying with contracts under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
Design role
Background
CBI partnered with producers and USDA staff to design a way to get accurate assessment of vegetation cover and quality of CRP fields.
Problem
Currently, county staff would physically need to visit these sites. Sometimes these reviews won’t happen since it is time-consuming, and they are already overloaded with other tasks. Through conservations with the Chief Project Officer and clients, we came to understand that the USDA staff has difficulty in verifying if producers are complying with contracts.
Applying survey best practices
I made sure the layout of the questions and the way users would respond to them were frictionless.
Initial questions and content were determined by client and Chief Project Officer.
Low-fidelity designs
I used low-fidelity designs to get validate and get the conversation started between clients, Chief Project Officer, and Engineering Lead
Topics covered:
Challenges
Collaborating with multiple needs from the Geospatial team, Chief Project Officer, Engineering team, and clients, there were a few challenges surrounding the content of the survey.
Iterating on capturing the quality of vegetation cover
From imagery with text to imagery with percentage, to specifiying number of plants, to displaying a representation of vegetation cover, these designs were all explored to capture and understand the field's quality cover.
My design rationale was based on user recognition and comprehension.
Style guide
Usability testing
We tested the mobile field app on over 35 fields to incorporate feedback from on-the-ground users and test the effectiveness of the experience.
Validated usefulness of imagery in vegetation cover question
Confirmed the need for contract/farm/field information
Peak bloom was important to capture
Validated picture taking usability
CBI team outing to test mobile field app for usability testing shown below.
Accessibility for color blindness
Outcome
Next steps
Create a web interface to review data and photos for staff members. Below is a brainstorming exercise that outlines how the user could go about getting this information.
