GlobineView
Monitor and manage renewable energy with real-time insights
- Renewable Energy
- UX Research
- UI/UX Design
- Mobile Design
- Agile Scrum
Monitor and manage renewable energy with real-time insights
Globine Energy, an Irish startup specializing in renewable energy and agrotech, sought to develop a digital solution that would enable users to effortlessly track and manage energy production from their new conceptual product, the on-farm 45KW AD system. During our initial meeting, we identified significant challenges, including the absence of a business plan, product specifications, and funding, as well as differing expectations from stakeholders (farmer vs scientist).
Curious about our project's impact and the final product? Discover if we achieved our goals in the 'Did we meet our goals?' section.
The average Irish dairy farmer has some basic understanding of anaerobic digestion system. They see the value of adding the AD system to their farm but are concerned about the initial upfront cost and how hard it would be to learn how to use the system.
I led a team of 3 UI/UX designers to create an intuitive and easy to use mobile application for the AD system. Our main goal was to make the Irish farmer feel comfortable using the solution to see and manage energy production, equipment performance and real-time alerts.
We successfully developed a functional prototype of the GlobineView mobile app. We received positive feedback from initial usability testing, indicating a high user satisfaction rate. The initial user engagement metrics showed promising adoption rates and interaction with key features. Globine Energy has now a working prototype to apply for funds and take GlobineView to the next level.
Play with the prototype delivered to our client.
Before starting the project, I needed to understand Globine Energy's goals, the AD system, and their target market. This helped me create a solid project plan and assign tasks to my team effectively.
To set my team up for success, I collaborated with them to identify their strengths and foster leadership skills. I divided the project into three phases, assigning each designer to a phase based on their preferences. I led the Define phase.
Using Agile Scrum, I broke the project into four one-week sprints. After our initial meeting, we clarified the project plan and scope, ensuring we met the client's expectations and stayed on track.
Due to the technical and unfamiliar nature of this project, we began with secondary research on Anaerobic Digestion (AD) machines and a thorough analysis of current competition. We identified our primary user as a typical Irish dairy farmer and invested our initial efforts into understanding on-farm AD systems, Irish dairy farming practices, and their intersection. We developed a focused research roadmap aimed at gathering valuable insights into our users.
Through our research, we grasped the complexity of the on-farm AD system and the differing expectations of our stakeholders—a scientist and a farmer. The system includes multiple user interfaces: the AD system dashboard, the biogas meter dashboard, the admin team dashboard, and the end-user application.
For the first time, our stakeholders understood our task was to design the end-user application. However, the scientist wanted to provide technical data to the average dairy farmer, which proved more challenging than anticipated.
Thankfully, our research findings presentation helped us finalize the project plan and scope, ensuring everyone had aligned expectations for the product design.
We conducted a heuristic evaluation utilizing 5 of Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics on competitors' apps. This step was crucial to identify common usability issues. A great alternative to usability testing when working on a limited UX research budget.
When evaluating the top apps in the market—AGMRI, Biogas, AGCO GSI, Bushel Farm, and Smart Biogas—we were unpleasantly surprised by the poor performance in key heuristic criteria such as visibility of system status, match between system and the real world, user control and freedom, error prevention, and recognition rather than recall. Here were the top 3 issues found in our heuristics evaluation:
No feedback about the sign in process or a clear option to sign up for the app.
The icons on the bottom navbar, such as the "cow" icon, did not make sense to the users.
Although users can easily exit unwanted states, creating a new account leads to a broken link, preventing users from returning to the main screen.
We identified direct and indirect competitors in the AD industry and reviewed their websites and mobile applications. We compared key features, functionalities, and design elements that overlap with our mobile app. Through SWOT analysis, we evaluated each competitor's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. We analyzed their interface design, navigation, content presentation, and overall usability, identifying best practices and innovative solutions to inform our client's MVP development.
In the course of our deep dive into this project’s technical landscape, I was amazed by what we found. While there are solutions for renewable energy, through heuristic evaluation and competitor analysis, we found out that they are limited and often lack user-centric design. Through user interviews and secondary research, including insights from the Irish Farmers Association, we gained a comprehensive understanding of our target audience—the Irish dairy farmer. This research allowed us to tailor our approach to meet their specific needs and design a solution that truly resonates with end-users.
While the Irish dairy farmer recognizes the benefits of new technology like the on-farm AD system, they feel overwhelmed by new technology and worry about the initial upfront cost of the system.
There are available options for AD systems that collect cow manure and transform it into biogas and organic fertilizer. However, they are highly technical and difficult to read and navigate.
By investing in user research and user-centric design, Globine Energy sets itself a unique opportunity to become a trendsetter in the renewable energy sector by providing the Irish dairy farmer and easy to use solution.
Drawing from the data, our user was likely a seasoned Irish dairy farmer who values tradition but is open to tech innovations. He wants a simpler way to manage energy production on his dairy farm.
Initially, our clients resisted the research phase. However, that changed when I explained the various components of an AD system. I hosted a one-hour workshop with stakeholders to collaboratively identify the core features needed for the initial phase.
After our workshop with stakeholders, my team and I updated the sitemap to reflect the client's feedback. This was the first time we felt we had a clear direction to move forward with this project.
Next, we needed to understand what the user, our dairy farmer, would need to do to accomplish their tasks. It was time to define the user stories and the corresponding task flows.
From sketches to quick mockups and iterations of high-fidelity screens, we kept the dairy farmers’ goals in mind while designing the main screens.
Leading this team for the first time, I initiated a quick 10-minute design challenge to break the ice and learn about each other's work styles. Each designer tackled one main route, and this exercise proved to be a fun and productive way to get to know each other.
We now had our initial mockups. We were excited to have kept the user as the center spot throughout this process, keeping the screens similar to other mobile applications, avoiding technical jargon, and simplifying how to display the technical data.
During the mockup presentation, the stakeholders shared screenshots of a different farming app they wanted to emulate. Despite being informed about upcoming accessibility legislation changes in Europe, they insisted on specific graph types for performance tracking. We provided accessibility audit reports with recommendations, but the client declined to implement them.
We were adamant about addressing specific usability issues while being flexible to other changes. Being able to quickly adapt and collaborate with stakeholders and my fellow designers allows us to deliver an iteration before our in-house usability test.
Creating a brand platform and visual style for this innovative solution aimed at Irish dairy farmers was crucial. To spark creativity, I organized a design challenge focused on the logo. Each designer submitted a logo, and I was thrilled when the stakeholders selected my design.
To facilitate the post-handoff phase, our team created a system library, developing components, and crafting templates for the remaining screens, ensuring a comprehensive deliverable for our client.
Due to time constraints and limited resources, prototype testing was done during the final meeting. Even though the prototype was only tested with a small group of participants, 100% of the users were able to easily navigate and complete the three main tasks. The insights were crucial for improving the monitoring application.
Given our limited resources, we focused on testing the overall feel of the app. Specifically, we wanted to see if users knew how to add biogas data and how to access time-sensitive alerts and respond to them appropriately.
All users easily understood the elements on the homepage. However, 25% of users had concerns:
These minor style changes made the screen much easier for users.
Participants tested how easy it was to read alerts on their mobile app. The color-coded alerts, varying by severity, were well-received. All users accessed alerts from the home screen to the alerts page and decided to either "Chat" or "Call" for help or "Close" the alert by tapping "Done." Surprisingly, the only request was to add a way back to the home screen by tapping the app logo, even though a "Home" icon is in the bottom navbar.
After quick testing during our final meeting, I led an internal meeting with my design team to finalize design changes and create documentation for recommendations during the project handoff. In the retrospective meeting, I reiterated the main concerns we needed to address for our end user and how we resolved them. Here are the top solutions for the minimum viable product:
The home screen shows dairy farmers how the system is performing. They can also add their daily biogas production directly from the home screen. We simplified complex information for an intuitive approach, using large icons, high color contrast, and avoiding technical jargon.
GlobineView empowers farmers with real-time performance data, driving efficiency and optimizing performance in dairy farming operations. Users can access performance metrics for each of the 14 subsystems, view historical performance data, and add media and notes to the platform.
With just one tap from the home screen, dairy farmers can get an overview of their production status. Key metrics such as electricity production and biogas generation are presented in an intuitive interface. The user-friendly design empowers farmers to optimize their system's efficiency and productivity without technical expertise.
We addressed the lack of clarity in competitors' alerts by implementing a color-coded alert system directly accessible from the home screen. Clear instructions guide users on how to contact the admin team or address issues themselves, ensuring our app meets the diverse needs of farmers.
By optimizing our team's schedule through Agile scrum methodology and swiftly adapting to client requests, I empowered my team to deliver additional screens, including Help & Account, going beyond the initial scope. My goal was to provide the client with a well-defined design template for all future screens, expediting development, testing, and launch. This proactive approach not only met but exceeded the client's expectations, showcasing my commitment to excellence.
Our objective for Globine Energy was to simplify biogas production management for the average Irish dairy farmer and provide Globine Energy with a fully functional prototype to seek funds and launch a competitive renewable energy production app. We achieved great results for both the client and users:
Transitioned Globine Energy from zero-to-one, taking the GlobineView mobile app a step closer to development, testing, marketing, and launch.
Final deliverable provided tangible evidence of the app's user-friendly nature and technical robustness, potentially unlocking €40 million in investment.
Achieved a flawless user testing record, with all testers successfully navigating through all app features and functionalities, highlighting the app's intuitiveness and accessibility.
Looking back at our initial objectives, it's clear that our concerted efforts and strategic planning led to significant achievements. We not only met but exceeded our business goals and UX metrics, ensuring the successful development of a functional and user-friendly prototype. Here’s a detailed overview of how we accomplished each goal:
We've provided final handoff documentation with actionable items crucial for the product design's success, considering new laws, user-centric designs, and best practices.
We provided a final document advising our stakeholders to prioritize user insights. They should be focusing heavily on further usability testing. We reemphasized the need to reduce technical jargon and focus on accessibility. Thinking on accessibility and that this app would most likely be used outdoors, we suggested the design of a dark mode option.
Considering the typical usage scenario of dairy farmers outdoors during daylight hours, we proposed implementing a dark mode theme for the application. This feature enhances readability and reduces eye strain, especially in bright environments, ensuring a better user experience.
As I concluded this chapter of our project journey, I carry forward invaluable lessons and insights gained from our experiences.
This project reinforced the importance of collaborative work. By strategically allocating tasks to each team member, fostering a culture of mutual support, and keep constant contact with stakeholders, we achieved remarkable results.
By championing a flexible approach that embraced last-minute shifts, I propelled us toward our project’s successful completion. Client was happy with the final deliverable and we felt accomplished.
Entering uncharted territory with the AD systems project, I embraced the opportunity to explore new technologies and industries. The renewable energy sector was a complex area to work but also very rewarding.
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