Red sky at night
The objective of this group project was to evaluate and improve the usability and user experience of an existing digital application. Our group chose the Met Eireann weather app and focussed on the specialist weather service they offer farmers and the agricultural community.
Project completed during UX Masters at IADT with Peter Mullen.
User research methods results
Gathering requirements
We began evaluating the current state of the app by conducting a heuristic evaluation, task analysis and current user journey. The potential pain points identified were: confusing navigation, information was not farm-specific and the design was overly complicated.
Next, we spoke to the target user audience. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. Usability tests, 7-day diary study, online survey and interviews with agricultural experts were completed.
Results from the diary study revealed the current app was learnable and accessible. However, usability tests highlighted a lack of functionality and consistency within the app. Survey results and SME interviews helped reveal the need for weather information specific to the farmers work.
Capturing user requirements and prioritising design ideas
Design & testing
Preliminary design concepts were tested, and we constantly asked ourselves did the additional features, content and updated user journey mark an improvement of the current Met Eireann weather app?
Six moderated user tests in total were conducted, five in person in a controlled setting and one remotely. Each participant was representative of the user group. Overall the design aesthetic, plan feature and farm alerts features were really liked in the test. Participants felt the app met farmers needs and filled a niche within the market. To help address issues identified during the test, a further iteration of the prototype was created.
Updated prototype based on user testing feedback
Future work
Further testing would be required to evaluate the design updates made. There is scope for future work which could focus on a more tailored experience specific to a farming group (e.g. livestock vs tillage farmers). An onboarding journey for a more novice farmer to help educate and introduce them to more efficient analysis of the weather could be useful.
Our research suggests there is a need for a farm-specific weather app. Irish farmers do appear to be an under-serviced target group in relation to weather applications.