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Kelly Espinoza

Summary

Duration: Aug 2020 – Apr 2021
Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator
Team: Self

User Research

Interviews, Focus Group, Questionnaires, Observations, Farm Visits, Task Analysis

Agile UX Process

Competitive Analysis, Storyboarding, Interaction Modeling, Wireframing,
Mid-Hi Fidelity Prototypes, User Testing

Overview

Chick Tracker is a case study where I researched and designed for the poultry industry in Ecuador on ways to improve the chick delivery process through a mobile application and climate controlled truck system.

Results

Highest overall score, winner of “Best Senior Project.” This entails best user research, best UX process, and best UI design. Evaluated and judged by UX designers and researchers from Google, Facebook, Amazon, and more.

View Prototype

Background

My family owns a chicken farm located in Ecuador, South America. I was inspired to research and design for the poultry industry because my family has been raising chickens for over 40 years. I’m seeking ways to improve the poultry industry, help my family’s company, and help other chicken farmers grow as well.

Problem

Chicks travel in poor conditions due to poor transport, extreme weather, and road conditions. They often get heat-stressed and agitated while in transit to the farms. In addition, farm owners have no way of tracking their chick’s delivery. Also, drivers fail to properly communicate with farm owners and often arrive late to their farm.

Solution

Chick Tracker is a mobile service and smart-truck fleet monitoring system for farmers to monitor and track their day-old chicks and flock performance through real-time data visualization and analytics, unlike Heering Links, Pasreform, and Veit Fleet Monitor.

Design Process

Primary Research

Note: All research was conducted in Spanish since it’s my target audience’s primary language. Thankfully I’m fluent in Spanish and was able to fully conduct and translate all of my research findings.

User Interviews

9 participants
8h 45min total

Questionnaires

2 surveys
12 responses total

Focus Group

4 participants
1h 10min total

UX Research

Interviews

Goals

The primary goal of conducting interviews was to discover problems in the poultry industry, as well as identifying difficulties users faced throughout the entire production cycle.

The secondary goal was to understand each customer segment’s role, duties, and job position. My interview questions helped me identify user’s needs, pain points, and goals.

Interview Takeaways

- Swipe To View Quotes Translated From Spanish -

Alexandra General Manager at BioAves

There was a time where I received one-hundred dead chicks due to poor transport conditions. The majority of my chicks arrived heat-stressed and squished. Also, the drivers did not arrive on time and lacked communication.

Tony Chicken Deliverer at Pronaca

There are farms that are deep into the woods where road conditions are very bad. There’s potholes everywhere and narrow dirt roads. The worse the roads are, the more agitated and mistreated the chickens get.

Alexandra Gerente General de BioAves

Hubo una vez que recibí 100 pollitos muertos por malas condiciones de transporte. La mayoría de mis pollos llegaron aplastados y estresados por el calor. Además, los choferes no llegaron a tiempo y hubo falta de comunicación.

Tony Distribuidor De Pollos Para Pronaca

Hay granjas que quedan muy lejos donde las carreteras son muy malas. El camino es muy estrecho y hay huecos todo lado. Mientras peores son las carreteras, más se maltratan los pollos y se agitan.

    Surveys

    UX Research

    Surveys

    Two surveys were created, the first survey focused on farm owner’s and the second survey focused on farm workers. Both surveys helped me identify each demographic’s needs, pain points, goals, and their stress-levels throughout the entire production cycle.

    Farm owners wish to monitor their data on-the-go. In interviews, they also stated that it’s difficult to visualize their data.

    Design Opportunity
    If there was a better format for farmers to effectively monitor their data visually and in a more digestible format, then it will be easier for them to evaluate their performance.

    Farm owners currently use Excel sheets to monitor their flock’s performance but it is difficult for them to visually analyze their data. Farmers highly depend on this data to determine their performance and outcome.

     

    Farm workers feel the most stressed in the earlier stages because raising chicks in this stage requires more attention and caution. The first week of the chick’s life is the most crucial and determines their development and growth.

    If day-old chicks arrive fully healthy after traveling in good transport conditions, it will be easier for them to develop and grow accordingly, while also mitigating farmer’s high-stress levels. 

    Focus Group

    UX Research

    Focus Group

    I was able to travel to Ecuador and conduct a focus group with my key partners. We needed to narrow down our focus to only solving one problem. As a result, we agreed to focus on improving the chick’s transport conditions. Together we brainstormed and ideated different ways to improve the transportation process.

    Needs of Farm Owners
    Farm owners believe there’s a     lack of inclusivity and transparency while the drivers deliver their chicks to their farm. Their chickens often arrive late and heat-stressed due to the driver arriving at a much later time than originally planned. Farm owners don’t know what the drivers are doing behind the scenes and wish to be more informed of the chick delivery process.

    Secondary Research

    The following research methods were conducted while I was in Ecuador. This type of in-person involvement helped me learn more about user’s workplace experience and how they perform their daily activities and duties while on the farm.

    Observations

    3 participants
    45min total

    Farm Visits

    4 farms 
    5h total

    Task Analysis

    2 management tools 
    6 equipment studies

    chicken farm

    User Archetypes

    Based on user research, three types of personas were created: the farm owner, the driver, and the farm-worker. I referred to all three personas throughout the entire design process. (click each image to fully view it!)

    Reflects Data From Questionnaire
    Driver
    Farm-Worker

    Empathy Maps

    Empathized and analyzed what users think, feel, says, and what they do while completing their daily duties.

    Farm Owner
    Driver
    Farm-Worker

    Journey Maps

    By creating journey maps, I was able to have a better understanding of the different activities my target audience undergoes while working. I also identified their stress levels in each stage.

    Driver

    Design Fiction

    I created storyboards as a way to imagine how farm owners and chick deliverers will experience and interact with the Chick Tracker mobile app. (click each image to fully view it!)



    Agile UX Process

    Interaction Models



    Wireframes

    User Testing

    Conducted remote user testing via zoom on wireframes to evaluate the application’s key features and ensure the app has good usability and a seamless user flow. Also tested out the Chick Reports feature to ensure that numerical data was presented in an accurate and digestible manner. Overall, I received positive feedback on my UI screens and users found the flow of the app straight forward. The following recommendations were made by stakeholders:

    Option To Select Measurement System

    • Allow users to choose between the metric system or imperial system (E.g. Celsius vs Fahrenheit) 

    Additions To “Past Deliveries”

    • Showcase a timeline of how long it took the driver to deliver the chicks to the farm
    • Include how long it took to unload the chicks (important factor that can influence chicks development when raising them later on)

    Additions To “Previous Deliveries”

    • Allow users to view the temperature inside the truck from previous deliveries

    Participants
    Farm Owner: Alexandra
    District Farm Manager: Armando
    Farm Assessor: Amado

    Gray-Scaled Comps

    Hi-Fidelity Prototypes

    Track Deliveries

    Farm owners are able to track the delivery process of their chicks from start to finish.

    This feature provides farm owners with transparency and allows them to know exactly where drivers are with their chicks.

    View Truck's Conditions

    Farm owners are able to view the truck’s conditions while their chick’s are in transit to the farm.

    Farm owners can ensure chick’s are traveling comfortably and not getting heat-stressed thanks to the climate controlled truck system.

    Chick Reports

    Farm owners can monitor their flock’s performance through data visualization and analytics.

    They can view mortality rates, chicken’s weight, quantity, hen info, and gender ratio.

    View Prototype

    Takeaways

    I learned the importance of involving users every step of the design process by co-creating meaningful key features with them. This helped me create a design solution that is user-driven that alleviates their problems and satisfies their needs.

    While speaking to stakeholders, I learned to view the concept of my app from a different perspective. I realized that the app shouldn’t be one-sided, where only the farm owner is evaluating the driver. Stakeholders suggested it would be more beneficial if both the farm owner and the driver evaluated each other in order to have a successful production cycle. Although I was restricted with time, some things I would consider doing in the future are:

    • Incorporating an app for the drivers where they can evaluate farm owners based on the conditions of their barn. Drivers could also track their deliveries and their performance

    • Creating core features for the smart-truck fleet monitoring system

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