Article
knowledge to improve the translation of scientific information
into actionable knowledge and better products that resonate
with their audience.
At the beginning of this study, the team knew that farmers often
used multiple apps and other media sources to receive weather
forecasts, and assumed that this was because no single source
included all of the features that they wanted. This assumption
lead to the idea that we could build a “perfect weather app” for
farmers, which would be a one-stop shop for farmer’s weather
information. The reality of the situation really challenged these
hypotheses—farmers discussed that they were looking at
multiple apps not for different features, but so that they could
gain consensus between the apps and feel more confident in
their prediction. From the scientists’ perspective, this was a
scientifically incorrect conclusion to draw as most of the apps
were using the same models to make their forecasts. However,
this finding helped to uncover some interesting thought
processes that made more sense in light of a more general
pattern of farmers’ decision-making. The farmers participating
in the research noted that they were looking for certainty before
making decisions, and that they used the consensus between
forecasts to gauge how certain or confident the forecast was. It’s
interesting to note that this is to some extent a farmer-created
proxy for skill, which is generally poorly understood, and raises
important questions about the presentation and understanding
of forecast skill among farmers and how we might do a better
job of providing this information to farmers in a way that they
can understand.
As a result of the research, the team decided that a perfect
weather app for farmers would have features that were likely
to be substantially different to what they had in mind before
they talked to farmers. For example, it might show the complete
range of outcomes, including information about multiple
forecast models (and information about which apps were using
each model to help in education!). It might also convey the range
of uncertainty among forecasts and provide a better indication
of the forecast skill that is easier for farmers to understand.
BAMOS
Sep 2018
UX research gives you insight into the problems or decisions
that your product or service is attempting to address, helping
you design and implement something that’s more relevant
to the needs of your audience. A common saying in UX is to
‘Get curious’, and this can be as simple as identifying a list of
five questions that you want to know the answers to, picking
up the phone, and asking someone if they have 20 minutes
to chat. Don’t be afraid to ask—generally people really enjoy
participating in UX research because it’s one of the few times
of the day when someone else is 100% focussed on listening
to them!
For further information about the pr oject and research results
contact Vicki Lane ([email protected]).
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