DELIVERABLES

Personas, Journey Map, Wireframes, Decks

METHODS

Competitive Analysis, Contextual Inquiry, User Interviews, Survey, Unmoderated Usability Testing

ROLE

UX Designer

Objective

Longview Herding will help reduce costs for labor and animal care. But the app’s ability to catalog data will also help ranchers see trends that inform land management and animal health plans. 

CHALLENGES

Ranchers and cowboys aren’t typical users. Wide-ranging ages, locations, and conditions had to be considered. Most importantly, we knew success would depend on meeting users at the right level of comfort with apps and connected devices, which varied wildly. Later in the design process, changing factors related to implementing the new technology behind the app forced rapid adaptations. 

Execution

Our user research included in-depth interviews with ranchers in Texas, Colorado, and Wyoming, including field studies to observe how they currently track their herds with or without technology. 

Pain points and particularly time-consuming tasks were carefully documented, and we left interviewees with a survey to address any additional thoughts.

To get a picture of best practices in this sector, I conducted a comparative and competitive analysis across a wide range of similar apps from around the world. 

I created user personas to detail the core demographics of our audience. Each one included customer use-cases I felt were important to consider during design. 

For example, the need for one-hand navigation and easy visibility in low light when on horseback.  

As we gained more insights into exactly who would be using the app and under what conditions, I created user journeys and storyboards to visualize each touchpoint. I created decks for each and presented my work to the team for review.

In close collaboration with the development team, I created the following deliverables, which we evolved over several approval rounds:

• Wireframes

• Visual Design Mockups 

• Prototypes

Impact

Day and Night modes were added to later versions of the app. Carnegie currently has the Longview Herding available as part of its Longview suite of IoT products.

Reflection

Longview Herding will help reduce costs for labor and animal care. But the app’s ability to catalog data will also help ranchers see trends that inform land management and animal health plans.