VRA
What is VRA?
Variable-rate application (VRA) is a precision farming technique that involves adjusting the application rate of inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides, and seeds to different areas of a field based on their specific needs.
VRA uses data from various sources, including satellite imagery, soil maps, and yield data, to create a customized prescription map that guides the application of inputs to different sections of the field.
By tailoring the input application to the specific needs of each area, VRA can optimize crop yields, reduce input waste, and lower costs, making it an effective and efficient tool for precision farming.
How VRA maps are useful for farmers?
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By tailoring input distribution to specific field zones, variable rate technology boosts crop yields and preserves soil health.
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Enhances the traceability of crop production and minimizes environmental impact, fostering more sustainable farming practices.
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Fertilizing delivers essential nutrients precisely where needed, preventing fertilizer burn.
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Precise irrigation provides necessary moisture without the risk of fungal diseases and root rot caused by over-wetting.
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At any stage of the cultivation process it can improve crop productivity and yield quality.
What Yara provides?
Yara expanded its digital solutions and precision farming tools to support farmers in optimizing crop yields and reducing waste.
The goal was to create digital tools to help farmers do more with less.
Atfarm
Accurate and efficent nitrogen managemnet tool
Atfarm was Yara’s first attempts to consolidate their crop nutrition offering.
What am i solving?
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Provision for farmers to create VRA maps for their fields through Atfarm product.
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Increase field productivity through maximizing use of available fertilizer within the legal field limitations.
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Reduce the amount of time it takes to ​apply nutrients to the field based on the current growing conditions of the crop.
To begin,
I started analysing the existing MVP version, and collected all available research data...
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Understand the problem, task, and requirements
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Gather the existing Atfarm solution flows for Stakeholder review.
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Identify key moments in existing flows that need to be adapted/improved
Available Research Data:
Onfield analysis & VRA
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Decision making process
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Blockers & Enablers
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People & Interaction
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Overall product experience with initial concepts provided by designers
Above diagram was previously created flow represents our believe of user behaviour using this tool.
They will only use single field VRA during the trial phase. However afterwards they will use Batch creation of VRAs and save time.
User journey map
Created As-IS journey to understand the current experience and interactions...
Organised an internal meeting with key Stakeholders, Agronomists, Product, Engineering, Validation and Design to review and further critique the existing user experience of the tool...
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Key Takeaways
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We identified 6 low & 8 medium issues.
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Cannot continue with broken experience, new concepts need to be prioritised.
User profile
Understanding of targeted users,
Concepts
End-to-End concept
High-level steps for creating VRA maps
Initiating VRA process or Entry points
Key scenarios
Developing use cases...
Scenario #1:
Robin (tech novice farmer) has full adopted the recommendations of Yara and see an upcoming task to fertilize. Following the task Robin create a VRA and exports it.
Scenario #2:
Alex comes to create a VRA map for one field. He is trialing Yara’s VRA tool. Starting from the “optimization tools” page. Alex selects VRA and then Creates a Variable rate Application map.
Scenario #3:
Alex wants to create VRA for all his winter wheat fields.
Created scenarios into flows,
Research alignment
Stream 1 – Testing Atfarm BAU VRA
Responsible Team - Research
Research Goal - Discover user pain points, needs and gains with current VRA experience (Atfarm BAU)
Who to test with - German Farmers
What to test with - Atfarm MVP VRA flow
Notes - There are additional research questions that came up after the kick-off that the NG team will add to the research board.​
The initial Batch VRA flow live at Atfarm
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The prototype exists but would need to be translated
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The research team will decide if it fits into the testing setup
Stream 2 – Validate NG VRA Concepts
Responsible Team - NG Design
Research Goal - Evaluate prototype of proposed flows for Atfarm NG to discover whether we're moving in the right direction with the product
Who to test with - Internal Users, Agronomists
What to test with - NG VRA Prototype
Notes
The NG team will continue to work on the NG VRA concepts, coming up with a clickable prototype
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Proposed next steps,
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Create VRA concept proposal
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Validate with Product
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Check-In with research team
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Validate with Internal Users
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Iterating on design by considering Internal Feedback and findings from Atfarm BAU tests
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Handover to engineering
Task flows
Mid-fidelity screen flows
Hi-fi screens
Created visuals with our own Design System,
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An introductory screen explaining about the feature
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Selecting field(s)
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Entering Biomass information
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Entering Fertilizer information
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Creating VRA map
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VRA map is ready with additional information
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Multiple Export and downloadable provision.
Future Concepts
Adding additional content with Biomass for creating VRA maps,
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From user research we found out that our farmers base their VRA maps based on Soil type maps or Soil analysis, Yield potential maps and Multi-year biomass maps.
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Hence, along with biomass we should allow to add more data while creating VRA.​​
Now, the user can easily create a standalone VRA recommendation to a field and a recommendation connected to the growing season structure.