GeoBox: design and evaluation of a tool for resilient and decentralised data management in agriculture

Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) are an important core component of modern farming companies as they allow, e.g. to document activities, create fertilisation plans, and feed digital equipment with required data. Since the entire agricultural sector is an essential component of food production, high standards of resilience should be established in the involved companies. Accordingly, the used software should also be designed with high standards on reliability and crisis capability. Based on a literature review, we found that software for farmers with certain resilience needs is lacking. Thus, we designed and evaluated a new FMIS concept with the user-centred design method. By conducting focus groups (two rounds, total N = 57) in 2017 and 2019, we raised specific front-end and back-end requirements of farmers. Based on the requirements, we developed our concept for both front- and back-end in terms of a decentralised and offline-working FMIS. Through the evaluation with practitioners (N = 16) of the implemented concept, we derived findings and implications, highlighting the need for privacy, stability, and offline-capability, as well as the UI-requirement to be supportive, e.g. with easy to understand icons and terms.