All this data is making my life, my planning and my daily routine a lot easier.
-- Farmer (Danmark), market test 3The Challenge: Establishing International User Research Practices
Our client, 365FarmNet, in partnership with CLAAS, provides machinery equipped with telematics data, enabling digital farming with remarkable precision and efficiency. Their solutions offer farmers essential data-driven insights and services to support their daily work. Before the launch of their new product suite, we were tasked with gathering user feedback from five different language markets. To achieve this, we developed a testing strategy, established the necessary research processes, and conducted user testing on 12 distinct topics during the alpha phase.
Our Approach: Setting Priorities & Establishing Processes
At the start of the project, we focused on prioritizing user research needs and crafting a testing strategy for the alpha and beta phases. As we were responsible for managing and executing the studies—from kickoff to results presentation—we also defined roles and established seamless processes to integrate with the agile product development workflow. We assembled an international research team, built recruitment channels, and documented all research activities and findings on the research platform Condens. This groundwork enabled us to address major usability challenges before the product launch. In addition to predominantly remote testing, we conducted on-site research at Agritechnica 2023 to deepen our understanding of the target audience.
The eureka moment: Building Trust through Stakeholder Onboarding
To recruit existing customers as participants for user tests, close collaboration with international sales teams was essential. To ensure they could confidently engage with their customers, we organized public dry runs and Q&A sessions for all user tests, making the research process tangible. We also involved the sales teams in every results presentation. This approach fostered transparency, clarified numerous questions, and underscored the value of user research across the organization. The significant interest in the results confirmed that this approach was a step in the right direction for establishing trust through stakeholder onboarding.
Project Impact: Deeper User Understanding Across Markets & Departments
After completing the Alpha 1 and 2 tests, we reflect on a successful year of collaboration. Our international research across the Polish, German, French, Danish, and English markets provided all stakeholders with fresh insights and perspectives. By involving the client team in every interview, they gained first-hand knowledge of conceptual weaknesses and now have ample time to make improvements before the product launch. The growing number of participants in each results presentation demonstrated the increasing value of user research across departments. At leefs CX, we also continue to deepen our understanding of farmers’ needs and are passionately exploring the challenges and tasks that drive them.
