Project Part #2:
Establishing Requirements
As a follow-up to Submission project part 1 (project proposal), we are required to to materialize our proposed solution by designing the interaction of the system/application/product. Understanding users' capabilities, present tasks, and ambitions is essential. We also need to be aware of the circumstances in which the product or service will be utilised, as well as any performance limitations. These processes can be represented through the implementation of Task & User Analysis as shown below:
The purpose of task analysis and user observation is to find and analyze what type of tasks our system/application/product should offer. An existing system will be identified with 3 tasks that user can do with the existing system. 3 real users will be identified and they are required to perform the tasks while thinking out loud (Thinking Aloud technique). These tasks performance can be referred in the videos later.
The purpose of user analysis is to identify the characteristics of our three (3) target user groups. We are also required to create one persona from each user group (total of 3 personas). In user analysis, we'll discuss on 3 tasks that can be performed for our proposed solution. Several scenarios will be created, to illustrate why the target user would need to do the tasks identified for our system.
Gathering Requirements - Task Analysis
Task Analysis - Introduction
The current product that we are testing is the traditional system of farming and the old interface of drones. Traditional farming systems refer to the practices and techniques used by farmers in the past, before the widespread adoption of modern, industrialized agriculture. These systems were often characterized by a reliance on locally available resources and a close connection to the land and natural environment. There are 3 tasks that we choose from the current system for the observation.
DERIVATION OF HIERARCHICAL TASK ANALYSIS
TASK #1 - PICKING FRUITS
USER #1
OLD FARMER
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0 Picking Fruits
1 Grab a cutter
2 Be aware of thorns on the trees
3 Determine if the fruits is ripe
3.1 Choose ripe fruit
3.2 Ignore unripe fruit
4 Hold the fruit and cut the stem
DIAGRAM
USER #2
YOUNG FARMER
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0 Picking Fruits
1 Grab a basket
2 Determine mature plants and ripe fruit
3 Choose Fruit
4 Pick fruit by pulling them from the stem
5 Put the fruit in a basket
6 Bring the fruit to the shed
DIAGRAM
USER #3
AGRICULTURE DRONE PILOT
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0 Picking Fruits
1 Grab a sack
2 Find the best and ripe fruit
3 Hold the fruit
4 Pull the fruit with bare hands
5 Put the fruit in the sack
DIAGRAM
FINDINGS FROM TASK #1
From the observation that has been made from the videos, we find out that the old farmers had to be careful of thorns on trees such as the lemon tree to avoid getting harmed. Other than that, the old farmer also had a hard time picking fruits that are high above the ground because it is too far out of his reach.
While for the young farmer he has to carry along a bucket to fill it up with the fruit that he has already picked which can get heavy as the bucket will be filled to the brim. Also from the video it can be seen that the young farmer has to bend over to pick out the fruits which can cause back ache overtime as he will also be carrying the heavy bucket. These activities done by the old and young farmers will require them to use a lot of their energy and consume a significant amount of time as it will be necessary for them to take a break from time to time. Thus it is not an effective way to complete the task.
As for the third persona which is agriculture drone pilot he is facing difficulties when it comes to searching for good and ripe fruit. This is due to the fact that he has to navigate through the bushes and vines to pick the fruits.
To conclude all the findings from this task, all three users have to use most of their energy and it requires so much time just to do this simple tasks so it is good to have an effective system.
DERIVATION OF HIERARCHICAL TASK ANALYSIS
TASK #2 - FERTILIZING PLANT
USER #1
OLD FARMER
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0. Fertilizing plants and trees
1. Grabbing the fertilizer from the shed
2. Determine which type of fertilizer to use for each tree
2.1 Use organic fertilizer for small trees
2.2 Use chemical fertilizer for big trees
3. Take a handful of the fertilizer
4. Go to the tree
5. Pour the fertilizers around the tree
DIAGRAM
USER #2
YOUNG FARMER
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0 Fertilizing plants and trees
1 Prepare Equipment For Fertilization
2 Choose Plant From the plantation
3 Refill the fertilizer if needed
4 Spray around the plant and below parts of the leaves
5 Make sure all leaves get same amount of fertilizer
DIAGRAM
USER #3
AGRICULTURE DRONE PILOT
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0 Fertilizing plants and trees
1 Fill up the drone with fertilizers
2 Turn on the drone
3 Manually pilot the drone over to the fertilizing area
4 Release the fertilizers over the field with a press of a button
5 Return the drone back to the pilot
DIAGRAM
FINDINGS FROM TASK #2
From the observation that has been made, we find out that both young and old farmers share the same problem which consumes much time and requires a ton of energy. For the old farmer, he has to carry the heavy sack of fertilizer from the shed and fill in his hand with fertilizer to pour it to each plant. Furthermore, he has to make sure that the fertilizer used is enough for each plant which is not easy.
While for the young farmer he has to carry along his fertilizer spray and its jerry can contain fertilizer as a refiller. From the video it can be seen that the young farmer has to crouch to spray and he also complains that he got muscle ache when he has to spray all the plants equally. This consumes so much time and requires energy to accomplish the task and not an effective way to complete the task.
As for the third persona, it can be seen that the controller being used is confusing because there are a lot of movement types such as vertical, pitch, yaw and roll. All of these movements are required to be learnt to fly drones safely and properly.
To summarize all of the findings from this task, all three users must use the most of their effort to complete the task, however with the help of the drone it reduces the time taken for the field to be fertilized, but the interface and how the drone is implemented can be improved.
DERIVATION OF HIERARCHICAL TASK ANALYSIS
TASK #3 - CHECKING FERTILITY OF SOIL AND PLANT
USER #1
OLD FARMER
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0. Checking fertility of soil and plants
1. Look at the trees in the area of investigation
2. Checking the colors of the tree
3. Determine what is insufficient in the soil
3.1 Yellow leaves indicate that calcium and magnesium levels are low
3.2 Check the PH level of the soil
DIAGRAM
USER #2
YOUNG FARMER
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0 Checking fertility of soil and plants
1 Searching for unhealthy plant and soil
2 Check the color of the leaves
3 Use drone ease the checking process
4 Touch and feel the soil to check if there is a lump
DIAGRAM
USER #3
AGRICULTURE DRONE PILOT
VIDEO
TEXTUAL
0 Checking fertility of soil and plants
1 Go to the area that will be examine
2 Dig out the soil
3 Observe the condition of the soil
3.1 Continue if soil is moist and soft
3.2 Discontinue if soil is hard and lumpy
4 Go to the chosen tree to examine
5 Observe the color of the leaves
DIAGRAM
FINDINGS FROM TASK #3
From the observation that has been made from the videos, we find out that the old farmers had to go up to each tree to check the color of the trees which can be time consuming as he will need to walk there and identify what is wrong with it. The old farmer also was not actually sure why the trees had a different color than how it was supposed to be, thus the solution to heal the tree might not be accurate and he has to try a few methods to heal the tree.
While for the young farmer he also had to check the color of the leaves and also the soil’s conditions to determine the plant and soil fertility one plant at a time which is time consuming. So to combat this problem on a big farm, it can be seen that from the video the young farmer also utilizes a drone to determine the condition of his farm which he manually controls by himself, thus human error such as the inability to perfectly fly the drone can occur which can cause the drone to crash. These tasks done by the old and young farmers take up a lot of their time because after they determine which trees are affected and are not in good health, they have to identify what might be wrong with them. As a result, it is not an effective approach to completing the task.
For the third persona which is agriculture drone pilot, they also had the same difficulties as young farmer which is to determine the plant and soil fertility, one plant at a time, it takes time to evaluate the colour of the leaves and the soil's conditions. They used traditional method to check the fertility of the plant and also for the soil. Moreover, they are sometimes do not sure if the plant is in good condition or not. They are observing by looking at the leaves and the fruit.
All three users must exert the greatest amount of effort to perform the activity, although the usage of the drone cuts down on the amount of time needed to verify the fertility of plants in the field. However, the interface and the way the drone is used might be improved.
DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
Green-It ! - an IoT system with AI-based features to improve plant’s growth and fertility
Green-It ! implements both the usage of IoT devices and mobile applications in the system. The main objective of this system is to create an autonomous farming system that is environment friendly while maximizing the efficiency of plant’s growth. The system allows people to interact with IoT technologies through mobile applications. For example, the system will include IoT devices like drones and cameras. We will implement Artificial Intelligence features in our drones. The drones can move in a specific area to do its task. The users can interact with drones, manage any settings regarding the IoT devices, and see their plant’s generated report. For example, the user can start his drone or create a schedule for his farming drones. Then, the system will navigate the drone, according to the task each drone is required to perform.
Gathering Requirements - User Analysis
PROPOSED TASKS
These are the 3 tasks of our proposed system:
​
1. PICKING FRUITS
2. APPYING FERTILIZERS AND PESTICIDES
3. CHECKING SOIL AND PLANT FERTILITY
PERSONA 1 -
Old Farmer
The first persona is an old farmer at Dusun UTM named Dr. Razali Bin Ismail. Dr. Razali is a retired lecturer in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and currently taking care of his owned farm at Dusun UTM. He has a high level of knowledge about agriculture and science (Chemistry). Every week, he visits his farm regularly to pick ripe fruit, water his plant, put in fertilizer and make sure his plant is in good condition.
Dr. Razali really hopes for a new approach in farming to assist him with his daily farming routine. He said that sometimes he is too tired to maintain his farm. This leads to a lot of fruit grown overripe and yellowish leaves.
PERSONA 2 -
Young Farmer
The second persona is a young farmer. Muhd Akmal (27 years old) has his own share of a farm in his village at Batu Pahat, Johor. Currently he is working as an IT technician while being a part time farmer during his freetime. He has a wife and one son. He went to his farm on a weekly basis. This is because he has a lot of commitment for his family and career. Thus, he is asking for his uncle’s help to take care of his farm. When he is farming he often uses technologies to make sure he can increase his efficiency during his short time of farming. For example, he uses a drone, lawn mower and grass cutting machine.
While he enjoyed farming physically, he also hopes there is a technology to maintain his farm from distance as he is usually busy with his life and might abandon his farm. He said that he gains little profits from his farm as his fruits and vegetables are sometimes overripe, rotten and wilted.
PERSONA 3 -
Agriculture Drone Pilot
Muhd Syahmi Bin Salleh is a young drone pilot at his paddy field. He is 25 years old and just venturing into the agricultural and farming industry. He is very enthusiastic about agriculture and currently worked as a drone pilot at his paddy field. He owned and used DJI Agras T40 drone to assist him to fertilize the paddy field.
He flies his drone at his paddy field located in Kedah. He usually posts videos about drones on TikTok and the username is @najihamz. This account shared many information regarding how drones work and capabilities of current drones.
SCENARIO
TASK 1 -
PICKING FRUIT
It was a hot summer day and the sun was beating down on the fields as Dr. Razali worked to harvest and pick the ripe fruit. He moved through the rows of plants, picking a lot of fruits and filling their baskets with the juicy treats. He was excited to see the fruits of his labor come to fruition. He found out there were a few overripe fruits that were hidden among the leaves.
As the day wore on, the basket grew heavy and he began to tire. Dr. Razali always finds it a problem whenever the basket is fully loaded as he needs to lift the basket which is heavy. Although he is used to it, he wishes things could be easier for him as his body is not as good as when he is young anymore. He also felt a little disappointed with the wasted overripe fruits due to his lack of time to check all of his plants carefully.
TASK 2 -
APPLYING FERTILIZES AND PESTICIDES
After a busy week full of work, Mr. Akmal wakes up early and walks out to his field. He sees that some of the plants are starting to wilt and there are small, black spots on the leaves. He realized that he forgot to apply the pesticides and fertilizer a week before. He knows that this is a sign of a fungal disease and he needs to act quickly. He fetches his sprayer which is a small handheld device that he uses to apply pesticides to his crops. He decided to apply some fertilizer to give them a boost. He uses a spreader to evenly distribute the fertilizer over the field.
Mr. Akmal spends the rest of the day applying pesticides and fertilizers hoping that it will be enough to stop the spread of the fungus and save the crop. Unfortunately, some of the plants cannot be saved. He is devastated, as he knows that it was his fault due to his lack of time to apply the necessary fertilizers and pesticides on time.
TASK 3 -
CHECKING SOIL AND PLANT FERTILITY
It was a hot Monday where Mr. Syahmi walked through the fields checking the fertility of the soil and plants, looking for any signs of nutrient deficiencies or excesses that might affect the health of his crops. He stopped at each plant, bending down to feel the moisture of the soil, and looking at the color and texture of the leaves.
As the day wore on, Mr. Syahmi found out that it consumes a lot of time to check each of the plants and soil fertility one by one. His arms ached from the constant bending and reaching during his inspection of the entire field. He felt very exhausted to continue with other tasks to maintain the fertility of his crops.