By Pragyan Pandey, Software Engineer, and Sannihit, Program Associate
We recently attended a three-day workshop hosted by The Agency Fund (TAF) and Tech4Dev (T4D) on User Engagement, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). The workshop provided an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and strategies to improve user engagement of PxD’s digital agriculture services. This experience reinforced the value of putting users at the heart of what we do, continually refining our approaches, and striving for the most significant impact on the lives of the smallholder farmers we serve. These principles drive our work daily at PxD, and this workshop was a powerful affirmation of that mission.
Here are some takeaways from the event:
Day 1: Streamlining the User Funnel
We put PxD’s services through the ‘funnel framework’ to identify practical pain points for users at different points of the user journey. This was a useful opportunity for us to take a step back and discuss how we think about ‘active’ users, particularly on how often we might want to check in on user activities across different stages of the funnel, and design interventions to keep our user experience fresh and compelling.
Day 2: Enhancing User Experience
The second day shifted our focus to the nuts and bolts of user experience (UX). We used a case study from Embrace to delve into the importance of addressing users’ primary needs rather than just offering a sophisticated or innovative technology product that doesn’t address users’ needs for its own sake. This was particularly encouraging to hear because it aligned very closely with PxD’s approach of starting with the user problem first, and designing simple, easy to use solutions to address them.
We also engaged in a dynamic hands-on session where we dissected our user funnels to identify weak spots and brainstormed targeted interventions to enhance UX. This process also involved a deep dive into the motivations and behaviors of our users, enriching our understanding and approach to UX design.We brainstormed ways to improve the number of questions PxD is able to receive via its hotline services and discussed strategies including sharing training videos, sharing messages emphasizing the social value of recording questions, sharing questions-of-the-week with farmers, amongst others.
Day 3: Testing and Improving Interventions
The final day focused on designing experiments to test the effectiveness of our new strategies. A highlight was seeing how PxD’s previous research in Kenya – to leverage text messages to increase adoption of lime in agriculture – was used in the workshop as a model for measuring impact.
The workshop also featured the exciting launch of an “Experiments” platform developed by Rocket Learning in collaboration with TAF. This platform is designed to streamline the experimentation process, something PxD is eager to leverage to enhance our products, and push forward on our iterative approach to scaling.
PxD is also committed to supporting TAF’s efforts in building a comprehensive experiment catalog to share knowledge and insights from the variety of experiments conducted by organizations operating in the social development sector.
Shared Learning and Collaboration
The workshop was unique because it allowed us to connect with peers who are equally committed to making a difference in the world. From Rocket Learning’s innovative notification system to Saajha’s experimental Sandbox Team, it reminded us of the vast creativity and dedication of teams trying to create impact in the world. The thoughtful organization of the workshop, the openness to participant feedback, and the strong support from TAF made for a highly productive environment. We’ve come away from the workshop with new tools, ideas, and renewed energy to push our impact further.
