Unlocking digital twin planning for grazing industries with farmer centred design

Abstract

Remote sensing, digital farm management tools, and machine learning are technological innovations that when combined have the potential to greatly enhance digital twin capability in rangeland grazing systems. User centred design is increasingly recognised as integral to technological development in agriculture and is essential during the early phases of development in emerging technologies, like digital twins, when those technologies are unfamiliar to key users. This article explores the effectiveness of user centred design in the development of farmer-friendly digital twins for grazing planning, viewed through an affordance lens. A targeted literature review was conducted prior to, and in parallel with, 36 semi-structured interviews involving user centred design prototyping sessions with farmers and farm consultants. Findings highlight the importance of digital interfaces that are adapted to decision-making practices and thinking processes of farmers; supporting high utility without compromising functionality from irregular data entry; and the strong influence of management intensity on the perceived usefulness of digital twin supported grazing planning. This article provides the first account of how farmers operating in Australian rangeland grazing systems respond to the idea and specific interface elements of digital twin technology. By engaging with the design problems we identified, farmer centred design can help researchers and technology developers better understand what digital twins can afford their intended users.