IoT & AI

B2B

Transforming platform UX for 100,000+ farmers without losing a single customer

Client

Datamars Livestock

Datamars Livestock

Model

Product accelerator

Product accelerator

Services

Product strategy

Product strategy

User research

User research

UX/UI design

UX/UI design

Product optimisation

Product optimisation

Info

Datamars Livestock's platform serves farmers across 100 countries, generating majority company revenue through livestock management technology.

However poor UX across 94 fragmented features was slowly turning customers into detractors as new digital-first competitors emerge to grab market share.

By November 2025, these legacy systems needed complete redesign.

Challenge

Platform transformation in agricultural technology faces a unique challenge. According to McKinsey, whilst agricultural technology delivers proven returns of 150-200%, only 27% of US farms have adopted precision agriculture practices due to complexity and change resistance.

For Datamars, this market reality created urgent pressure: vertical integration meant users weren't easily switchy, but poor daily experience risked converting promoters into detractors in a sector where reputation spreads quickly through tight-knit farming communities.

Our analysis

The fundamental challenge isn’t understanding users or improving interfaces, but managing business and user acceptance of change.

Conservative farmers with established workflows and limited time for retraining needed dramatic UX improvements without disrupting critical daily operations.

Success required evidence-based solutions that addressed real workflow needs whilst building user confidence through staged, reversible transformation.

What we did

01.

Six-week accelerator delivering a flagship prototype

Rather than jumping to a full platform redesign, we created a research-driven demonstration of what “DML 3.0” could look like. We selected priority JTBD scenarios and delivered mid-fidelity clickable prototypes in Figma alongside a fully interactive prototype built in Lovable. The coded prototype enabled stakeholders to experience the platform potential in real application flow rather than static designs, creating alignment around transformation possibilities.

Six-week accelerator delivering a flagship prototype

Rather than jumping to a full platform redesign, we created a research-driven demonstration of what “DML 3.0” could look like. We selected priority JTBD scenarios and delivered mid-fidelity clickable prototypes in Figma alongside a fully interactive prototype built in Lovable. The coded prototype enabled stakeholders to experience the platform potential in real application flow rather than static designs, creating alignment around transformation possibilities.

02.

International farmer research across six countries

We conducted extensive research interviewing farmers managing operations from 50-cow family farms to 5,200-cow commercial dairies across the US, New Zealand, Uruguay, Ireland, and Argentina. Combined with 12+ internal stakeholder interviews, this revealed 25 detailed UX pain points with connectivity failures emerging as the most disruptive issue to a farmer’s workflow.

International farmer research across six countries

We conducted extensive research interviewing farmers managing operations from 50-cow family farms to 5,200-cow commercial dairies across the US, New Zealand, Uruguay, Ireland, and Argentina. Combined with 12+ internal stakeholder interviews, this revealed 25 detailed UX pain points with connectivity failures emerging as the most disruptive issue to a farmer’s workflow.

03.

Jobs-to-be-Done analysis and strategic prioritisation

Research enabled us to map farmer workflows against platform capabilities, identifying critical disconnects between how farmers thought about their work and how the system organised functionality. We prioritised user needs by importance, frequency, and satisfaction with existing solutions, focusing on the most common and underserved scenarios.

Jobs-to-be-Done analysis and strategic prioritisation

Research enabled us to map farmer workflows against platform capabilities, identifying critical disconnects between how farmers thought about their work and how the system organised functionality. We prioritised user needs by importance, frequency, and satisfaction with existing solutions, focusing on the most common and underserved scenarios.

04.

User validation of design approach

We tested our solutions with farmers to ensure they addressed real workflow needs. Voice capabilities received strong validation, as did AI assistance. Designs were then iterated and improved based on feedback.

User validation of design approach

We tested our solutions with farmers to ensure they addressed real workflow needs. Voice capabilities received strong validation, as did AI assistance. Designs were then iterated and improved based on feedback.

05.

Strategic transformation roadmap

We delivered a comprehensive migration strategy addressing the core challenge of user acceptance through phased implementation. The approach balanced dramatic UX improvements with user confidence through staged rollout, rollback guarantees, and clear performance checkpoints to minimise adoption risk across conservative farming communities.

Strategic transformation roadmap

We delivered a comprehensive migration strategy addressing the core challenge of user acceptance through phased implementation. The approach balanced dramatic UX improvements with user confidence through staged rollout, rollback guarantees, and clear performance checkpoints to minimise adoption risk across conservative farming communities.

Project impact

Stakeholder alignment

Fully interactive coded prototypes enabled stakeholders to experience transformation potential firsthand and sold a unified vision around DML 3.0 possibilities across the organisation.

Stakeholder alignment

Fully interactive coded prototypes enabled stakeholders to experience transformation potential firsthand and sold a unified vision around DML 3.0 possibilities across the organisation.

Farmer-first UX

A complete interface redesign addressing farmers' workflow needs from one-handed mobile operation to AI-powered alert prioritisation, and unifying 94 fragmented features into a coherent, task-focused platform.

Farmer-first UX

A complete interface redesign addressing farmers' workflow needs from one-handed mobile operation to AI-powered alert prioritisation, and unifying 94 fragmented features into a coherent, task-focused platform.

Rollout strategy

We delivered comprehensive migration strategy addressing user acceptance through phased implementation. The approach balanced dramatic UX improvements with protecting business continuity.

Rollout strategy

We delivered comprehensive migration strategy addressing user acceptance through phased implementation. The approach balanced dramatic UX improvements with protecting business continuity.

Platform transformation shouldn't risk your existing customer base.

Our product accelerators push your product forward with speed and strategic rigour, delivering evidence-based solutions that prove transformation potential before you commit to full redesign.

We specialise in IoT and connected product challenges where hardware integration, real-time data, and field operations create unique complexity.

Stop debating platform transformation. Start proving what's possible.

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