Avaliação de usabilidade de aplicação móvel de apoio à cultura da soja

Abstract

The development of mobile applications has been growing over the years. Technological support has gradually increased, regardless of the sector: banking, services, and education all require the support of mobile applications. In the field, with the advancement of embedded technology in agricultural machinery and equipment, several segments of the sector now have mobile applications that assist producers and other professionals involved. Considering the need for producers to care for their crops, Embrapa developed a support system for identifying diseases and pests in soybean crops. In its first version, the system was only available in the Web version. Currently, Embrapa is developing the mobile version of the support system, the Embrapa new mobile app, which has several producer support features. Through the app, users will have access to information related to soybean pests and diseases, as well as resources that assist in plant management, among other features aimed at facilitating the work of agricultural producers. However, for the application to be used effectively, it must undergo a usability evaluation process, the goal of which is to identify issues related to the user experience. To this end, this master’s thesis used usability evaluation techniques, thus producing distinct results that can contribute to improving the mobile application. Through the app evaluation, it was possible to collect results from different user groups, thus enabling improvements to the application and ensuring a better user experience. The evaluation also contributed to the creation of development guidelines, which will support the development of applications with the same purpose. These guidelines will ensure that the developed applications have better usability and that users avoid encountering common issues.