User Interface and User Experience Design Consultant

Request for proposals

Background

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.

With novel partnerships, the Alliance generates evidence and mainstreams innovations to transform food systems and landscapes so that they sustain the planet, drive prosperity, and nourish people in a climate crisis.

The 1000FARMS project aims to establish an Africa-wide network for on-farm testing. The project started in late 2021 and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and its implementation is done in partnership between the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT (project lead), IITA, CIMMYT, INN University (until 2023), and Wageningen University. The project works intensively with CGIAR-NARES breeding networks through other CGIAR-led projects, and it integrates three primary components:

• The tricot methodology, that helps farmers to identify the most suitable technologies for their local conditions, engaging them in the testing or validation of new crop varieties and other promising technologies.
• ClimMob, a digital public software package that allows farmers and field agents to record crowdsourced data, monitor the progress of trials, and tap into advanced analytics to relate variety performance to farm-level variation in environmental and crop management.
• On-farm trials community of practice, embedded in the NARES/CGIAR breeding networks in Africa and formed by individuals who are proficient in implementing the tricot approach with ClimMob.

Role

The role of the UI/UX consultant is to enhance the user interface and user experience design for 1000FARMS, ClimMob, and related products. They will refine user personas, create user experience journeys, develop prototypes for presenting experimental trial results, provide design suggestions and recommendations, evaluate dashboards and reports using usability metrics, and maintain effective communication with the product development team.

Responsibilities

One of the primary components of 1000FARMS, ClimMob, and its related products (results report) have different digital and non-digital interfaces that engage with the users. Although we have started to address usability and user-centered design, we lack specific team capacity in user-interface and user-experience design. One of the main discussions currently are around the design of the results report versus a dashboard.

Thus, we seek to hire a UI/UX consultant to work specifically on:

• Supporting the refinement of user personas and draft a user experience journey for selected priority users.
• Developing and refining prototypes that present the results of experimental trials on ClimMob complementing/improving the current reports (Word documents).
• Documenting the results and report the design suggestions and recommendations.
• Performing a user experience evaluation of a set of dashboards and reports using an adequate set of standardized usability metrics, testing at least two major high-fidelity (hi-fi) options.
• Engaging proactively and regularly with the ClimMob product development team and maintain a two-way communication flow.

Scope of Work

• Support the refinement of user personas and draft a user experience journey for selected priority users. This includes:

–      Supporting the systematization of existing user research results on primary users ClimMob and its related products, i.e., breeders and trial managers.

–      Contribute to the systematization of existing research and identification of further research needs about farmer and extension agent’s needs, pain points with regard to feeding back trial results. Engage closely with 1000FARMS Data collection activity.

–      Communicating further needs of understanding user needs and pain points with the direct supervisor and discussing options to address these needs.

–      Engaging directly with users for key aspects where current knowledge is insufficient.

• Develop and refine prototypes that present the results of experimental trials on ClimMob complementing/improving the current reports (Word documents). Document the results and report the design suggestions and recommendations. Prototypes should include:

–      Dashboard of results of an individual trial.

–      Dashboard of results of a set of trials.

–      Dashboard for a user-generated subset or reweighted data (for example, for a release candidate variety, for a particular area or target population environment).

–      Report for extension agents.

–      Short report and feedback format for trial participants (tailored to their plot-level results).

• Perform a user experience evaluation of a set of dashboards and reports using an adequate set of standardized usability metrics, testing at least two major hi-fi options for each category above.
• Engage proactively and regularly with the ClimMob product development team and maintain a two-way communication flow:

–      Make sure the product development team is informed about the results of the different UI/UX Design activities.

Deliverables and Timeline

• Prototype with hi-fi wireframes of the proposed ClimMob user interface.
• User personas in a sharable and editable format.
• User experience journey (format).
• Hi-fi wireframes of dashboards.
• Hi-fi prototype templates of reports.
• Documentation of the design process leading to the dashboard wireframes and report prototypes.
• Quantification of usability metrics for set of hi-fi prototypes.

The work should be carried out and finalized no later than December 31st, 2023. The timelines will be discussed with the 1000FARMS team prior to engagement.

Requirements

Requirements

• Relevant professional experience in investigations in an international organization.
• Quality of work samples.
• Strong experience in user research and persona development.
• Familiarity with agricultural contexts.
• Excellent communication skills to collaborate with the direct supervisor and users effectively.
• Knowledge of standardized usability metrics and conducting user experience evaluations.
• Strong documentation skills to report design suggestions, recommendations, and research findings accurately.

Benefits

Terms of employment

Qualified consultants will be placed on a roster for one year with a potential for two additional renewal years. The rates submitted in the budget proposal will be applied for the full 12 months that the consultant is on the roster (rates can be renegotiated if the roster membership is extended).

Work assigned to roster-based consultants will not exceed 180 days a year. There is no guarantee of work for consultants placed on the roster.

Citizens of EU countries and citizens of non-EU countries are individually responsible for compliance with requirements and formalities established by the national immigration law of the country where they stay and carry out their working activity.

Applications

Please apply online through the website no later than 15 July 2023 (Rome time), submitting the following as three (3) separate documents:

1.   A technical proposal with a brief statement of no more than two (2) pages of text identifying the type of service proposed and highlighting three (3) examples of similar services offered, including functional/image examples (please include relevant links).
2.   A CV including two (2) references (no more than two pages).
3.   A budget proposal consisting, at a minimum, hourly or daily rate, travel expenses, and other direct and indirect costs. Daily rates should be provided in USD.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Closing date for applications: 15 July 2023

We invite you to learn more about us at:

http://alliancebioversityciat.org

Please visit our careers page at:

https://alliancebioversityciat.org/careers