Customisation of digital platform for coffee farming communities in Central Uganda

Digitalisation of coffee systems is key in addressing inadequate information and extension services to farmers. However, many coffee digital platforms remain insufficiently customised to the diverse capacities, contexts and needs of coffee stakeholders in Uganda, thus limiting their usability and adoption. The User-Centered Design (UCD) principles promise user-centric digital products. Guided by these same principles, this study verified the extent to which selected coffee digital platforms are customised to coffee stakeholders in Uganda, with the aim of identifying entry points for platform capacity improvement. The study was conducted in Luweero and Mpigi districts in central Uganda; and involved three key informant interviews (KIIs) with platform developers and nine focus group discussions (FGDs) with fifty six platform users, including extension workers and coffee farmers. Three digital platform types commonly used in coffee farming, namely EzyAgric, iKnowFarm and AgriShare, were used in this study. Findings revealed varying levels of customisation across the three types of platforms (EzyAgric, iKnowFarm, and AgriShare). EzyAgric was found to be moderately customised, with strong content coverage; but limited language localisation. On the other hand, iKnowFarm was highly customised, particularly in multilingual support and collaborative features, though it was constrained by device compatibility and offline access. AgriShare was weakly customised, as it was affected by technical instability, limited offline functionality, and complex interfaces. It was concluded that continuous user engagement, enhanced localisation, simplified interfaces, and improved offline functionality are critical entry points for strengthening the effectiveness of coffee digital platforms. Future research should examine how institutional arrangements, business models and policy environments support developers in addressing limited information from users in regard to their needs during customisation of digital platforms.