Simplifying Tractor In-Cab Displays
Cutting cognitive load in John Deere's tractor interface so operators spend less time fighting menus and more time in the field.
- 01 Research Worked with John Deere's UX team and interviewed 22 farmers. Operators had given up on customizing their displays.
- 02 Design Redesigned the Layout Manager and Help system. Setting up a run page went from 14 steps to 8.
- 03 Outcome 41% lower mental demand and 49% less effort in NASA TLX testing against the current interface.
A display nobody customized
John Deere's in-cab display lets operators build their own run pages for each job. Almost nobody did. The Layout Manager was barely used, and the Help Center didn't answer the questions operators actually had in the cab.
How might we make customizing the cab display something farmers actually do?
Three reasons they gave up
We started with John Deere's UX lead to map the issues they already tracked, then interviewed farmers at Iowa State University and walked through their core tasks on the display.
"Customization is huge... because when you're so used to it, you just realize that like this is how this doesn't work."
Help that doesn't help
The Help Center was text-heavy documentation. Operators mid-task couldn't find answers, so they stopped looking.
14 steps to set up one page
Building a run page and adding widgets took 14 steps through deep menu layers. Most operators never finished and stayed on the default.
One wrong tap loses your setup
Page sets were hard to organize, and deleting had no real warning. A single misplaced tap could wipe a configuration.
Flattening the menu
Most of the 14 steps came from jumping between screens. In the wireframes we tried to keep every Layout Manager task on one screen.
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Find help, build a page, manage the set
Help in the moment
A visual Help Guide and QR-code Video Tutorials replace the text manual. Operators scan the code on their phone and keep the display on the task.
A run page in 8 steps
Clearer buttons and contextual tips in the setup flow. Building a run page dropped from 14 steps to 8.
Sets you can organize safely
Multi-select and a direct "Set as Active" control make organizing page sets quick. Deleting now asks for confirmation first.
Measured, not assumed
We tested the current interface against our design using the NASA Task Load Index and Likert scales.
Frustration barely moved. Shorter menus made the work easier, but they didn't fix everything operators found annoying in the cab, including the glare we left out of scope.
What I took away
The cab changes what "usable" means
Sunlight, vibration and a moving tractor all shrink the attention an operator can give a screen. Designing at a desk hides that.
Numbers win the room
NASA TLX scores gave John Deere's team evidence they could act on, not just our opinion that the new flow felt better.
Stay inside the system
Working closely with engineering kept every change buildable within Deere's existing display system, which made it easier to adopt.
