Decision support tools, usually considered to be software-based, may be an important part of the quest for evidence-based decision-making in agriculture to improve productivity and environmental outputs. These tools can lead users through clear steps and suggest optimal decision paths or may act more as information sources to improve the evidence base for decisions. Yet, despite their availability in a wide range of formats, studies in several countries have shown uptake to be disappointingly low. This paper uses a mixed methods approach to investigate the factors affecting the uptake and use of decision support tools by farmers and advisers in the UK. Through a combination of qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys, we found that fifteen factors are influential in convincing farmers and advisers to use decision support tools, which include usability, cost-effectiveness, performance, relevance to user, and compatibility with compliance demands. This study finds a plethora of agricultural decision support tools in operation in the UK, yet, like other studies, shows that their uptake is low. A better understanding of the fifteen factors identified should lead to more effective design and delivery of tools in the future

Wearable computers have the potential to support our memory, facilitate our creativity, our communication and augment our physical senses [15] but, like email and cellphones, they also have the potential to interrupt, displace or downgrade our social interactions. This paper presents the results of a simple laboratory-based study which examines the impact of a xybernaut head-mounted Shimadzu display on conversation between two people. We hypothesized that the wearable, by reducing eye-contact and attention in the wearer would have a detrimental effect. Pairs of friends discussed pre-defined topics under three conditions, no wearable, wearable present but inactive, wearable present and active. Likert scale statements were used to record the wearer's level of attention, concentration, listening, eye contact, naturalness and relaxation, and the impact of the wearable. The presence of the wearable without an active display did not have an effect on the conversation. The quality of the interaction was however impaired in the active wearable condition and eye-contact was effected. This effect may be the result of the nature of the information type, the interface used, the characteristics of its presentation or the novelty of the display to the user. Additional research to identify design implications is discussed.

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A workshop held at the University of Cambridge in May 2017 brought developers, researchers, knowledge brokers, and users together to discuss user-centred design of decision support tools. Decision support tools are designed to take users through logical decision steps towards an evidence-informed final decision. Although they may exist in different forms, including on paper, decision support tools are generally considered to be computer-(online, software) or app-based. Studies have illustrated the potential value of decision support tools for conservation, and there are several papers describing the design of individual tools. Rather less attention, however, has been placed on the desirable characteristics for use, and even less on whether tools are actually being used in practice. This is concerning because if policy-maker or practitioner, then its design will have wasted resources. Based on an analysis of papers on tool use in conservation, there is a lack of social science research on improving design, and relatively few examples where users have been incorporated into the design process. Evidence from other disciplines, particularly human-computer interaction research, illustrates that involving users throughout the design of decision support tools increases the relevance, usability, and impact of systems. User-centred design of tools is, however, seldom mentioned in the conservation literature. The workshop started the necessary process of bringing together developers and users to share knowledge about how to conduct good user-centred design of decision support tools. This will help to ensure that tools are usable and make an impact in conservation policy and practice.

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