Abstract:
Despite the availability of a significant number of mobile applications, stakeholders in the
agriculture domain have not been able to achieve their goals as expected due to the shortcomings
of such information platforms available in Sri Lanka. Even though user satisfaction reflects the
success of such apps, insufficient exploration regarding it triggers this problem. Therefore, this
study aimed to evaluate the user satisfaction of an agricultural mobile-based application with
special reference to the “Govi-Nena” agricultural mobile application, which provides information
for Sri Lankan commercial farmers that will be useful to make quality decisions for successful
farming. A group of “Govi-Nena” mobile app users was considered as the target population
(n=276) and data were collected using a Google form-based structured questionnaire with a
response rate of 30% (n=83). Based on previous research, the major elements of the study were
identified as general user impression, screen content, terminology and communication with the
system, system capabilities, and ease of learning. Relationships between constructs considered in
this study were tested applying Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using the Partial Least
Squares (PLS) method. According to the results, the majority (87%) of the users were using the
“Govi-Nena” mobile app for agricultural purposes while others were using it for academic and
learning purposes. Findings further revealed that there was a statistically significant relationship
between users’ general impression of the system and user satisfaction of the “Govi-Nena”
agricultural mobile app (t= 2.080; p=0.038). Further, a statistically significant relationship was
observed between screen content and user satisfaction of the app (t= 8.273; p=0.000). However,
the impact of ease of learning (t=0.218; p=0.828), system capabilities (t=1.270; p=0.205),
terminology, and communication of the system (t=0.671; p=0.503) on the user satisfaction of the
“Govi-Nena” agricultural mobile app were statistically not significant. Hence, the present study
suggests that administers’ apparent effort is required to develop the application in a more user friendly way through sufficient and accurate information, user-preferred screen design, suitable
general and overall reaction of the system, and proper screen sequence. The results of this
research would be of a great significance for administers of common agricultural apps to
introduce user-demanded improvements for the system while ensuring higher satisfaction for the
users of agricultural apps.
