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Enhancing dairy farm decision-making: user experience, adoption, and impact of a cow health decision support system

About the project

Data-driven decision support systems (DSS) have the potential to improve decision making on dairy farms, enhancing animal health, welfare, and productivity. Despite this potential, adoption of DSSs remains low. One important barrier is that these tools can evoke negative emotions such as frustration or feeling overwhelmed. When farmers have a negative user experience, they are less likely to continue using the tool (Doidge et al., 2023).

Although emotional and experiential factors are recognised as critical for adoption, they have been largely neglected in agricultural DSS research and design. Understanding how farmers emotionally engage with such systems, how they build trust, experience value, or feel burdened, is essential for improving both user experience and long-term adoption. Evaluating these experiences alongside on-farm outcomes such as productivity and health can provide a more holistic understanding of system effectiveness.

The Epiherd platform, which supports data-driven decisions for cow health and welfare, offers a unique opportunity to explore these dimensions in practice. Developed by AntlerBio, Epiherd integrates farm-level data to generate tailored management insights. However, little is known about how farmers interact with and respond to such digital tools in real-world settings.

This PhD will evaluate and enhance the user experience and real-world impact of the Epiherd digital platform for dairy cow health and welfare. The research will adopt a mixed-methods design that integrates qualitative, quantitative, and behavioural approaches to understand how Epiherd influences farmers’ perceptions, decision-making, and herd-level outcomes such as milk yield, disease incidence, and antibiotic use.

A longitudinal evaluation will follow five dairy farms using the Epiherd platform for 18 months. Quantitative farm data will be analysed to assess the platform’s impact on productivity and animal health. Results from each farm will then be synthesised to model overall intervention impact and between-farm variability.

Qualitative interviews will capture the farmers’ lived experiences of using the platform, focusing on perceived value, emotional responses, and behavioural changes. These insights will contextualise quantitative findings and highlight mechanisms through which DSS use translates (or fails to translate) into improved outcomes.

Complementary to this, an online survey of existing Epiherd users across multiple countries will be conducted. This will explore usability, trust, and emotional engagement, providing a broader understanding of user needs and experiences. An additional component will capture the views of non-users and key stakeholders (e.g., vets) to identify systemic enablers and barriers to adoption of digital DSSs.

By combining these strands, the PhD will provide novel insights into how DSSs are experienced and adopted in agriculture, and how emotional and experiential factors shape their success. The findings will inform practical improvements to Epiherd and contribute to the wider design and evaluation of digital tools for sustainable livestock health and welfare.

This exciting opportunity is based within the Ruminant Population Health group at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science (SVMS) which conducts cutting-edge research into the health and welfare of UK cattle and sheep. Sutton Bonington Campus is home to the Centre for Dairy Science Innovation (CDSI), which offers state-of-the-art facilities for dairy research.

Research Environment

Research at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science includes established world class research groups. 85% of our research is classed as "world-leading" (4*) or "internationally excellent" (3*) and our research collaborations and networks extend nationally and internationally.  Research undertaken at the School is relevant to both Veterinary Medicine and Science, One Health, and Comparative and Human Medicine.

Entry requirements

Applicants should have a minimum of a 2.1 undergraduate degree or a minimum of a 2.2 degree and a Master’s degree in Agriculture, Animal Science, Veterinary Science, Psychology, User Experience, Social Science or similar subjects.

Funding notes

This is a fully funded studentship (home fees and stipend) open to UK nationals. Fee status will be assessed on application.

How to apply

Informal enquiries may be addressed to the principal supervisor:charlotte.doidge@nottingham.ac.uk

Candidates should apply online and include a CV. When completing the online application form, please select the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, then PhD Veterinary Medicine and Science (36m) and, once submitted, send your student ID number to SV-PG-VET@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk. 

Any queries regarding the application process should be addressed to SV-PG-VET@exmail.nottingham.ac.uk. 

Interview Date: 5th March 2026