Project statement
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Many discovered soon that keeping plants alive and healthy was not that easy.
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Plant caring hobbies tend to be expensive.
I found an opportunity to improve the users' experience of growing plants indoors or outdoors in the restricted city space of our homes.
By creating an app that gives step-by-step advice, on how to take care of a plant by species and builds a plant community around it that allows users to exchange plants or other plant-related materials.
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summary
I conducted user interviews to better understand what users' needs are.
Who is this for ? Persona
As a result of these interviews, I identified two main user groups.
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A primary group are young people who have little to no experience with plants.
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A secondary group are people with a lot of experience in plant growth who have many plants already.
results
Although the most common features in plant care apps are a basic care catalog with reminders, the less common ones offer an opportunity to improve.
These less common features like plant identification, diagnosis, a light meter, tracking progress and a space for plant community, are the ones that really make the difference in our users plant care journey.
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paper wireframes
I started with pen-and-paper mockups to come up with ideas for how to address gaps identified in the competitive analysis. I focused especially on the main screens and adding a new plant to MY GARDEN user flow.
Digital wireframes
After drafting some paper wireframes and with our user needs in mind, I created the initial digital design for the PLANT buddy app. I started with MY GARDEN screen and adding a new plant.
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Lo-fi prototype
Next, I build a low-fidelity clickable prototype in Figma, that will be used for testing with potential users. I focused on the main flows.
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adding a new plant to MY GARDEN that is being identified
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diagnosing a plant problem
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Parameters
Study type:
unmoderated usability study
Participants: 5
Location: Cluj-Napoca, remote
Time: 25 minutes
Findings
I conducted two rounds of usability studies. The first one was with the low-fidelity prototype and the second round was with the high-fidelity prototype.
The low-fidelity usability test reshapes the initial design.
The second round was on the high-fidelity prototype, which revealed some aspects of the mockups that needed refining.
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Many users found the process of creating a space before adding a plant confusing.
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Many users found the menu buttons confusing.
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Reminders and tasks were not accessible to most users.
from Lo-fi to hi-fi
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The website will play the role of promoting the app and also provide a space focused mainly on the plant community.
If the main focus of the app is on creating a "garden" and being able to learn how to care for plants and track the progress of each plant, on the website we switch our attention to the plant community.
Site map
This enables me to guide the structure of each screen's design to ensure a cohesive and consistent experience across devices.
Responsive designs
The designs for screen size variation include mobile, tablet, laptop and desktop. I optimized the designs to fit specific user needs for each device and screen size.
What I learned ?
As a plant enthusiast myself, I have seen and felt the struggles that so many are facing when they are just starting to care for a new plant. During the surveys, I learned how much a dying plant can affect the mental well-being of some people. Although in the beginning this can be a fun hobby that reduces stress and anxiety, it can quickly change to disappointment.
While designing PLANT buddy, I found that user feedback was the most important tool that helped shape a viable prototype that answers user needs.
Next steps
Moving forward, I would like to develop a space for people to buy and sell plants from one another.
Some of the plants grown in a homelike environment are known to adapt to a new home easier than those bought from a store, which can take some time to adjust. This is why many are trying to find the plant they want among other plants from enthusiasts like themselves.