plantfriends
Overview
Plant Friends is the concept indoor gardening app aimed towards the plant lover community ranging in skill set from beginner to expert. The goal is to educate, simplify, and connect our user’s gardening experience with the support of Plant Friends.
My challenge was to create an app that would allow users of all experience ranges to benefit and learn from.
Role
UX/UI Designer
Visual Designer
User Research
Wire-framing
Prototyping
User Testing
Interviewing
Duration
4 weeks
Background
According to the 2019 National Gardening Survey,
Americans spent a record $52.3 billion on lawn and garden sales and thats in great part due to millennials and Gen Z.
Process
Understand
As a plant lover myself, I run into many plant care issues that sometimes lead to unfortunate deaths. I sought many sources to help me understand what went wrong and realized others shared the same experiences. I challenged myself to seek a solution to the problem “how might I design a reliable app that will assist all skillset ranges to feel confident and supported growing indoor houseplants?”
Observe
User interviews were conducted remotely with those who were either interested in houseplants or have experience for houseplants.
Interviews were focused on determining the current needs of plant parents and discovering what features would benefit them the most in addition to:
Preferences
Frustrations
Goals/Rewards
Spending
Current Solutions
Tools/Apps Used
Key Takeaways
Contradicting information causes a lot of confusion and frustration. Users become overwhelmed with varying care information.
100% of users have killed multiple houseplants due to inexperience or misinformation.
80% have felt overwhelmed by the different watering/feeding schedules depending on the different plant species.
All participants felt a sense of accomplishment and pride when plants grow.
All participants reap the physical and mental health benefits that plants provide.
“I have to view multiple sources before deciding on plant care” - Tina, 34
“Information out there is not always accurate” - SunAh, 31
“Sometimes I forget to water my plants” -Jackie, 27
“When I see new growth it makes me feel excited and accomplished” - Jannet, 35
“They bring life and joy” - Jasmin, 31
“I feel calm, peaceful, happy and proud when looking at my plants” - SunAh, 31
Problem Statement:
By creating a way to assist and share trusted information for plant enthusiasts everywhere I will achieve helping people find the resources and provide the tools they need to grow happy and healthy plants.
I will know this to be true when users feel engaged, excited, and confident in caring for their plants.
Point of View
User Personas
I created 3 user personas, ranging in experience, to help me provide reliable and realistic information about the demographic that would be interested and benefit from my product.
(click to enlarge)
Summer 32
Emma 35
Charlie 27
Beginner houseplant skillset looking for way to easily obtain reliable information on plant care
Moderate houseplant skillset looking for a way to organize and manage each of her plants based on their individual needs
Expert houseplant skillset looking for a way to earn some extra income sharing his knowledge and love for plants
Ideate
Task Analysis + User Flow
I researched similar apps such as PictureThis and Planta which provided me with a great place to start. PictureThis focuses on its plant identifying camera while also providing its users access to experts (for an extra fee) while Planta focuses on a watering calendar. My app would focus on an easy to use care schedule while providing overall plant care support (from the database as well as experts) that goes beyond just watering to it’s users. I started with a rough sketch of the site map to help me get an idea of the bigger picture then with some thoughtful iterations I was able to create user flows for the range of users that would be using my app.
Site Map (click to enlarge)
Site Map Sketch (click to enlarge)
Prototype
I first started by sketching low-fidelity wireframes (which can be viewed at the bottom of this section). This helped me to get an idea of how I wanted to layout my app. After many thoughtful iterations, there were elements I decided were too contrived such as the menu bar. I decided to go with a classic menu bar that sits at the bottom of the screen. I also initially played with more colors but decided to keep a clean and neutral look.
Accomplish
Plantfriends creates a to-do list for users based on their plants’ individual care needs. The app also uses location to give more accurate information on how weather can impact your plants’ care. Users can easily see the plant, location, and task needed to be done. Each plant photo has a unique color-coded circle based on the task and grays out when task is completed. The list is divided by tasks that are pending, upcoming, and completed for viewer to easily access.
Manage
Users can easily manage and organize plants by site. Each site is customizable by window direction and lighting which helps users know if the site meets the plant’s lighting requirements. Users are able to view all plants located within site as well as see the plant’s history of care, journal and care information. The care information section is helpful for users as it has toxicity as well as a section for common problems that occur with the plant.
Support
For a paid premium subscription, users can find help from an expert within the Plantfriends community. Users will have the choice of browsing certified experts or having the app choose one for them. They will feel comfortable sharing information and pictures in a secure message while receiving help right away.
Users who have an extensive knowledge of plants can become and expert by applying. This is a great way for users to earn an extra income and be apart of the community.
WIREFRAMES
(click to enlarge)
Test Wireframes
I tested my app with 4 individuals, who varied in plant experience, remotely as well as in-person. All participants were given 3 scenarios:
You have watered your monstera, check it off
Add a plant to your living room site
You are having a problem with your plant and cannot find the answer within the database. Chat with an expert.
During the test, my goals were to discover:
Was the purpose of the app clear?
Were users able to successfully finish the scenarios?
Were the functions of the app easy to use?
What troubles, if any, did they run into?
Findings
100% of users liked the clean and minimalistic look of the app
100% of users were able to successfully accomplish all tasks in their scenarios
“I love the aesthetic and cleanness of the app” - Jasmin
“Everything is easy enough to find and go through” - Jackie
Most discoveries found were minor issues that were rated by severity according to Jakob Neilson’s Heuristic Evaluation
Present
