The aim of this project was to help plant owners to care for their plants through education.
How might we enable plant owners to give quality care for their plants?
A plant owner that is starting to be discouraged by plant care.
My role
Design researcher
User Interface Designer
Tools
Google survey
Figma
Prototype
Research
Limited knowledge
Low expectations
Identifying Issues
Choosing equipment
Choosing a good environment
Personas
This person lives a busy life and is quick out the door in the mornings. They love their plants and living in the moment. They might forget to take care of their plants while on vacation or during busy times. Succulents are great options for this persona.
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Has learned tricks from years of gardening. they know when to water to avoid root rot and how much sunlight their plants like. They might read about companion planting or plant guilds. They mix their own soils, construct raised beds, prune with confidence and plant flowers that attract beneficial insects.
This person is taking care of a plant for the first time and is eager to learn everything they can about their new plants. This person could be seen watering their plants 2, 3 or more times a day when they first get them because they just love them so much.
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Concerned mostly about aesthetics and will cut off ugly leaves, throw out plants that aren’t thriving. This gardener may buy the new or trendy plants regardless of whether they match with the climate they are located with. (Elephant's Ear, Fiddle Leaf Fig, Banana tree in Canada
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This persona wants to do as little work possible while still having a few plants. Fertilizer is off the table. They are willing to spend in order to avoid mundane tasks. They might buy an auto watering device or hire a gardener.
Journey Map
Ideation
Scenario
Users were told they had a wilting cactus and they needed to find information that would help them to better care for their new plant using the app.
How would you describe your overall experience with the product?
What did you like the most about using this product? What did you like the least?
What, if anything, surprised you about the experience?
What features would you use or not use? Why?
What, if anything, was frustrating about this expirience?
Did you have any difficulties navigating the product?
Did it feel intuitive?
If not what was would improve that experience?
Lastly is there any suggestions or recommendations you have to improve the product?
Information Architecture
This exercise help with thinking through how the user might run into a road block such as not finding a search result. I hadn't thought about what might happen if they looked up a education page and tried to link it without first making a plant profile.
FeedbackUser interviews were an Invaluable part of this project. Many times throughout this process I made assumptions or educated guesses at what a users needs are. My first iterations tried to accomplish too much and most people didn't want so many features. I learned that the best solutions come from listening to users and refining designs based on their feedback.
Next steps
If I spent more time on this design I would like to integrate examples of products that could be advertised/suggested to users based on topics they search. I think that educating users will naturally lead them to try different product solutions and in general to buy more plants when they can succeed at growing them.
