context.
10 week project applying UX/UI principles to create an android app for inexperienced plant owners.
the problem.
Many people love having indoor plants at home, however it can be difficult to take care of them due to the constant upkeep and the many factors affecting their growth.
I myself have accumulated many houseplants through recent years and have unfortunately also lost many along the way. It felt natural to design an app with a database or guide to provide conditions such as lighting, water for healthier plants.
research.
Survey infographic of key insights
Quotes from 1-1 interviews
surveys and interviews.
To begin the research, a survey and one on one interviews were conducted. 14 responses were collected from the survey, and 5 interviews were done with people who owned plants with one expert in the field who is a botanist working at a garden centre.
Majority of people have shared plants within the household and only watered them when remembered
The average confidence level was quite low, people were generally uncertain if something was wrong
According to the botanist, many people come in with images to ask for help to diagnose their plants
People rely on visual cues to gauge the needs of their plant
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS.
A competitor analysis was conducted with four apps. Most apps are simple reminder based apps where the user would upload their own schedules. PictureThis however is a much more comprehensive app, which provides detailed care information after identifying your plant through a photo.
personas.
Three personas were created based on the user research.
empathy and affinity mapping.
Mapping the insights and opportunities onto an affinity map allowed for a clearer cohesion of research. The columns have been separated into categories: current behaviours, uncertainties, proactive behaviours and motivational behaviours. The bottom row highlights opportunities which later generated into concept cards.
The empathy map created a clearer understanding of the user and highlight specifics of their pains and gains. This mapping prepared for the creation of the personas and customer journey.
customer journey.
A customer journey map was created for the persona, Jasmine. This highlights her pains and gains through her routine and provides clear insights into our opportunities.
key insights.
People rely on visual cues most when caring for their plant
People become lazy or unmotivated on top of being busy which leads to forgetting and neglect
Some people lack the care knowledge and don’t know what to look for
ideation and conceptualisation
initial ideas.
Initially I had just planned to create an app that sent reminders and allowed people to find specific care instructions for their plant. However, after a competitor analysis I found there are many apps like this on the market. Drawing ideas from the research, I generated about 30 concept cards, which I plotted in a MVP graph.
minimum viable product.
After plotting the MVP, I colour coded the features from most important to least important. I focused on the top right quadrant for high value yet easy to accomplish features and included the must haves for the main features of the app. Narrowing down the features allowed for a much more refined approach to the product in order to focus on what is needed to appeal to users the most. They are summarised below:
main essential features.
secondary features.
information architecture.
Initially the IA for the product was much too complicated, with a separated page each for settings, virtual plant, about page etc. Effective grouping of each page was able to create a significantly cleaner IA.
prototyping.
user flows.
Two user flows were created to show the process of a user who:
1. starts the app for the first time
2. receives a notification to tend to their plants.
sketching wireframes.
Wireframes were sketched out on paper to design basic form and layout of the app.
lo-fi frames.
Early low fidelity frames were used to do initial testing for the flow and functionality of the app.
The ‘virtual plant’ feature of the product is the main image on the home page. The virtual plant is an animation which acts as the motivational feature, where it grows based on the users’ diligence of tending to their plants.
Next steps:
Reducing text on the plant doc page
Adding UI features
Adding a plant finder option
user interface decisions.
In the survey earlier, participants were asked to list their feelings regarding having plants. Some key words include: calming, nurturing and fun.
I compiled a mood board and chose a muted, earthy colour scheme that was easy on the eyes, but also playful to create a modern feel to the app.
hi-fi frames.
Adding UI details added onto the overall experience of the app and received well feedback from the user testing. It also created greater appreciation and understanding of the virtual plant concept.
Next steps:
Making pages feel more inviting
User testing!
the virtual plant.
The virtual plant concept is the motivational feature. The animation of the plant will grow incrementally as the user consistently and diligently marks off their to do list (tends to their plants).
Underneath the virtual plant, there will be a small fact of the day regarding plants- such as the benefits or a fun fact.
For the prototype, I created stills of the plant in three main stages of the animation growth. Later I was able to create a smooth animation using After Effects.
usability testing.
User tests were completed with 4 people and their comments were sorted into 4 categories- Likes, Criticisms, Questions and Ideas.
Respondents were also asked who they think the audience of the app is:
Late teens- 60s, people who are plant savvy owning 3+ plants, like my mum who loves gardening
Its a very millennial aesthetic, I can see millennial plant owners using this
For 20-30s, but I can see people from 30s-50s using this because of its ease of use, but mainly young people
final design.
final changes.
Added plant finder+ search by photo option
Changed layout and made consistent through all pages
Plant growth gallery with reminder
Plant finder and plant doc less text based
Garden page acts as rooms
Less emphasis on virtual plant animation on home page
Colour coded the calendar for quick overview of schedule
Plant doc- ability to filter by symptom and issue
Added date on to do list and ? button for the key
Adding share button under the to do list to send reminders to other people
highlighted the page the user is on for the navigation bar
Added a clearer homepage to indicate if the user is up to task
summary of the final design.
Lush is a mobile app which will help you track, understand and stay excited about the plants in your home. The foundation of the app is a simple reminder based app, but often plants need a little extra support along the way. Lush includes specific care information and tips about different houseplants and a visual symptom checker so you can learn more about the plant and keep it healthy.
You can mark off your to do list of plant chores, with the added option of postponing or sending a reminder to somebody else in the household if you are not home. As you diligently mark off your tasks, you are rewarded by the growth of your virtual plant as well. Once the virtual plant grows to its full size, it gets added to your garden collection and a new seedling will grow in its place.
Plants can be sorted by room- in case you have a lots of them- so that they’re easier to track and water, room by room. You can add additional reminders and notes, such as taking a photo every month, so you can see how much your plants have grown.
With these features, Lush aims to make the often forgotten task of taking care of houseplants a much more enjoyable and rewarding experience.
You can try the prototype here.
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COMPLETE YOUR TO DO LIST AND WATCH YOUR VIRTUAL PLANT GROW.
ONCE THE PLANT GROWS TO FULL SIZE, IT WILL MOVE TO THE GARDEN AND A NEW SEEDLING WILL BEGIN GROWING ON THE HOME PAGE.
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CHECK YOUR GARDEN TO SEE ALL YOUR PLANTS IN DIFFERENT ROOMS
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SEE YOUR CALENDAR FOR AN OVERVIEW OF YOUR SCHEDULE
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GO TO THE PLANT FINDER TO FIND DETAILED CARE INFO
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CHECK PLANT SYMPTOMS TO HELP YOUR PLANTS BECOME HEALTHY AGAIN
reflection.
Lush is the first mobile app that I have designed to this fidelity and detail. Using a variety of new programs such as Figma and learning about in depth UX and UI techniques has broadened my knowledge about working in the field and its been a very exciting learning experience.
Although the concept of the app is quite simple, there were so many ideas of features that it was quite difficult to narrow down so that the app proposed something different from the market, and is also relevant, useful and attractive to the user. While the UX research stage enhanced my communication and listening skills, I particularly enjoyed the UI aspect and prototyping the app the most, where ideas began to take form and I could be more creative in its appearance. I would like to look into android/iOS guidelines and learn more about UI in the future as well.
NEXT STEPS
To continue polishing the app, I would like to do another round of user testing to get feedback and add a few more functions to see which ones could further enhance the app.
In the future I would like to explore:
The possibility of using the phone light meter to measure room brightness
A device in which this app is connected to (e.g. moisture meter) to automatically input data
The logistical details of using image recognition for plant identification
including a countdown indicator in front of each icon to show time until next care