My Role & Contributions
User research, conducting interviews, Competitive Audit, paper and digital wire-framing, mockups, lo-fi & hi-fi prototypes, user testing, accounting for accessibility, and visual design iteration.
User research, conducting interviews, Competitive Audit, paper and digital wire-framing, mockups, lo-fi & hi-fi prototypes, user testing, accounting for accessibility, and visual design iteration.
Audience:
Beginner Millenial Gardners
Hi-fi prototype for "Add plants to cart" User Flow
Plant Tracker, forecasts garden events
BLog
Homepage
The homepage features a banner of articles to educate the user, "My Plant Tracker" used for active plantings, and "Recommended Plants" to purchase.
Based on user onboarding surveys to determine key garden conditions, enabling users to skip the stress of guessing if a plant will grow in their garden at the right time of year.
Process
The Problem
Buying vegetable seeds and plants to grow on your own is complicated and yields mixed results.
Due to the amount of variables (time of year, conditions, location etc) success is fleeting for most casual gardeners.
Due to the amount of variables (time of year, conditions, location etc) success is fleeting for most casual gardeners.
The Solution
How might we make it easier and stress free for new gardeners to find success growing from seed?
How can we make it easy to plant the right plants at the right time, in the right spot, all at the same time?
By understanding the gardener's exact garden type we can make smart suggestions on appropriate plants specifically suited for their garden.
How can we make it easy to plant the right plants at the right time, in the right spot, all at the same time?
By understanding the gardener's exact garden type we can make smart suggestions on appropriate plants specifically suited for their garden.
In the traditional buying model the consumer is:
happiest when buying the plant, and saddest when the plant dies.
Garden Pal aims to make the happiest moment the harvest, and the success of growing your plants!
Pain Points
Overwhelming
Big-box stores organize plants by variety regardless of growing conditions, misleading consumers with hard to read labels stuck halfway in the dirt.
Lack of Knowledge
New gardeners are not educated on what is required to grow most plants other than watering (when they remember).
Lack of Consistency
Most users admitted to eventually forgetting about their plants, leading them to die or lose a harvest to pests.
Takeaways
The app has the potential to disrupt the gardening industry if developed further.
“If you could connect the watering reminders to a drip system it could be really powerful.”
What I learned
Listening to users can even help with naming your product!
What was originally called "Seedling" changed to "My Garden Pal" after discovering most users did not prefer to grow plants from seed.
It's important to consider constraints not just in terms of design and development, but of your users as well. Accessibility can also mean having realistic expectations about users interest, time, and dedication in regards to the product or field you are working in.
Listening to users can even help with naming your product!
What was originally called "Seedling" changed to "My Garden Pal" after discovering most users did not prefer to grow plants from seed.
It's important to consider constraints not just in terms of design and development, but of your users as well. Accessibility can also mean having realistic expectations about users interest, time, and dedication in regards to the product or field you are working in.
I would probably have to go back and redesign the button UI for the checkout process to make text larger and more clear.
