Plant it
An easy-to-use & informative tool to plan your native garden.
Product Type
Responsive Web Design,
10 weeks / 100+ hours
Client
Earth
My Role
User Experience Design, User Research, Prototyping, Testing, User Testing, Branding
Tools
Figma, Illustrator, Otter.ai, Photoshop, Google Meet, Mural
Problem
Creating both a native & sustainable garden can be challenging without the right resources and tools.
Creating a pollinator-friendly garden can pose challenges, particularly for eco-conscious beginners. Many face hurdles due to limited knowledge and obstacles in integrating native plants.
In response, our city initiated a Pollinator-Aware Yard Care program, emphasizing the significance of native plants in fostering a thriving ecosystem. These plants play a crucial role in supporting local insects, such as the monarch butterfly's dependence on milkweed.
As an avid gardener fielding numerous inquiries, I recognized an opportunity to address community concerns. I set out to develop resources through my app, empowering individuals with the know-how and tools to cultivate sustainable landscapes and overcome barriers to native plant gardening.
Goal
Address common challenges faced by native plant gardeners, gaining insights to tailor a gardening app that empowers success.
Solution
To address the problem I propose developing an easy-to-use gardening guide specifically tailored for individuals of varying skill levels who wish to create gardens with regional native plants. This gardening guide, "Plant It," is tailored for varying skill levels to cultivate regional native plant gardens. Features include personalized plant selection, timely care instructions, geolocation recommendations, easy garden planning, and dedicated support.
Plant It is more than just a gardening app; it's a movement. By joining us, you're taking an active role in creating a more sustainable future.
One garden at a time together!
Competitive Analysis
The market helped me to understand where my product can be a trusted partner in their landscape & gardening planning.
Competitive analysis of the landscape & gardening market identified a demand in planning. I looked at other companies doing similar things and found a gap in the native plant growth market—where my app could excel and where users needed it most.
In reviewing three gardening apps, one stands out for its comprehensive support for both flowers and veggies, geo-tailored functionality, and subscription-based model, though its vegetable focus may limit appeal. Another app offers attractive illustrations, easy plan downloads, and educational content, but lacks in garden plan variety and seasonal care guidance. Meanwhile, a third app emphasizes education, with grow guides and specific location advice, but its vegetable focus and small database may deter users seeking a broader range of plants and community engagement.
Competitor Insights
In my research, I learned there is an opportunity for a modern platform blending education and planning, enriched with timely notifications on plant care for both new and seasoned gardeners in the market offering a tailored experience that speaks to their interests and expertise.
User Interviews
Users needed a unified and comprehensive gardening solution—one accessible & easy-to-use platform.
Objectives:
Identify preferences in learning and planning methods
Evaluate user time commitment
Determine optimal tailoring tools that would benefit the user
4 out of 4
users express a primary interest in planting
50%
users want visual aids to follow when planting
100%
gardeners need guidance for selecting the right plants
“I want to understand the plants, but I don't need to know all the specifics. Over time the knowledge will come simply by living with the gardens and seeing the nature of the plants.”
–– Interviewee
Interview Insights
Users want a unified and comprehensive gardening solution in one accessible platform.
Users want to plant but they do not want it to be overwhelming.
Users have a lack of knowledge about which plants to choose and how to care for them.
Affinity Mapping
An all-in-one native plant garden product, that aims to educate users seeking out information, while also aiding them in planning out their ideal gardens.
Using Otter.ai to record my user interviews, it helped identify common words and ideas through what interviewees were actually saying. Sorting and grouping using Mural uncovered themes and patterns that centered on user desires and needs. Affinity mapping is a fun and brilliant method for understanding critical aspects of this project.
Emerging Focal Points
Planning
Beautification
New home ownership
Time Management
Education
Community Engagement
Vegetable Cultivation
Themes and Pattern Insights
Prioritize physical planting site and acknowledge users' preference for hands-on experience.
Advocate for "spot education" integration without overshadowing planting and planning.
Position Plant It as a holistic, user-centered resource for landscape beautification with occasional reminders for care routines to facilitate worry-free maintenance.
Users’ Perspective
Understanding the needs of gardeners (of all levels), who want to garden with native plants.
While this app will also be for seasoned gardeners, it was revealed that most interviewees were new homeowners displaying an interest in the topic.
POV
New homeowners want to achieve their garden goals of beautiful, low maintenance surroundings that complement instead of interfere with busy lives and responsibilities.
↓
HMW
How might we create a step-by-step planting guide for enjoyable gardening and help create a space where the user can start planting as quickly as possible?
POV and HMW Insights
The process of using the POV and HMW method for plant-related challenges allowed me to empathize with new homeowners—those who desire learning without committing to extensive programs—and with individuals simply interested in browsing plants. This method significantly enhanced understanding of the diverse perspectives surrounding this issue, enabling development of solutions that address the needs of multiple types of gardeners.
Personas
User needs became the centralized focus of the Plant It app, to ensure the solution was refined and targeted.
Throughout the project, I regularly revisited the personas to assess factors such as their literacy levels and familiarity with technology, as well as their desired time commitment. These check-ins allowed for ongoing conversations with the personas, contributing to continual improvements in the Plant It app.
Lillian Archer
Age: 38
Education: Bachelors
Status: Partner
Occupation: Small Business owner
Location: California
Tech Literate: High
About User
Lillian efficiently manages a thriving dance studio, embracing early mornings and maintaining a relaxing home environment for her well-being. Despite her passion for plants, her neglected garden has become a source of frustration.
Needs and Goals
Achieve cohesiveness in garden layout for visual harmony
Create a low-maintenance garden with year-round blooms, favoring native plants
Pain Points
Incomplete and disjointed gardening ideas
Prone to impulsive planting
“Something that’s in bloom all the time.”
Micah Khan
Age: 42
Education: Masters
Status: Married
Occupation: Project manager
Location: Michigan
Tech Literate: Medium
About User
Micah is a mid-career professional currently creating connections in the community with his friendly dog. He loves to support local companies and community projects.
Needs and Goals
Wants a messaging platform supporting multiple contributors
Prefers easily comprehensible instructions after choosing a plan
Pain Points
Frustrated when commitments are not followed through and there is over-communication
Uncertainty about plant care practices, such as pruning, and timing for various tasks
“Embracing the planting processes”
Persona Insights
I've always been impressed by the power of personas as a guiding North Star in the design process. They provide a focal point and direction helping to clarify the numerous questions surrounding development of an app and insight into which features are crucial. By leveraging user interviews and affinity maps, personas foster clarity among stakeholders and developers. Rather than attempting to tackle everything simultaneously, this approach prioritizes features and functionalities based on the needs and preferences of the primary user.
Information Architecture
As a result of user feedback, data revealed three major focus groups of opportunity.
After analyzing interviews and themes, I conducted an unmoderated card sort to explore users' information organization. However, I questioned if there were too many cards, potentially hindering data collection. This was reinforced by the fact that nearly half of participants did not complete the activity, suggesting the need for moderation or fewer cards.
3d Cluster View of Cards Sorting Responses
This image shows 3 strong groups of data that represent the information found in the Plant it Card sort.
Card sorting
60 Cards
8 people started
5 people finished
3 Groups that Emerged
Garden Planning
Tracking
Education
Card Sorting Insights
Despite the potential challenge of too many cards, the insights gathered guided the development of the sitemap, ensuring it was user-friendly and laid a strong foundation for the project
Interaction Design
By maintaining a user-centric focus on how individual user types might navigate the product, a clear organization emerged.
After gathering all the information I discovered that users are interested in a tool like Plant It that helps organize and plant gardens. After building the site map it became apparent how much information there actually is and how many small nuanced flows will need to be built, understood, and tested.
User Flow
This user flow depicts the steps for signing up for an account and creating a native garden plan.
These flows have been broken down to the granular level. This way of unpacking the solution is very exciting. It opens up the conversation around time-based solutions, and exposes timelines, capabilities, and roll out.
Sitemap and Flows Insights
Incorporating information learned from the card sort provided a greater understanding of the website's scope.
Developing the site in sections proved necessary for the build-out of the site. It became apparent that a phased approach would be beneficial for allowing an early launch while still enabling growth towards the site's goal of interactive garden planning.
User Interface Design
Low-Fidelity Wireframes are where the magic starts and ideas begin to come together.
Confirming that the Lo-fi wireframes conveyed a loose representation of what information would be on key frames proved necessary before moving onto higher fidelity models. Lo-fi frames were intended to understand:
an efficient layout for the home screen
ways for users to upload and annotate photos
how users would update the status of tasks
preferences for communication among users
Trusted companions, Mid-Fidelity wireframes kept me honest & focused.
With their layouts and grayscale UI elements, I can prioritize CTA placement, affordance, and usability without becoming wrapped up in design and losing sight of the research and work I have done to get here.
Branding
Inspired by mood boards (which I like to call “fun boards”) and user personas, I designed a logo that was playful yet universal, selected harmonious colors that beckoned to the the garden and legible trusted fonts. In addition, components for consistent branding were developed for the high-fidelity mockups, laying down a flow and rhythm for the design.
High Fidelity Designs
Drawing inspiration from personas, the design was aligned with their preferences in a fun and engaging manner. Incorporating hand-drawn leaf illustrations adds creativity while referencing organic themes. Prioritizing clear calls to action and straightforward text anticipate user interactions, providing necessary context for the user flow.
Key Points for Wire Framing
Lo-fi wireframes facilitated conversation and pattern recognition within the system.
Mid-fi wireframes provided an enhanced prototype view, gathering valuable feedback and clarifying project scope.
A mood board assisted in establishing the desired aesthetic.
Hi-fi wireframes were developed and utilized during testing phases.
Usability Testing
Findings
Worked
Finding plant catalog 5/5
Adding plant to favorites 5/5
Finding more information 5/5
Visuals 5/5
Questions
What is the difference between search vs filter. Why search first? 2/5
They wondered if the I in Plant it should be capitalized. 1/5
Changed
Swap Latin and common name
3/5
Change journal to tracker 2/5
Add more filters to the search section: like pollinators, medicinal, edible 1/5
Ideas
Make logo bigger 1/5
Add more filters 1/5
Insights
Using the matrix helps to identify minimal changes with the greatest impact
Prioritized Revisions
Closing gaps between user-expectation and reality.
Based on the feedback, the area with the most confusion among users was in interpreting the Latin names of the plants. To address this issue a feature that allows users to toggle between displaying the plant list with the Latin name or common name first was implemented.
Before: Users loved being able to search plants but they wanted a way to view the common names first.
After: Added a toggle for common names to appear first in alphabetical order.
Removed Confusion
Expecting a search bar, first time users with no established preferences were confused to see “view your favorites” in the filter section.
Before: Confusing “favorites” button on filter page.
After: Replaced with a simpler, more streamlined approach allowing users to refer to the navigation bar for favorites without losing functionality.
Met Users at their Time Commitment
During testing, users said they would prefer tracking to journaling, which felt like a heavy lift. Updates to the tracker were made in response to this feedback allowing the experience to feel welcoming instead of burdensome.
Before: Users felt that Journaling is nice but too overwhelming.
After: Changes to language modified expectations decreasing the sense of being asked to over commit.
Usability Testing Insights
Even the smallest changes can have a significant impact, which is why testing is so valuable. I'm pleased that I was able to engage with potential users and update the flow to be improved and more intuitive.
Reflections
This exploration has been enlightening. Conducting user interviews helped me understand the specific needs and challenges faced by our target audience. Analyzing the affinity map enabled me to identify key themes and patterns, fostering empathy for their struggles and aspirations. This process emphasized the importance of a user-centric approach and cautioned against rushing into solutions.
With these insights, I'm ready to test and iterate on the site. Incorporating user feedback will be essential for continuously enhancing its functionality and user experience. Witnessing the project evolve has been rewarding, and I'm dedicated to ensuring it becomes a valuable resource for our users.
Plant on!
