Foliage

Empowering Plant Owners to Keep Their Plants Alive

this denotes a summary or key point

Context

Foliage became my capstone project but also spanned the bulk of my learning experience. As such, the structure of my process was influenced by the step-by-step methodology of the coursework consequently doubling up as a practical learning experience.

My Role

End-to-end design

This was a solo project, but there was room for collaboration with fellow designers during one of the final iterations. Otherwise, I was responsible for end to end design with only the feedback I received from my advisor and mentor of the program (outside of research).

Scope

UX, UI, User Research, Market Research, Presentations

Tools

Adobe Xd, Google Forms, Miro, UsabilityHub, Zoom

Meet Ally the Aloe Vera Plant (2018-2020, RIP)

Problem Statement: "How might I empower people to take better care of their plants, so that they feel in control and educated in plant care decisions."

The project began with a brief titled 'Expert' and involved creating a mobile app that included the function of communicating with experts.

Creating this during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, I thought to myself: "How can I make an expert app that could relate to people during this time?" As I sat staring at my ceiling I thought of my long-lost companion, my dead Aloe Vera plant, Ally, who mysteriously passed away due to *unknown* causes.

This lead to me thinking of designing an app that could help people take better care of plants since they were staying at home more during the pandemic.

After a bit more deliberation I was able to come up with my problem statement: "How might I empower people to take better care of their plants, so that they feel in control and educated in plant care decisions." Whenever a plant I own starts dying I never know what to do and wanted to help others who felt the same. I also hypothesized that due to the pandemic, plants might go up in demand creating a space for this app in the market.

circa 2018... updates I used to send to friends

circa 2019

circa 2020... her final days

A plant management app that features a plant database, care schedule, and expert help.

In a digital age filled with information, harness it to protect your plants and make your garden thrive. Our mission with Foliage, is to make sure you never (intentionally or otherwise) kill another one of your plant babies again.

Competitive analyses, user interviews, and surveys shaped product positioning

The goal was to come out with a potential core feature for OurDate

Main takeaways:

Competitive Analysis (Opportunities)
• Many apps bombard users with premium features and pay walls. Avoiding this or making it more subtle will create a more pleasant experience.
• Expert services are usually behind pay walls, and many apps have a standard of diverse functionality. Meet or exceed functionality will make the app more competitive.
• Some apps only have a call option with experts. Allowing for different communication options could also contribute to the competitive position of the app.

User Interviews (3 interviews)
• Plants are aesthetically pleasing and good for your mental health
• Hardest part about taking care of a plant is understanding its needs
• People usually purchase plants in-person
• Willing to pay to speak with a plant expert, but through a subscription based service

Survey Results
• Buying plants in-person > online
• Why own plants? Cosmetic and mental health reasons
• People generally do some research online or with friends/family before purchasing
• People have trouble understanding the plants’ needs
• Pandemic has played a part in influencing some peoples’ desires in owning a plant

Persona 1: Plant Newbie

Persona 2: Experienced Plant Owner

Persona 3: Plant Expert

After understanding the product space, I extracted insights from research & refined the sitemap

I used affinity mapping to extract insights with the notes taken from user interviews. After I separated and organized the notes using Miro, I began looking for emerging patterns between groups of post-its. The following compilations of post-its are the patterns and insights I discovered. I also refined the sitemap after conducting a round of card sorting.

Three user flows became the focus of this project

The project heavily revolved around 3 user flows. This determined the trajectory of my design process since the project revolved around refining these user flows. The three I derived based on the needs & goals of my personas and user research are: View Plant Needs, Customize Care Schedule, and Connect with a User.

Design work consisted of increasing in fidelity while focusing on the user flows

The design process involved increasing in design fidelity while getting feedback for each version from my advisor and mentor. I started by listing out the components for each user flow of the app and applying the sitemap, before starting the sketches for each user flow.

An important note to make is that the third user flow was slightly modified. Instead of 'Contacting a User' from the expert side, it became 'Connect with an Expert' from the user side. This change was made because user testing and design would primarily revolve around users who were seeking plant care help instead of giving help. Fortunately, I did research on users seeking expert help, so ideating the interface for that wasn't too far off. On top of this I was still able to use the research I did from the expert's end by applying elements they would need from the user and transcribing those needs into components of the UI.

Lo-fi Prototypes

Mid-Fi Prototypes

Final Design

Foliage is the amalgamation of my course learnings and many, many iterations.

The final design went through many more iterations including another round of usability testing, preference testing, applying visual design principles, using grid systems, exploring native systems (HIG), design collaboration, and accessibility guidelines.

Link to Prototype

Retrospective

Ideal circumstances and UX methodologies

Since this project was happening within the parameters of a class, there were no real repercussions for design decisions. This enabled me to refine my design methodology and class learnings without having to be too concerned about business constraints and stakeholder approval.

Embracing the iterative process

There was much more that went into iterations that anyone would ever care to read (and thus I left out). This capstone represents the cumulation of my learnings and design iterations, which meant that my design skills were leveling up as I was already creating parts of the design. In other words, design decisions I made during the beginning of my design journey were reflected as part of the end result. Nothing is ever perfect the first round through of design, and I learned to embrace the process.