Aloe
A mobile app designed for plant enthusiasts both new and experienced.
Role
UX/UI Designer
Timeframe
3 months
Tools Used
Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, Miro, Google Workspace, InVision
Problem and Overview
Gardening and houseplants have steadily become more and more popular over the past decade, especially among ‘millennials’. At the same time, plant care can be intimidating to some people, especially if they’ve had plants wilt or die on them in the past.
The objective was to design an app to help burgeoning plant enthusiasts determine what houseplants are right for them, as well as how to care for said plants.
Process
Research & Discovery
I conducted user interviews with five (5) people of varying gardening experience in order to gain insight into what informs people’s plant-buying and plant-care habits, and what possible pain points they may experience in the process.
Here is a sample of some of the questions I asked during the interviews:
When you got your first houseplant, how did you pick it out?
What features or characteristics of a plant are important to you?
Do you rely on outside sources or information when choosing plants?
What challenges have you faced when caring for plants?
Affinity Map
I organized the information gathered from the interviews with the use of an affinity map, which helped me to form patterns and themes [ideal qualities of a plant; sources of inspiration; plant research methods (or lack thereof)], as well as define who I was designing the app for and what motivations and goals I wanted to help these users accomplish.
View the Affinity Map at full size here.
User Personas
The Gardening Newbie
Wants a resource to help him pick plants without spending much time on research.
(View User Persona #1 at full size here.)
The Nurturer
Likes to do prior research before making a purchase, and wants a single source that can address all of her questions.
(View User Persona #2 at full size here.)
Ideation
When it came time to plan out what the app would entail, I focused on these question:
How might we help people identify plants that fit their wants/needs?
How might we draw people’s attention to a plant’s needs?
My ruminations led me incorporate the following features into the app’s Minimum Viable Product:
Plant recommendation/identification + bookmarking
Task scheduling (resulting in reminders by way of push notifications)
User Flows
Initial Sketches
Drafting hand-drawn wireframes allowed me to gain insight on what layouts would work before committing anything to screen.
Guerilla Usability Testing
After my lo-fi wireframes were complete, I sought outsider feedback through the use of guerilla usability testing sessions to gauge user reactions to the product and designs.
Key Insights
Users were surprised to see two separate ‘Search’ and ‘Discover’ screens (which were marked by the search bar and curated plant suggestions, respectively).
For the ‘Collection’ screen that displays a user’s saved plants, several users suggested a grid-view that is reminiscent of popular apps such as Instagram and Pinterest.
Resulting Edits
Moved the search bar to the ‘Discover’ screen, making the plant research process more streamlined and efficient.
Created an alternative grid-view for the ‘Collection’ to allow for a more visual-based way to view the user’s plants.
Visual Design
Color Palate
Because of the app’s focus on plants, it made sense to use soft (i.e., not bright or vibrant) colors to evoke calmness, which is a feeling people often associate with plants.
Imagery
It was important to have photography within the app that appear natural and candid (as in not staged in a studio), and that are ultimately aspirational. Users ought to view the photos and think:
“This could be my plant that I can picture having in my own home.”
Prototyping & Usability Testing
Once my wireframes were complete and my design system was established, I was now able to fully realize the app with high-fidelity screens and consequently a working prototype in InVision.
Armed with this prototype, I interviewed five (5) users and had them complete tasks centered on researching and bookmarking plants, and scheduling plant care task reminders in order to test the usability of established flows.
Key Insights
Emphasis on images and photography is vital.
Because interest in plants often stems from the visual of a plant itself, it made sense that the test users would be drawn to the plant photographs employed within the app.
Text-heavy screens can be a deterrent.
Users felt overwhelmed by the plant name labels at the bottom of every plant photo/card on the ‘Discover’ screen. Users also confessed to paying little attention to the labels to begin with, and were rather more focused on the photos when deciding where to go next in the app (this of course is reflective of the previous insight).Solution: Remove the plant name labels, which made for a better, smoother first impression.
Users expected app gesture capabilities.
Because of their experience with other apps, several users expected to be able to use swiping gestures on the ‘My Collection’ page in order to delete plants.Solution: Implement gesture capabilities for the final product.
The ‘Schedule’ feature lacked a monthly view.
A user pointed out that the lack of a monthly calendar would make the schedule feature less useful for people who plan ahead weeks at a time.Solution: Add a monthly calendar in addition to the current weekly calendar, and allowing users to switch between the two at their discretion.
High-Fidelity Screens
Conclusion
The goal of the Aloe plant app was to demystify plants and show that anyone can care for them, as well as direct people to plants that would work best for them. Through user research, followed by several rounds of ideation, prototyping, and testing, I was able to devise a design solution that testers found to be visually appealing, self-intuitive, and useful as a plant care tool.
Were I to continue on with this project, I would like to delve deeper into the potential of in-app gestures as well as explore ideas of how to provide people with a more customized experience when using the app.
But as it stands, I am pleased to say that I was able to put forth a product concept from which people would be able to derive value and enjoyment.