Gardening app for learning, caring, tracking and designing
In an increasingly urbanized world facing environmental challenges and food security issues, gardening apps and cultivating one's own food offer significant benefits. These practices empower people to reconnect with nature and promote sustainable living by minimizing reliance on commercially produced food. Encouraging local food production enhances community resilience and food autonomy while encouraging healthier eating habits.
Challenge
Ultimately, gardening apps and home cultivation play a crucial role in promoting environmental awareness and improving global food security in a sustainable manner.
How might we integrate gardening into people’s environments to mitigate the impending agricultural crisis?
Objectives
Identify the needs of people who decide to cultivate their own gardens.
Design a digital experience that will help people to take care of their gardens.
Following the User Centered Design process, I explored how gardening enthusiasts could personalize their app experience. By leveraging user research, I brainstormed and created several tailored solutions. Then, I tested these concepts through usability tests and developed a high-fidelity interactive prototype informed by the results.
Research goals
Research Queastion
What needs people have when deciding to cultivate their own food?
Sub-queastions
How might we provide people with technical and informational support?
How do people feel when faced with choosing plants and cultivation methods?
What pain points and frustrations might cause people to abandon gardening?
How might we define realistic expectations regarding yields and timeframes?
Why do people decide to start their own garden?
Secondary Research
Since the pandemic, interest in gardening has surged, especially among millennials and Gen Z. People are drawn to gardening to grow healthy food, beautify outdoor spaces, and enjoy a relaxing hobby with mental and physical benefits. However, many abandon it due to a lack of knowledge, feeling that there are overwhelming obstacles and that gardening is only for those with large outdoor spaces and ample free time.
Key facts
The average return of gardening investment in 2021
People who garden are homeowners
Global online sales of gardening goods doubled during pandemic
Millennials make up 29% of gardener demographics
Why do people garden?
55% of gardeners aimed to create a beautiful outdoor space
43% wanted to grow their food
41% needed something to do
55% of gardeners aimed to create a beautiful outdoor space
Why do people stop gardening?
Time constraints
Lack of knowledge
Space restraints
Fear of failure
Competitive Analysis
With numerous gardening apps, plant identifiers, and care reminder apps on the market, I began by delving into a comprehensive analysis of the competition. I examined their methods, pitfalls, and successes, identifying common themes to better understand and empathize with the user.
Based on the information gathered during my previous research, I understood that the target group for the app would likely be very diverse. Therefore, to conduct the most effective interviews, I needed participants with varying skill levels and spatial conditions. I had to determine whether such an app would make sense for beginners, intermediate, and expert gardeners. Through a screener survey, I eventually selected 9 participants covering the needed characteristics from each category.
The user interviews revealed 6 key insights:
Health benefits
Several interviewees, expressed a strong interest in gardening due to concerns about the quality of store-bought vegetables and the potential health benefits of homegrown produce.
Lack of knowledge
Almost all interviewees highlighted their lack of knowledge about gardening as a significant obstacle. They expressed a need for detailed, reliable information on various aspects of gardening.
Space issue
Many participants mentioned limited space as a challenge. They discussed the need for creative solutions like vertical gardening and emphasized the importance of selecting plants that can thrive in their specific environments.
Health benefits
Several interviewees, expressed a strong interest in gardening due to concerns about the quality of store-bought vegetables and the potential health benefits of homegrown produce.
Lack of knowledge
Almost all interviewees highlighted their lack of knowledge about gardening as a significant obstacle. They expressed a need for detailed, reliable information on various aspects of gardening.
Space issue
Many participants mentioned limited space as a challenge. They discussed the need for creative solutions like vertical gardening and emphasized the importance of selecting plants that can thrive in their specific environments.
The competitive analysis and user interviews provided a deeper understanding of user demographics and their potential interactions with a gardening app. The insights gathered helped me visualize potential users and paved the way for further product development.
Persona Development
Based on the research findings, I constructed 4 personas that represent individuals with varying levels of experience in different housing situations. Depending on how much space and experience people have, they will use the app in different ways.
The primary target audience for the app will be millennials, due to their growing interest in gardening and acquiring new skills through new technologies. Therefore, in the subsequent stages of the project, I will be focusing on the persona of Amy, who is a novice gardener with newly acquired space for growing vegetables.
Translating needs into features
To organize and select the necessary app features, it was crucial to determine which ones were essential for the app's proper functioning while also meeting user expectations. For this purpose I created user stories.
The prioritization of features was chosen by their alignment with the project's goals and user needs. Given the project constraints, I had to focus on the features essential for an MVP as determined by the primary persona.
Information Architecture
Identifying the most important features is only part of the success. To prioritize and organize my content, I created an information architecture diagram. This helped me structure data, allowing me to efficiently design user flows in the next step.
The final step before designing the wireframes was to establish user flow diagrams. These diagrams helped me visualize the steps a user takes to complete a task within the app, providing a clear understanding of the user’s journey from start to finish. The diagrams were based on five scenarios.
Adding Plants
Amy has recently moved with her husband to an apartment with a large outdoor area. Her dream is to have a nice looking and smelling garden that adds to the house aesthetics. To achive it, she needs to select the specific plants for her prefrences. Amy is searching for plant recommendation tailored to her space and needs, so that she can choose what to plant. She has a selection of carefully picked plants that will make her garden sensual.
Visual Planner
Amy wants to produce her own food in the garden. Before planting, she wants to design the layout and mark where to put each plant. She enters the app for the first time and sets up the dimensions and content of her garden in the visual planner. She successfully created a plan for her cultivation, ensuring optimal placement of companion plants at appropriate distances from one another.
Diagnose
Amy finds satisfaction in nurturing potted greenery. The limited space and knowledge about edible plants prevented her from starting her dream garden in the past. Now that she has the space, she wants to start relaxing outdoor activity, but she doesn’t want feel worried about the events beyond her control like pests and plant diseases. If the diseases occur and she is not sure what it is, she takes a photo of the plant and uploads to the service, so it can notify her about the cause. She can prevent and act efficiently against pests and plant diseases.
According to my findings, these are the key features the app should have to satisfy users. With these features, users will be able to add, care for, and design their gardens according to their preferences and needs.
Wireframes
Thanks to the research phase, I had a clear understanding of what needed to be designed. It was time to create wireframes. This stage of design is crucial for several reasons. It visualizes the structure and layout, focusing on functionality without the distraction of design details. Using wireframes, I could validate my assumptions and identify what needed to be modified.
Several interviewees, expressed a strong interest in gardening due to concerns about the quality of store-bought vegetables and the potential health benefits of homegrown produce.
Lack of knowledge
Almost all interviewees highlighted their lack of knowledge about gardening as a significant obstacle. They expressed a need for detailed, reliable information on various aspects of gardening.
Space issue
Many participants mentioned limited space as a challenge. They discussed the need for creative solutions like vertical gardening and emphasized the importance of selecting plants that can thrive in their specific environments.
Health benefits
Several interviewees, expressed a strong interest in gardening due to concerns about the quality of store-bought vegetables and the potential health benefits of homegrown produce.
Lack of knowledge
Almost all interviewees highlighted their lack of knowledge about gardening as a significant obstacle. They expressed a need for detailed, reliable information on various aspects of gardening.
Space issue
Many participants mentioned limited space as a challenge. They discussed the need for creative solutions like vertical gardening and emphasized the importance of selecting plants that can thrive in their specific environments.
I aimed for the design of my gardening app to emphasize a fresh aesthetic with naturally vibrant colors that evoke the beauty of gardens. Bright and appealing colors not only should make the app visually engaging but also to create a welcoming and friendly atmosphere for all users. I wanted my design to be simple and clean user interface to ensure that users can easily navigate and use the app without unnecessary complexity.
Garden Pal Stylesheet IOS
Designing Screens and Scenarios
Adding Plants Scenario
As a beginner gardener, you're eager to start your plant collection but are unsure which plants would thrive best in your environment and suit your gardening skills. Today, you're looking to explore the app's personalized recommendation feature to discover new plants that are ideal for beginners like yourself.
Visual Planner Scenario
Imagine you have just moved into a new home with a spacious backyard. You're excited to start designing your garden but aren't sure where to begin. You know you want to include the plants in your library.
Imagine you live in an apartment with a cozy balcony, and you're excited to transform this small space into a beautiful, green oasis with a vegetable garden. You want to make the most of the limited space by adding the planting area with carefully placed plants.
Diagnosis Scenario
Imagine you're growing tomatoes in your garden, and you've noticed some yellow spots on the fruit of your tomato plant. As a beginner gardener, you're not sure what might be causing the issue and you want to find out how to treat it by taking a photo of the affected area.
The app design included navigational and technical features such as using personalized plant recommendation, photo diagnose, visual planner, reminders and detailed information. I conducted a round of usability testing on a high-fidelity prototype to identify core issues in these features.
Enhancing tooltips and providing clearer explanations for technical terms like sun exposure categories (e.g., "partial sun") would improve user understanding.
Quick planting mode in visual planner
Users found the visual planning feature useful but noted confusion with the quick planting mode. Clearer instructions and feedback mechanisms.
Simplifying reminder settings
While the reminder feature was well-received for its simplicity, users suggested clearer explanations for advanced settings like smart scheduling.
Reducing Screens in “My Plants”
Participants suggested reducing the number of steps required to access detailed plant information, aiming for more intuitive navigation paths.
Grid option
Users expressed interest in more customization options, such as adjusting layout grids or personalizing reminders based on specific plant care needs.
Buttons in the home screen
Too many competing buttons in home screen. The hierarchy is not clear and it’s hard to determine the primary flow.
Following the first round of testing, the next steps would be to iterate and design for features beyond the MVP.
Improve visual layout by adding grid and more designing options.
Introduce new features like community media, introduce video tutorials, develop plant data base.
Conduct second round of user testing to identify usability issues.
What I’ve learned
Create a well-organized project plan. With so many issues to consider, a good strategy will prioritize on what’s needed for the MVP and keep you on track.
Understand tradeoffs in decision-making. Knowing when and why to use a particular tool or research strategy is part of the critical-thinking needed to successfully deliver.
Use existing patterns to decrease cognitive load. Spending time designing a unique interaction for a common function isn’t necessary if users already expect it to work a certain way.
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