Objective
Design a product that enables people to look after multiple plants when they are at home and when they have to leave them in the care of another.
User research
Desk research shows that increasingly many young people are interested in owning and caring for plants. Looking after plants gives a sense of purpose, helps people to disconnect from virtual life, enables them to destress and enhances their mental wellbeing.
Observations in my direct surroundings show that while people love their plants, they encounter two problems. On the one hand they struggle with overwatering plants or giving them water too sparingly. On the other hand, they want to be able to go on holiday, leaving others to look after their plants. Or they may be asked to look after a friend's indoor garden. Doing so creates some worry as no one wants to accidentally cause the demise of a friends' plants.
Persona:
User journey:
Storyboards:
App design
After focussing on the user and looking at the products of competitors, I designed some lo-fi wireframes and the information architecture of the product. I then built a functioning prototype in Figma.
Information architecture:
Lo-fi wireframes
Hi-fi wireframes - signing in or signing up:
Hi-fi wireframes - adding plants to your garden:
Hi-fi wireframes - assigning a plant carer:
Next steps
As this was a project that was quickly executed, it's far from flawless. In an ideal world, I'd have conducted further user research by interviewing some people in my target audience. I'd also test the product in order to find out that it does what it's supposed to do.
