Overview of Project
Blooming is a mobile application designed for users who love their houseplants, but have trouble keeping them alive.
My Role
UX Research
UX Design
UI Design
Our Team
3 UX/UI Designers
Tools Used
Figma
Figma Mirror
Miro
Slack
The Problem
Houseplants around the nation are dying due to their owners being too busy to care for them. Hectic schedules can make curing plant issues, or even just identifying those issues, a frustrating task. Even for those who love their houseplants!
The Solution
Design a mobile application so that users can trouble shoot problems with their houseplants, while also easily determining a care routine for the plants in their care.
Mobile App Design
Research & Discovery
Key Insights: User Interviews & Survey
Our research consisted of 5 interviews and 62 SurveyMonkey survey respondents. The key statistics found from our data include:
58% of participants have trouble reviving houseplants when there is an issue with them, or when they begin to see signs of decay
"I would have more (houseplants) if I knew what each of them needed."
PARTICIPANT #3
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"The hardest part of owning a house plant? Keeping them alive. I'm on a pretty good streak right now, but sometimes I'm not sure what a plant needs to stay healthy."
PARTICIPANT #2
53% of participants reported that their busy schedules are a contributing factor of why they struggle to take care of houseplants
"I always get low-maintenance houseplants, because I'm too scared I'll get busy and forget to water them. "
PARTICIPANT #5
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"Having a houseplant is kinda like having a child. You want to make sure you have the time to ensure it can both survive, and thrive, before just having another child."
PARTICIPANT #4
So if caring for houseplants is so frustrating, why do users have such an interest in houseplants?
"Great way to have something to take care of in your home. Adds some comfort and brightness to the apartment." PARTICIPANT #1
"Brings life into the apartment, especially when you can't have animals or a pet." PARTICIPANT #4
"[Houseplants are] one of those 'little joys in life'. Having something to make you smile and think, “I kept this alive!” creates a sense of pride." PARTICIPANT #5
"My parents had garden growing up, so I always had green thumb. I love to watch them grow and thrive over time. Plants remind me of my family and loved ones." PARTICIPANT #3
Competitor Analysis
All of these mobile apps have plant identifying features and watering reminder features. But most of them fail to provide information on the key common issues with individual plant species and how to better diagnose and treat their houseplants.
Planta
Blossom
Based on our research of other competitors on the market, we realized some of these apps are missing 2 key features:
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Summarized info of common issues with specific species of houseplants and how to treat these issues
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Interactive feature to chat with a plant specialist
Vera
Analyzing & Defining
Affinity Diagram
Feature Prioritization
In order to breakdown results from both the survey and user interviews, we identified grouping patterns and categorized key insights.
The Feature Prioritization Matrix below displays our process of determining the important features of the Blooming app. After evaluating patterns that arose out of the affinity diagram, we voted on the ideas that we believed to be most valuable for the app.
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Key Features of Blooming:
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Garden: Home base to save and organize houseplants
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Map: Find local plant nurseries and garden centers
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Search: Search for info on a specific plant or species of plants
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Chat: Message with a plant specialist
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Reminders: Set and scheduling watering reminders for each plant in the Garden
Persona & User Journey Mapping
Our team constructed a persona of, Mahalia Aiko, a user representative of the affinity diagram patterns and primary UX research. A journey map was also created in order to visualize the process she would go through in order to accomplish her goal of taking better care of her dying houseplants via the Blooming app.
Information Architecture
User Flow Diagram
The User Journey Map helped us determine how users may interact with the Blooming app, and the steps the user will take to achieve their goals of better taking care of dying houseplants.
This led us right into developing a User Flow Diagram, which helped us solidify a superior user experience on the Blooming app. This User Flow Diagram to the right includes all the various interactions users have on the app. We knew how our team wanted users to navigate the application, while keeping the users’ needs at the forefront.
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The User Flow Diagrams helped the Blooming UX Design Team:
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More easily communicate what the user flow should be
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Ensure key steps identified in the User Journey Map aren't skipped or missed
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Make changes at a lo-fi before investing too much a lot of time in design and UI elements
Wireframes & Prototyping
From Sketches to Lo/Mid-Fi Wireframes
As we transitioned into the paper prototyping and wireframe stage, we each sketched our own ideas on paper, and each of us demo’d our paper prototypes, collaborated to vote on the placement of features in the lo/mid-fi prototype.
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Usability Testing
Lo-Fi Usability Testing
Our team conducted 3 usability tests to understand the top issues for users while testing the lo-fi prototype:
Pain Points During Usability Testing
Difficult to find chat feature
Our Iteration/Solution
Added the Chat feature to the navigation menu
'Favorites' is unclear
Labeling this feature as 'Home' or 'Garden' seems to make more sense to users
