My client, a millennial passionate about plants and interior decor, was looking for a way to help people find an easy and fun approach to discovering houseplants tailored to them. The tools currently available mostly rely on independent research and blog posts; however, searching online to see if a plant might be toxic for pets or require more attention and light than one might be able to provide can quickly become exhausting. He wanted to keep small local businesses in mind and help new (future) plant enthusiasts start off on the right foot. After all, having many new plants die fast without fully understanding why can feel defeating. To stay focused on the main goal, we agreed to keep the project limited to one user flow.
I wanted to learn more about what my client was looking for, so we ran through a few “how might we” questions together and prioritized the ones we wanted to keep in mind for the design sprint.
(In order of importance to outside MVP; from left to right.)
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To better capture our target users, I made a key proto-persona to help create journey and empathy maps.
Proto-Persona: George - a millennial art handler, who lives alone with his cat, wants to acquire some plants for his apartment.
Proto-Persona: George - a millennial art handler, who lives alone with his cat, wants to acquire some plants for his apartment.
Journey Map: George wants to impress his friends with a fresh atmosphere created by an apartment full of plants but ends up struggling to find non-toxic options. He becomes bogged down by extensive independent research. After a great amount of time and energy, he finds some houseplants to start his collection and seeks them out.
Empathy Map: George worries about his cat around certain plants while considering the benefits of houseplants in his apartment.
I sketched out a storyboard to illustrate to my client how and why my design solution would benefit the users. The storyboard shows how quick and easy it is for George to find and purchase houseplants through a personalized selection without having to leave the app or his apartment.
Since my client and I agreed to focus on one user flow for the project, we decided to group our stories into an onboarding process:
“George wants to quickly and easily find the right houseplants for his apartment.”
For George’s user story, I wrote out a user flow that would take a first-time user through an engaging onboarding process. The user is prompted to share their location so the onboarding results can immediately provide them with local businesses where they can purchase their plants.
I started by sketching a wireframe, drafting out how the design solution might look. Inspired by some existing UI patterns, I created a solution for an onboarding process where users won’t drop off. My solution was to personalize the process and provide immediate results. I did this through gamification (personalized quizzes) and cards (recommended plants page - not pictured in sketches) that presented information in a simple and familiar layout.
I used the Crazy 8’s brainstorming method to test out variations for the plant details page and then refined my chosen sketch.
By paper prototyping my design sketches, I could quickly test for any early-on pain points in my user flow before wireframing them in Figma.
In order to test my design solution, I put together a few screener questions in Google Forms and contacted at least five respondents to test. Each participant was given the same task to complete while I collected qualitative and quantitative feedback through their body language or facial expressions (behavioral observations) and any verbal feedback received.
Overall, the design solution was successful; albeit with some very useful feedback from a few participants that would improve the onboarding process (iterations based on user testing feedback are present in the prototype links provided). Participants from the interviews enjoyed the personalized quizzes and the overall interface of the app.
“Use the app to find the right houseplant for you and then add it to your wishlist.”
I intend to run another design sprint for an Augmented Reality feature that would help users virtually “try out” plants they select in their homes, offices, etc. This will allow users to see how the plants fit with their existing decor and furniture, while also giving them an idea of how much space the plant might need before they decide to make the purchase.
I also want to make the purchasing experience more defined - quantity, size, etc.
