Home plants beautify our homes and make us feel connected to nature than usual. But not everyone is an expert when it comes to plants and taking care of them.
I was having drinks with a couple of friends when one of my friends mentioned his plants had died. We all laughed, but then everyone started sharing how they killed a plant or two in the past. And one of them even said he doesn’t want to get a plant because he is scared to kill it.
This makes me curious about how many people face this kind of problem. So I conducted some research and interviewed 10 plant owners, a mix of beginners (those who had just started keeping plants) and experts (those with more experience and owning more than three plants), as well as plant sellers, to gain insight into how their customers perceive plants.
During my interviews, I found a common theme among both beginners and experienced customers, with recurring issues related to plant care, particularly watering. Many people experience plant loss due to incorrect watering (Too much watering), lack of seasonal care knowledge, or over-reliance on generic advice. which lead me to these pain points:
Target Users' Pain Points:
As I continue with my interviews, I found out that Plants acts as more than a beauty objects to most plant owners, “Some plants are gotten as a gift from friend and hold special place in their heart”, “some are attached to it because it’s the only thing that reminds them of their loved ones that passed away and hold a special memories for them and tries very hard to keep them alive.” “Some take care of it as a companion, to see if they can care for something and nurture it to life.” “While some give their plants personality and Names based on how durable they are or how tender and attention needing they are.”
Common Attributes of Plants for these Target Users
Emotional Attachment from a friend or loved one.
Companionship and Nurturing.
Remembrance of a person and memory.
Categorising plants by personalities and giving names based on their Durability and tenderness.
From my Interviews, I got a direction to make an app that both reminds people to water their plants and also explores these emotional connections they have with their plants, which no other apps have offered.
I did a little research on other existing plant water reminder apps out there and found out that they all have the same format, and not just that, but also, using them feels disconnected. Although this is how most apps are being built but I am a believer that an app should be tailored to its purpose, and this is not achieving that aim.
Since most plant apps don’t offer a combination of plant watering service with an emotional connection attached to it, it gives me freedom to explore various ideas and to work not in a confined space, but set the rules.
Here is the my site map
This is the the tesla sitemap but with a more immersive approach
I aim to translate the interview result into design and then test to see if it meets the users' needs.
To accurately test for users feedback, I made the High- fidelity prototype, so they have a full understanding of how the interaction feels like.
I did the first test, and although I didn’t replicate the standard way of making a mobile app by having the navigation bar below, they prefer this format much better and like the flow from one part to the other without having a disconnected part.
Personalize
I noticed not all the users were satisfied with the pre-made template; some wanted the ability to customise it instead of picking from a template.
I had to go back to the drawing board and adjust the personality part, giving the users the ability to draw (scribble) the type of personalities instead of having a list of templates and also to be able to write a short description about a memory or a situation they would like to remember the plant for.
I also added a feature to invite people to share the memory with you. Some sort of collaborators to see the progress and growth of the plant. Each plant has its own collaborators, for example. One of the people I interviewed said she received her plant from her grandma, who has passed away and taking care of the plant reminds her of her grandma. Here, the user can share the growths and personality page of the plant with her family member who shares or is related to her grandma.
Finally, instead of a premade emotion title, you would be able to write the name of a person/people who bought the plant for you, or what prompted you to buy the plant, it can be a stage of life or a memory you would like to keep.
Cycle
The cycle page seems to be too much for the users; it’s making the users do too much work trying to figure out when the next watering cycle is.
I intend to solve this by letting the app figure out the watering cycle by itself, without the users having to put it in themselves, so it just shows the next watering cycle. This is done by using an AI camera to figure out the plant name, and also the app is synced to the calendar and weather to know when to increase the watering or decrease watering.
Watering History
Since the App is meant to foster an emotional connection using the plant as a subject of focus, it is important to have a time-lapse of the plant growth by taking a picture after each watering is made.
This functions to inform the app that the assignment has been completed and also to assist in diagnosing the plant if it is unwell.
There is also a history of watering and the corresponding picture after each watering.
Cared for by
The users also mentioned they would like to share the plant progress with the person or people connected to each plant, so I added the ability to share the plant progress, which builds a little community around each plant.
It is important to note that the person/people that each plant is shared with differs for each plant, depending on the emotional connections with the plants.
This also solves for easily getting someone to water the plant when the owner is on vacation, so any of the people can take over the watering, or it can be rotated amongst them.
Also, it is a great way to diagnose the plant and receive help from other plant experts.
The logo has to reflect the brand, and I took my time in making sure it is memorable and that what it stands for is not misrepresented in the Logo design.
At this stage, I am looking for how easy it is for the user to navigate and how well they understand the flow.
All the users understood the flow and found it very easy to navigate, even those who are not particularly tech-savvy, saying it's so easy to understand and navigate.
However, a part still confuses users, specifically how to set feedback and diagnose the plant after watching the time-lapse of plant growth, in case they notice the plant is sick or simply want to comment on its growth.
I added a diagnosis part with a corresponding chat message order for the people which the plant is shared with plant to communicate about the plant’s health and progress.
Shared With
I initially started with the idea of creating an app to remind users to water their plants, but as I spoke with them and learned what owning a plant meant to them, I realised that it is more than just a physical object; it has an emotional significance.
Ultimately, nothing beats genuine, authentic communication with users. Although research is valuable, our conclusions are often influenced by our biases, but by engaging directly with the end users, I learnt far more than I ever could from researching behind a computer screen.