Plant Care App
Description:
A mobile app for diagnosing and treating plant diseases, providing an intuitive tool to help users keep their plants healthy.
This was my first independent project, developed without a specific client, driven by my passion for exploring UX and UI design.
Project Type:
Individual UX/UI project focused on designing a mobile app for the care and management of indoor and garden plants.
Project duration:
May 2024 -August 2024
Role: UX/UI Designer
UX Designer:
Conducted user research to understand user needs.
Created user personas and user flows.
Developed low-fidelity wireframes to structure the app.
UI Designer:
Designed high-fidelity prototypes using Figma.
Selected color palettes, typography, and other visual elements.
Created reusable design components to ensure consistency.
Tools:
-Figma
-Canva
Methodology:
Applied the Design Thinking process, progressing through research, ideation, prototyping, and testing to develop a user-centered solution.
Project Overview
This project integrates UX and UI elements, showcasing user personas, user flows, low-fidelity wireframes, and high-fidelity prototypes.
It combines research and design to address user needs.
The product
Purpose: Diagnose and care for houseplants with ease.
Features: Personalized care tips, reminders, and diagnostic tools.
Target Users: Plant enthusiasts, homeowners, and beginners in plant care seeking a simple solution for managing indoor plants.
The problem:
Plant owners often struggle to:
Maintain their houseplants' health due to a lack of personalized care guidance.
Make informed decisions about fertilizers and plant care products.
The goal
Develop an intuitive app that:
Provides personalized care tips and reminders.
Guides users toward informed purchases of plant care products.
Project process
Adopted the Design Thinking methodology.
Research
To align the Plant Care App with user needs, I conducted a mix of qualitative and quantitative research:
Initial Assumptions: Most users have basic plant care knowledge but struggle with diagnosing and treating health issues.
Methods:
Surveys and Interviews: Engaged 15 participants from diverse demographics to gather insights.
Key Finding: Many users found it challenging to identify and address plant health problems.
Outcome: These findings inspired the development of a comprehensive diagnostic tool.
Usability Testing: Sessions helped refine the app’s interface, ensuring it was intuitive and easy to navigate for all users.
Pain Points
Plant Identification:
Users struggle to accurately identify their houseplants.
This makes it hard to access specific care information online or meet the unique needs of their plants.
Lack of Plant Care Knowledge:
Challenges include understanding water requirements, creating care schedules, and selecting appropriate fertilizers and products.
Watering Reminders:
Users often forget watering schedules.
A diary feature with alarms is needed to ensure timely plant care.
Diagnosing Plant Issues:
Users need support in identifying and treating plant diseases or health problems.
Dephine Phase
The primary user flow of the app is designed to streamline plant care and diagnostics.
In the user flow showcased, we focus on the plant disease diagnostics section.
In this section, users will see prominent buttons for photo-Based Diagnosis
Additionally, on the same page (though not shown in the user flow), users can access two other sections:
Common Diseases: An informational section providing detailed insights on common plant diseases and preventive measures.
Diagnosis Record: A history section that records all past diagnoses for easy reference and tracking.
Wireframing
I first created hand-drawn sketches of the wireframes, which I then transformed into digital wireframes.
The goal I wanted to reach was to create an app structure that is easy to navigate, useful, but also fun to use!
On the home page, I decided to highlight two main functions: diagnostics and the diary, which tracks both completed tasks and those scheduled for the coming days.
Prototyping
Design solution
For the design solution, I chose a palette of 5 colors that evoke the tones of earth, sun, and green leaves.
I avoided overly bright colors like red, pink, or purple to maintain a sense of calm and tranquility. The palette includes:
Green (#91D925): the main color, evoking freshness and nature.
Light Yellow (#F2EA7E) and Golden Yellow (#D9B23D): adding warmth and reminiscent of sunlight.
Brown (#A66D58) and Brick Red (#BF5349): representing earthy tones.
For the text, I decided to keep a medium-high contrast by using dark gray (#525252), ensuring readability without disrupting the visual harmony of the design.
Regarding fonts, I selected Lato in two weights: Regular for explanatory text and Bold for titles.
Mockups
Hight-fidelity prototype
Reflections and next steps
Accessibility Considerations:
Color Contrast and Readability: Ensured high color contrast for better readability, making the app more accessible to users with visual impairments or color vision deficiencies.
Screen Reader Compatibility: Optimized for screen readers by adding descriptive labels for buttons, icons, and images to aid navigation for visually impaired users.
Touch Target Size: Designed touch targets to meet accessibility standards (at least 44x44 pixels) to improve usability for users with motor impairments.
Product Features
Expand Diagnostic tool: Add more plant diseases and integrate machine learning to improve diagnostic accuracy.
Personalized Care Plans: Create tailored care routines based on plant types, user environment, and care history.
Data-Driven Insights: Incorporate analytics to offer insights into plant care habits and improvement suggestions.
Notifications and Reminders: Implement a system for timely notifications and reminders for plant care tasks.
Impact:
The design of the Plant Care Companion App has the potential to significantly improve how users care for their plants.
By providing a comprehensive diagnostic tool and personalized care plans, the app empowers users to address plant health issues with confidence.
The streamlined user interface and intuitive onboarding process make the app accessible to both beginners and experienced plant enthusiasts.
The accessibility considerations further ensure that the app can be used by a diverse audience, making plant care more inclusive and manageable for everyone.