This project came to life after I forgot to water my plants—again. After barely resuscitating my Ghost Echeveria, I set to work creating something that was helpful to others and let me practice my UX techniques: a good looking app that reminds people to “water their damn plants”.
Paper, Pen, Adobe XD, User Persona, Use Cases
Its easy to forget to care your plants
Perhaps it was the practicality of the idea itself, but this project marked the first time I truly approached design from a UX perspective as opposed to an aesthetics-first mindset. This meant digging deep and doing a heck of a lot of research, especially when it came to UX techniques and concepts like Use Cases and Persona Creation, along with designing a number of rapid low-fi iterations and prototypes.
Old habits die hard (like a Philodendron), and the design on the first version of my app was definitely rooted in aesthetics more than function. However, the next iteration of the app will take more influence from my UX research, including redesigning the sections presenting usability issues. Another issue I encountered was scope creep, as I wanted to expand the functionality before I had built strong roots—err, a solid grasp on the necessary fundamentals. Now, with a deeper understanding and focus on user interaction, the next version of the app will establish more concrete standards of UX-forward design based around aspects like its CTAs, edit windows, and the transitions between the sections of the app.
The next version of the app will establish more concrete standards of UX-forward design
The priority for this case is being able to send the care instructions both quickly and easily. A number of options for selecting the appropriate plants allows users to navigate flow without needing to stop and think.
When a user is quickly adding a plant to their collection, an option to name the plant will be given. It will not be required but be a small added delight.
Multiple options/methods to quickly search the collection will be presented, Users will be able to use the method that best suits their needs.
When a plant is updated, it is saved automatically. However, there will still be a manual save option to serve as reassurance.
The decision to go with wireframes came from an exploration into what’s most important to users at first glance. Visual hierarchy is important to help guide the eye down the page, and the design allows for a natural, top-left to bottom-right reading movement.
The design of the app’s first iteration was rushed, and I found myself fixated on best practices over what was ‘best for the user’; scope creep was also an issue, as it was easy to get excited and want to add new functionality, before fine-tuning what was already there. For the next iteration of this design, I will: