INTRODUCTION
Solo student project for DesignLab UX/UI Bootcamp
My Role
Timeline
80 Hours
There's a saying that's been going around lately that, “Pets are the new kids and plants are the new pets.” This is fitting for younger people who want to go out and travel, but still have the desire to nurture and watch something grow. House plant maintenance can improve air quality, cognitive performance, and provide a sense of fulfillment. Within this fast-paced society, e-commerce provides scope on a wide variety of products in a timely, convenient manner. Marrying the two, delivers a platform for plant enthusiasts to purchase, discover, and learn about plants.
Background
While house plants can generate benefits both physically and mentally, finding the right species for your space can be challenging. Key factors such as maintenance, pet safety, and sizing must come into consideration when bringing flora home. To promote a successful horticulture journey, online plant stores can provide insight on what will work for your home through education, information, and visual aid.
Assumption
RESEARCH
User Interviews
To understand and define the challenges users are facing when sharing movies and shows on online streaming services, I conducted user interviews to assess what may be of help. I conducted interviews with 5 participants who fit the target demographic. Interviews were conducted over Google Meet and in-person.
After conducting interviews, I found some notable information to be considered. This includes:
Participants emphasized that they felt resistance towards plant care due to fear of failure, information overload, and potentially wasting money.
Researching can be tedious and time consuming process when learning about plant care.
Online shopping can be stressful as products can not by physically assessed.
Journey Mapping
To evaluate the steps that users take to get to a goal, I used journey mapping as a method to provide visual representation of a user’s experience.
Interesting points I found were:
Photos and imagery aid the process when considering products for both display and review.
Reviews for both the store and the product are to be considered when purchasing online.
Information that is condensed and easy to digest helps greatly during the research process.
Competitive Analysis
To become familiar with the current market and have a better understanding of what the current market has to offer, I analyzed four popular technologies surrounding this goal. I compiled the competitor’s background, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
I found that the other competitors offered plant recommendation quizes, but NOT the option to save answers from the quiz to user’s preference settings. I saw this as an opportunity to design a product that is centered around user’s needs as preferred plant options can be saved and used in the future.
DEFINE
Affinity Mapping
To make better sense of the data I gathered, I used affinity mapping to capture observations that stood out to me. By grouping notes that have similar content, I can synthesize my data through these patterns. This content will be used to make HMW questions and persona.
Common patterns that I found interesting are:
Online shopping can be daunting as users can not physically assess the product so they must choose by other means.
The main factors considered when buying plants are pet safety, size, maintenance needs, and air filtering quality.
Learning about new plants can be intimidating due to information overload.
Working off my affinity map, I created how might we (HMW) questions to infer and hypothesize user’s needs. These insights derived from my research and will serve as the foundation for my personas.
HMW Questions
Personas
In order to design a product that meets user’s needs, I created a persona based on my research findings to represent target users. I went with a persona who had a rather stressful schedule that uses plant care as a form of mental stimulation. This persona values convenience, reliability, and time spent when online shopping for plants. The persona was referenced throughout the design process to ensure that the product remains user focused.
IDEATE
Feature Set
To determine the necessary features for the design, a feature set was created to use as a reference for what should be prioritized, to what can come later. These features were decided based off the research conducted and will be used as a point of reference when creating task flows.
Task Flows
Upon addressing user needs, I devised a set of task flows to help define the necessary wireframes needed for prototyping. These flows provide a linear path for the project’s design to follow. I decided on searching for a product and checking out, leaving a review, and a plant recommendation quiz.
UI Kit
I created a UI kit that uses components as the building blocks for my design. I named the project “greenhaüs” after the structures that shelters plants. The latter part of the name was altered to the German spelling for a unique twist. The logo I created draws inspiration from modern minimalism to provide a simple and clean look. I went with a color palette that I found suitable to match with the natural aesthetic of plants and greenery.
Wireframes
I designed wireframes from low, mid, to high fidelity. The low fidelity wireframes were done on pen and paper to have room to explore iterations at a lower cost point. From there, the mid fidelity wireframes were designed to have more clear structure and the high fidelity wireframes encompassed the full design. I find that low-fidelity is generally the most difficult as you can go through so many potential options. High fidelity wireframes are the most enjoyable as I have a stronger idea of where the product is headed so I can focus more on the larger details. Throughout the process, flows and personas were referenced consistently to ensure that the design remains user focused.
TEST
Usability Testing
After creating a prototype in Figma, I conducted usability testing on a set of task flows with various participants to gather the following information:
Understand user’s ease of navigation on the app
Detect potential pain points that users may face while using the app
Evaluate time and effort spent completing core tasks
Based on the test results, I can conclude that while this feature has natural organization and flow, there are iterations that need to be made to ensure users can complete all tasks with ease.
Re-labeling the quiz to make the feature easier to locate.
Add scrolling so users can view the reviews they posted.
Adding preference saving to the end of the quiz.
FINAL DESIGN
Iterations were completed after testing to improve both minor and major faults in the usability of the product. Upon iterating my design, the I found the following aspects to be enhanced:
Reduced confusion when locating main features.
Furtherance of a realistic online shopping experience.
Increased overall usability value of the plant recommendation quiz.
CONCLUSION
As this is the first time I’ve incorporated industry-standard UI technical skills in a design, I gained experience with the following practices:
Working with a UI Key
In this project, I created a UI key that held components and elements used as the building blocks of my design. This is to create an effective interface design system that will allow developers to reuse and repurpose these components in a practical fashion.
Journey Mapping
The research methodology of journey mapping was new territory for me. I chose to proceed with this method to be able to learn what user’s thought processes and patterns are when trying to get from point A to point B. I felt the information obtained was more personal than what a regular user interview could provide.
As I would like to polish my designs further, I have considered some next steps that I want to take:
Adding Video Reviews
Although photos through display and reviews can help users physically assess and guage the quality of a product, videos can provide a layer of depth that photos can not. I would have to figure out how to present that with technical limitations during the prototyping process.
AR Plant Viewing
In my research, many participants expressed that sizing could be am issue for them when purchasing products online. Although dimensions may be provided, users may not have the tools to accurately measure their space. Incorporating AR previews of the products within user’s home would be a neat feature that addresses this problem.