Plant Mastery
A Gamified Plant Care App Prototype
This app aims to make caring for plants fun and informative while receiving both in-game and real-life rewards for their efforts. The more effort they put into this care, the closer they are to Plant Mastery.
Possible Solution
People who own houseplants sometimes have a difficult time taking care of plants because of things like lack of motivation, feeling like it’s just another task, or not knowing what the correct care is.
Problem Statement
Fall Term 2023
Spring Term 2024
Project Duration
Figma
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Tools Used
About this Project
This was a school project for DME-125: User Experience Fundamentals that was further iterated on in DME-211: User Experience Research and Testing which taught the core principles of UX design and exposed the students to the beginning-to-end design process.
User Interviews
User Research
Competitive Analysis
Empathize
Personas
Empathy Map
Journey Map
Define
User Flow
Information Architecture
Ideate
Wireframes
Low-Fidelity Mockups
High-Fidelity Mockups
Prototype
Usability Testing
Implementing Feedback
Test
The Design Process
Empathize
I engaged with three plant owners to explore their plant care practices, their use of technology for routine management, and preferences for gamification in apps.
The insights affirmed my beliefs about the unique challenges faced by a specific user group and their yet-to-be-met needs in incorporating engaging reward systems into plant care
User Interviews & Research
Upon analyzing the competitive landscape of plant care apps, it was evident that Planta and Blossom dominate with user-friendly interfaces.
PictureThis, with its robust AI-driven plant identification, could enhance its value proposition by reevaluating its pricing model.
All competitors share a narrow focus and could further innovate by integrating more dynamic, gamified experiences to foster greater user engagement.
Competitive Analysis
Define
"I want my house to look like an inviting jungle that wows everyone who walks in"
About Josh: Josh likes to mobile & PC game in his off-time and has a little bit of an addictive personality. He loves to collect as many varieties of plants as possible. The rarer, the better. He now has a collection of around ~200 plants. His girlfriend gives him a hard time and calls him a "temporary green thumb" because he sometimes forgets about these expensive plants that don't look so beautiful after being neglected.
Age: 27
Education: Bachelors
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Family: Girlfriend & 1 dog
Occupation: Front-End Developer
Persona - Josh
-
Manage a large amount of plants
-
Not feel like keeping plants is a chore
-
Have a plant collection to brag about
Goals
-
Difficult to keep track of all of the plants
-
Plant care apps are tedious and not fun
-
"I don't want to be forced to spend a lot on an app--when that money could go towards plants"
Frustrations
"I want to give my plants and my family the best life that I can!"
About Tracy: Tracy is devoted to nurturing her family and 25 plants but sometimes the plants have to take a back-seat for a little bit when other responsibilities take precedence. Plant care is her therapeutic escape when everything settles back down. She often finds herself overwhelmed by where to start when trying to figure out which plants need attention first.
Age: 38
Education: Masters
Hometown: Jacksonville, FL
Family: Husband & 3 kids
Occupation: Stay-at-home mom
Persona - Tracy
-
Maintaining beautiful plants while keeping up with the family
-
Not falling too far behind with plant care
-
Growing her plant knowledge
Goals
-
Finding time to research the right care for her plants
-
Needing clear direction on which plants need care and when
Frustrations
Ideate
I created paper wireframes to quickly visualize and iterate on layout and user interface ideas in order to make rapid modifications. I researched other mobile game interfaces to obtain a design that might be familiar to users.
Wireframes
Prototype
I mapped out the basic structure and functionality in the low-fidelity prototype that facilitated clear communication of the initial concept without distracting elements.
Low-Fidelity Mockups
The design was advanced in the high-fidelity mockup, where detailed visuals and interactive elements were incorporated to provide a closer representation of the final product and more accurate user testing and feedback.
Many of the digital image assets were from royalty-free sites like Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay, but the majority were generated in DALL-E to achieve the customized gamified feel I was looking for.
High-Fidelity Mockups
Test
I researched other plant care apps for possible ideas to include for the site map and tried to integrate what could be gamified motivators for plant care such as quests, rewards/achievements, a digital goods store, and a customizable plant room.
Sitemap
Final Design
