A gardening app that turnsyour brown thumb green

Leslie Herring, 2017

LeafLove

IntroductionNature brings joy and relaxation to many of us. Plants purify our air, make our world beautiful, and provide for us. We literally need them to survive.

The problem I suspect is people may need more helpful tools to prompt them to take care of their plants.

The ProblemBut not all of use are in tune with nature. For example, I’ve killed everything from cactus to bamboo. Some of us simply have brown thumbs. Plants don’t let you know when the need to be watered, re-potted, fertilized, or if they’ve had too much sun. They simply die.

The Process

Research& Discovery

User GoalsUser Flows

Prototyping Testing

Research & Discovery

Research GoalsGOALSThe Goals of research was to find out which apps existed, what was successful about them and how to make taking care of plants easy.

With User interviews the goal was to find not only why people have a hard time taking care of their plants, and the different ways they feel overwhelmed by the task, but to also find out what did motivate them to get things done.

PROCESSCompetitive Analysis comparing features of plant care apps as well as task monitoring and game apps.

User interviews were conducted in person as well as through video chat so that I could jump to questions I wanted to ask as the natural conversation flowed, as well as ask additional questions when something new and interesting was said. Also, some interviewees were able to quickly show me their current garden setup.

Competitors

TAASKY STAND LAND KOUBACHI PARROT FLOWER POWER

FLOWER CARE HABITICAA streamlined task list app. Great for making lists and organizing them, but doesn’t have any specific plant information or ability to tap into conditions outside the app.

An app that urges users to stand at least once per hour for rewards such as avatars and landscapes within the game.

A plant monitoring app that is paired with a smart device. App hasn’t been updated in two years. This app does give you notifications without using their smart device.

A plant monitoring app is paired with a smart device. Plant database is small and notifications don’t work without the device.

A plant monitoring app that is paired with a smart device. You can’t use any features of the app without the device. It’s super cute, though.

A habit forming task management app. With RPG gamification, this app helps give those who love games incentive to take on their real life tasks. It just has nothing to do with plants.

Competitive Analysis• Many current apps are out of date, no longer supported.• Task managers & habit tracking apps to not account for specific basic plant needs.• Many plant care apps only work with their specific smart device.• Most plant care apps don’t create additional motivation for long term plant care.• Gamification can be as simple as checking in, or performing a task for points.

User Interviews

“Like Crowley in Good Omens, my plants either survive or perish.” - Molly

“I kept getting notifications at inconvenient times so I stopped (using this app)” - Sarah

How they fail at caring for plantsWhat type(s) of gardening they are interesting inCurrent methods they use to care for their plants.The amount of time they budget for plant careIf they are the primary pant caretakerWhat types of goal tracking methods they respond toIf they play mobile gamesWhat types of things motivate them such as Personal Achievement, Guilt, Positive/Negative Reinforcement, Financial incentives, Task Lists, Alerts, or Social connection.

Play games & can be motivated by rewards

Notifications are ignored, especially when delivered at wrong time to take action

Only take care of plants that clearly wilt/indicate needs or if they see them regularly

Don’t make plant care a part of their routines

Want to cook using their own grown ingredients

Won’t attempt to keep plants they feel is outside their skill level

RESULTSI wanted to find out:• • • • • • • •

44/

3 4/

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3 4/3 4/

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The problem I suspect is people may need more helpful tools to prompt & create incentive for them to take care of their plants.

Revised Problem

User Goals & Flow

Age: 32Work: Project CoordinatorFamily: 2 CatsLocation: Washington D.C.Character: The 9 to 5

Fretter Over-Achiever Intelligent

PERSONALITY

GOALS

FRUSTRATIONS

BIO

MOTIVATIONS

BRANDS

PREFERRED CHANNELS

"I try to use my commute time have some fun. Some days it's the only time I have just for me"

Theresa is a busy woman with a lot of responsibility. She commutes via metro to work. Most of her time is spent out of the house, either at her job, or out with friends. She struggles maintaining a work life balance, but is trying to meet some healthy goals, like not eating out every night. It’s harder when she comes home to rotten basil in her fridge. Originally from suburban Ohio, city life makes her miss open land and well kept garden—but not enough to give up her great career.

Too many notifications and emails, especially when she's away from what needs to be taken care of.

Plants are lower priority, she's super busy already.

Google has the answer, but it's too much time to search, and then verify the information.

Needs something that knows her plants and can inform her about them.

Making her home space a little greener and prettier

Watering the plants before they wilt

To cook using her own herbs and vegetables

Not have to run to the grocery store for fresh ingredients

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Incentive

Fear

Achievement

Growth

Power

Social

Traditional Ads

Online & Social Media

Referral

Guerrilla Efforts & PR

Introvert

Analytical

Conservative

Passive

Extrovert

Creative

Liberal

Active

User Flow

App Version

* Required

2.01.0

Landing/Welcome

Tutorial

New User On-boarding

Login Sign Up

Skill Level Calculator*

Enable Notifications

Location

Account Settings

Measurement System

My Garden* MoreAdd A Plant* Plant Database*

View Custom Filter

Plants Alphabetical Search

Plants Alphabetical

Plant Default Image

Plant Common Name

Plant Scientific Name

Select From Database

Name Plant

Take Photo

Environment

Date Last Watered

Date Last Fertilized*

Home

Level Progress Bar

Alerts*

Rewards Earned

Rewards Earned

Your Level

Reward Preview

Quests/Challenges

Game FAQ/Info

More Tasks

Login Google

Login Facebook Email

Password

Linked Accounts

Name

Account Settings Game Progress

Enable GPS

Measurement System

Input Location Manual

Notification SettingsLocation Settings

Email Notifications

Home Screen Notif.

Lock Screen Notif

Push Notifications

Summary/Confirm

Date Last Watered

Date Last Fertilized

Notification Settings*

Static Navigation Bar

Plant Info*Plant Care*

Plant Profile

Other Names

Description

Type

Lifetime

Leaf Color

Height/Growth Range

Special Features

Similar Plants

Similar Skill Level

Toxicity

Genus

Scientific Name

SpeciesFertilizer

Soil & Irrigation Info

Growth Info

Harvesting Info

Pests Info

Growth Info

Pruning Info

When to Plant Info

Re-potting

Pruning

Water

Sunlight

Temperature

Photo

User Plant Name

Common Name

Scientific Name

Skill Level Rating

Logged in? YesNo

App Version

* Required

2.01.0

Landing/Welcome

Tutorial

New User On-boarding

Login Sign Up

Skill Level Calculator*

Enable Notifications

Location

Account Settings

Measurement System

My Garden* MoreAdd A Plant* Plant Database*

View Custom Filter

Plants Alphabetical Search

Plants Alphabetical

Plant Default Image

Plant Common Name

Plant Scientific Name

Select From Database

Name Plant

Take Photo

Environment

Date Last Watered

Date Last Fertilized*

Home

Level Progress Bar

Alerts*

Rewards Earned

Rewards Earned

Your Level

Reward Preview

Quests/Challenges

Game FAQ/Info

More Tasks

Login Google

Login Facebook Email

Password

Linked Accounts

Name

Account Settings Game Progress

Enable GPS

Measurement System

Input Location Manual

Notification SettingsLocation Settings

Email Notifications

Home Screen Notif.

Lock Screen Notif

Push Notifications

Summary/Confirm

Date Last Watered

Date Last Fertilized

Notification Settings*

Static Navigation Bar

Plant Info*Plant Care*

Plant Profile

Other Names

Description

Type

Lifetime

Leaf Color

Height/Growth Range

Special Features

Similar Plants

Similar Skill Level

Toxicity

Genus

Scientific Name

SpeciesFertilizer

Soil & Irrigation Info

Growth Info

Harvesting Info

Pests Info

Growth Info

Pruning Info

When to Plant Info

Re-potting

Pruning

Water

Sunlight

Temperature

Photo

User Plant Name

Common Name

Scientific Name

Skill Level Rating

Logged in? YesNo

Site Map

Prototyping

Usability TestingQuick log is nearly universally ignored or not understood.

View more is often seen as View More with infinite loading

Add plant form is easy to use barring any missing functionality

Understood notification and app settings would be accessible in the More button

Understood Gamification and that there would be reward and progress system

Responded positively to rewards and gamification

https://invis.io/82A1FKCSZ#/215522224

3/4 Testers

1/2 Testers

4/4 Testers

4/4 Testers

3/4 Testers

3/4 Testers

Revised WiresWith the findings from the User interviews, I changed the main navigation bar to surface finding plant information better, and changed the home page notification area to a load more button. I also added a button at the bottom of the long scrolling area of the plant care page so that people could naturally click it after learning more about the plant.

ConclusionRECAPThe main thing I learned from both interviews and testing is that gamification is widely recognized as well as highly capable of creating incentive to the user. Creating a robust plant tracking app is enough, but in order to make plant care habit forming, there has to be additional incentives.

Also, a quick way to log tasks from the menu bar was unnecessary, as users knew to log tasks from the home screen. Also, adding buttons at the bottom of long information made navigating the app easier.

NEXT STEPSTo make sure the app is working as intended, next steps are to perform more usability tests with the revised wireframes. Additionally, more features such as social sharing, and a possibility of affiliate integration to create real rewards could be explored. The gamification part of the app needs more thought and testing.

Thanks!