Many people feel intimidated to start their own garden. The mere idea of turning a tiny seed into a thriving plant can be daunting to would-be gardeners leaving them unsure as to how to begin the growing process.
The Grounded app has a user-friendly interface which empowers those from different gardening backgrounds to dive in confidently. From selecting the plant to nurturing it, this app creates a step-by-step process for growing plants. The guide customizes the user’s experience by tailoring each step to specific locations and preferences. Its comprehensive database equips them with everything needed to effortlessly tackle gardening challenges.
UX Researcher
UX/ UI Designer
Julianna Turner
Adelia Valadez
Erin Wynd
Trello
Gannt
Figma
VS Code
GitHub
Photoshop
Our design team created a proto-persona to humanize and better understand the potential users of Grounded. We can then use this reference point for decision-making throughout the design process.
To understand user preferences, behaviors, and pain points, our team developed a survey. We collected quantitative data from a diverse user base included of 33 potential users to help identify common challenges, feature preferences, and usability issues.
Our survey revealed the following insights:
These insights will help us tailor Grounded to better meet the needs and preferences of our target audience.
After we analyzed the survey data, we drafted a research and interview plan and conducted a total of six user interviews.
The interviews highlighted the following key points:
Overall, the key insights highlight a demand for user-friendly gardening solutions that use smart technology to streamline tasks and provide valuable information. Participants are motivated to enhance their gardening experience through technology but seek solutions that address their specific needs and concerns.
Our team systematically categorized similar ideas, observations, and pain points. This visual framework empowers us to discern patterns and overarching themes, providing a holistic view of user experiences.
We then created an empathy map to help guide our process and tailor our ideas to better fit our target audience.
After the creation of the empathy map, we were able to develop a user persona that encompassed the ideal user of Grounded, our mobile app.
Current gardening apps fail to effectively address the needs of users like Lindsey Johnson who struggle with fragmented information and uncertainty about garden preparation and maintenance. Users find it challenging to access personalized advice for their garden’s unique conditions and often forget or lack clarity on regular garden maintenance. This leads to inconsistent care practices and suboptimal plant health. There is a critical need for a gardening app that consolidates comprehensive guidance, offers tailored maintenance recommendations, and simplifies the gardening process to ensure optimal plant care for both novice and experienced gardeners.
Grounded offers convenient and accessible garden resources designed to increase your gardening confidence and enthusiasm.
We constructed a value proposition canvas to visualize the benefits of the Grounded app. Grounded provides tailored guidance and valuable information, empowering all to cultivate a successful garden.
Our team conducted a thorough competitor analysis, assessing existing gardening apps such as “GrowIt,” “Seed to Spoon,” and “Gardenize.” We also analyzed “Blossom,” a plant care app. However, our competitors were geared towards beginners, had limited information, and lacked customization and accessibility.
We began this next phase by brainstorming “I Like,” “I Wish,” “What If,” in order to prioritize potential features of the Grounded app.
We then developed a feature prioritization matrix to identify and rank the app’s most important element such as smart device connection, garden planning assistance, suggestions for maintenance, and personalized recommendations.
Our team created a user journey map to provide an overview of the user’s interactions, emotions, and touchpoints throughout their journey to help us identify opportunities for improvement.
We also created a storyboard to visualize Lindsey’s journey: her eagerness to start a garden, becoming overwhelmed by the abundance of gardening resources, maintenance frustration, downloading the Grounded app, excitement over the app, and preparedness to start a garden.
Our team created a user flow diagram to showcase specifics that would identify key interactions and decision making points for our users.
We were then ready to sketch paper wireframes (mobile and smart watch) of the Grounded app to help illustrate its key features.
After sketching the paper wireframes, we created low-fidelity digital versions and prototyped them.
Multiple usability tests were conducted on the low-fidelity wireframes. Below are the most common pain points of the users:
We took our users’ feedback closely into account and made the following iterations:
A mood board was soon created to ensure the Grounded app had a cohesive and appealing design. It includes a preliminary color palette and an array of inspirational images that evoke the essence of gardening.
Following the mood board creation, we developed a detailed style tile. This style tile features a color palette, visual inspiration, typography, button states, garden iconography, graphics, and a custom logo. It provides a unified framework for the Grounded app’s design.
Then, we developed a comprehensive style guide. This guide includes a finalized color palette, visual inspiration, carefully selected typography, various button states, garden iconography, multiple graphics, and a custom logo. This style guide ensures consistency and cohesion across all visual aspects of the Grounded app.
We then incorporated our style guide into our wireframes, creating a high-fidelity prototype for a mobile device and a smart watch.
We conducted a series of usability tests on the high-fidelity prototype, which was well received. However, we identified a few pain points, including:
We built a live product page for the Grounded app using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This page features an interactive design with engaging user interactions. It showcases the app’s key features, provides a clear call-to-action, and offers a preview of the user experience.
We plan to expand the Grounded app with several exciting new features. We will test navigation colors to improve interface aesthetics, create a collection of recipes tailored to the fruits and vegetables grown by our users, include detailed guides for larger landscaping plants, and introduce a community space where users can connect, share tips, and support each other in their gardening journeys.
