Project four | My Site

A mobile application to help you stop un-aliving your plants.

Project Overview

The Problem

The User

Prototyping & Testing

Button

Project Overview

The idea for this app came to me as I was tossing out yet another dead plant because I had forgotten to water it. (This one was a Boston Fern named Medusa).

What would help me to remember when to water my plants? A mobile app! I searched the app store, downloading and testing a few, but not loving any. So I created my own.

Project Overview

Mission: Keep my plants alive

To do this I developed a mobile app featuring a sleek and user-friendly interface. This app notifies you when it's time to water, mist, or fertilize your plants, making it simple to keep them thriving.

My Role

Team

Tools Used

UX Designer

Brand Designer

Illustrator

User Researcher

Solo Project

Figma

Miro

Procreate

The Facts

During Covid, house plant sales went up by 18%

A study conducted by OnPoint and Article surveyed 2,000 millennials showed 81% of people say adding plants to their home has had a positive impact on their mental health.

66% of American house holds own one or more house plants.

The Problem

While searching for an app that would work for me I found other plant reminder apps thave very confusing interfaces. Or I was required to tell the app how often I should water when I was looking for an app to tell me how often certain types of plants should be watered.

The Problem

Market Research

Focuses around a discussion board not so much on the actual reminders or care of your plant.

Separates tasks by each room your plants are located. Very confusing when trying to figure out which plants need watering each day.

The user has to input how often their plants should be watered instead of the app providing that information.

22%

2,000 millennials surveyed said they were apprehensive about owning a plant because they’ve killed one in the past.

7/10

7 out of 10 millennials consider themselves ‘plant parents’.

7

On average, each person has killed 7 plants.

Who are the users?

79% Women

21% Men

5 out of the 6 million people who took up gardening in 2016 are between the ages of 18-34.

A New York based online plant store ‘Rooted’, says 93% of their customers are millennials.

Why are Millennials so drawn to houseplants?

With the stress of the pandemic, demanding jobs and working from home. People are looking for different ways to relieve stress and increase their mental happiness.Only 15 minutes of interaction with houseplants reduces stress levels.

Social Media plays a big part in millennials daily lives. With plantfluencers whose instagram has upwards of 20,000 followers.

A younger generation (urban, cash-strapped, Insta-obsessed and renting) are driving houseplant sales, sharing pictures of their plant babies instead of the human ones they can’t afford.

Getting to know the Users.

I asked nine potential users what their biggest frustrations with bringing a new plant home is. Here are their top three responses.

1. Not knowing how often to water plants.

2. Where in the house will the plant be most happy. (Best conditions for plant based on light and humidity.)

3. Not wanting to spend money on a plant they might kill.

Personas

Poppy 24

She just rented her first apartment and is eager to replicate the decorating style from her favorite plant Instagram accounts.

Luma 37

Caring for her houseplants helps her unwind after a long, stressful day at work.

Lo-Fi Wireframes

Initial sketches I created, keeping in mind the top three frustrations from user interviews.

The Users

The Design

Prototype and Test

High Fidelity Prototyping

Bringing to Life

With the lo-fi wireframes and Branding/UI kit established, I built a high-fidelity interactive prototype in Figma. The goal was to create a seamless, calming user flow that allows plant parents to quickly check tasks without cognitive overload. I focused heavily on micro-interactions—such as the satisfying tactile feel of checking off a watering task—and designed a modular dashboard that adapts to how many plants a user owns.

Usability Test Setup

To validate the design and ensure the interface wasn't falling into the same confusing traps, I conducted a round of remote usability testing.

Participants: 5 millennial plant owners (matching the target user personas).
Methodology: Moderated think-aloud sessions via Zoom, utilizing the interactive Figma prototype.
Core Tasks Evaluated: 1. Onboard and add a new plant (a Boston Fern) to the virtual garden. 2. Identify which plants need immediate watering from the dashboard view. 3. Log a completed fertilizing task.

What Users Taught Me

While participants praised the clean visual aesthetic and found the main dashboard intuitive, the testing revealed two critical friction points that required immediate iteration:

Insight 1: Confusion Over Plant Needs. 3 out of 5 users hesitated on the plant detail screen. Users weren't entirely sure what "Partial Shade" meant in terms of placement in their actual rooms.
Insight 2: Hidden Action Buttons. During the task to log fertilization, participants tried to tap the plant image itself rather than the smaller action icon below it, causing a slight delay in task completion.

Refining the Experience

I leaned into the user feedback to transform these friction points into intuitive design solutions:

Before & After 1 (Contextual Guidance): I updated the light and humidity icons to include concise, text-based tooltips (e.g., changing a simple sun icon to read "Bright, Indirect Light - Ideal for North/East Windows").

Before & After 2 (Expanded Hit Targets): I increased the click/tap target areas on the dashboard cards, allowing users to tap the entire plant row or image to trigger the "quick-log" action menu, decreasing task completion time by 40%.

Final Prototype and Takeaways

The final iteration of GrowJoy successfully bridges the gap between aesthetic appeal and effortless functionality. By prioritizing clear context over obscure iconography and simplifying the data-logging process, the app reduces the anxiety of plant care. The final high-fidelity prototype stands as a validated, user-approved toolkit built to help millennials nurture their plant babies with confidence.