CASE STUDY

A comprehensive plant care companion

Sprout is a comprehensive plant care companion suitable for all skill levels. We researched the entire gardening experience, from choosing plants to acquiring plants to maintaining plants, to uncover real user pain points - then designed a system that adressed those problems. The result is a mobile application that allows users to choose plants based on specific criteria, track their garden, view individual plant information, and diagnose problems.

This project is a case study that was completed in the Interaction Design course during my graduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin School of Information.

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TEAM

Erin Finley - UX Research & Design

Sara Merrifield - UX Research & Design

COURSE

Interaction Design

DURATION

September 2018 - December 2018

Problem

Have you ever killed a plant?

We have too. Plant parenting is a tricky business - from finding resources and weighing options, to managing care and diagnosing problems. Available resources are not comprehensive, reliable, or suitable for all skill levels. Collaborative care presents another set of challenges.

Process

Research

The research phase included a competitive analysis, user interviews, and a user survey. The competitive analysis helped to inform the generative user research. The user interviews generated qualitative data that was backed up by quantitative data from the user survey.

Competitive Analysis

We began our research by evaluating the mobile applications of 4 direct competitors and 4 indirect competitors. Analyzing similar products both inside and outside the gardening space revealed key insights that focused the remaining research and informed the design process.

Direct Competitors

We identified categories of capabilities that were common among the direct competitors - education, tracking, community, and interactivity - and evaluated each product based on criteria within those categories.

Indirect Competitors

We evaluated the indirect competitors individually by calling out important design and information elements that could potentially be incorporated into our product.

Key Findings

We drew 4 key findings from the competitive analysis that we later implemented into our design.

User Interviews

We conducted in-person interviews with 6 participants (4 female and 2 male) between the ages of 20 - 70 years old. Participants owned less than 5 to more than 100 plants.

The one-hour interviews consisted of 48 questions divided into 4 sections: 1) warmup, 2) general overview, 3) plant choice, and 4) plant care. They generated a large amount of qualitative data that helped inform the rest of our research and design.

3.4

Average satisfaction with resources for plant choice

3.2

Average satisfaction with resources for plant care

100%

Participants who have killed a plant

100%

Participants who live with another person

User Survey

The user interviews generated a large amount of qualitative data, which we decided to back up with quantitative data from a user survey. We chose 32 questions from the user interviews and made the majority closed-ended. The survey had 47 respondents who owned plants and 6 respondents who did not own plants, the main reason being that they did not know how to start.

3.7

Average satisfaction with resources for plant choice

3.5

Average satisfaction with resources for plant care

98%

Participants who have killed a plant

66%

Participants who live with another person

Analysis

The analysis phase included an affinity diagram, personas, and a user journey map. The affinity diagram helped us make sense of the research, while the personas and journey map helped us translate the research into design opporunities.

Affinity Diagram

To make sense of the user interviews, we created an affinity diagram. We transferred the interview observations and notes to post-its and grouped similar ones in a highly iterative and collaborative team effort. This revealed patterns that were common across participants, and we turned those themes into design opportunities.

Journey Map

We used the affinity diagram to create a comprehensive user journey map, which is split into two phases (plant choice and plant care) and six sub-phases. There are a number of pain points called out, but participants did find it easy to acquire plants at home improvement stores, local nurseries, or online nurseries - so we decided we would not need to design for that part of the user journey.

Personas

The affinity diagram and journey map revealed two key user groups. Jordan Marshall is a beginner gardener who likes the look of a plant filled home. She wants to find low-maintenance indoor plants that she can easily care for with little time and effort. Michael Finn is an intermediate gardener who owns both indoor and outdoor plants. He likes to spend time gardening on the weekends, and is interested in continually learning about his plants.

Design & Evaluation

The design and evaluation phases included 3 rounds of design (a low-fidelity prototype, a medium-fidelity prototype, and a high-fidelity prototype), and 3 rounds of usability tests. Our goal was to get feedback on our designs as many times and as quickly as possible, which proved to be an effective strategy.

Low-Fidelity Prototype

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