left chevron back button

Grow

an outdoor planting mobile app for plant enthusiasts

Project Type: UI/UX, Website Design

Course: Design Application: Print and Screen

Timeline: Oct - Dec 2023

Tools: Figma, Illustrator

Project Overview

For the final project of my main design module at the University of Leeds, I was tasked to create a physical folded interactive A2 print design that communicates a journey as well as an app that acts as a niche online travel guide through Leeds. My paper prototype was a water lily that represented my journey through university. My app was designed with the idea of growth in mind. Many existing mobile applications are either plant identifiers, plant care assistants, or community boards for plant lovers. Instead of an app that shows you where plants already exist, I wanted to create an app that focused on areas that lacked them and where plant lovers could plant outside.

studium interface

The Problem

There are spaces in Leeds that lack plants and flowers and there are plant enthusiasts that want to plant outdoors.

Challenge:

How might we help plant enthusiasts find new places to grow their plants that as an effect, will also positively impact their environment?

The Solution

I designed an app that shows you areas in Leeds that lack plants and where plant enthusiasts are able to grow new flowers. My app also gamifies the experience by presenting challenges and rewards so that plant lovers stay motivated to keep planting.

Research

For my user research, I interviewed various students and adults about their needs and challenges they face as plant enthusiasts. From the information I gathered, I was able to create three user personas that guided the creation of my app.

persona of male student in first year of university

App Ideation

Crazy 8s Brainstorming

In the ideation phase, I rapidly brainstormed various possible app features through the Crazy 8s brainstorming technique.

persona of male student in first year of university

User Tasks

Through my user personas as well as my Crazy 8s brainstorm, I developed a synthesized list of user tasks using the MoSCoW method for prioritization.

MUST INCLUDE:

  • Map of areas you can plant various plants
  • Map icons showing where users have planted
  • Saved places where users may want to plant in the future
  • Navigation system that guides the user to a chosen location

SHOULD INCLUDE:

  • Description page of planted flower/plant
  • Special rewards for every time you plant
  • Unlock flower trophies by completing challenges
  • Gallery of the plants you have planted
  • Plant gallery filters: favourites, time planted, location

COULD INCLUDE

  • Tracks the last time you visited your plant
  • Pop-up modal or avatar prompting you to check challenges when you enter the app
  • Flower animation after planting completion
  • Log out/Settings

Low-fidelity Wireframe Sketches

After sorting my app feature ideas by priority, I began sketching out possible screens for my mobile application.

page 1 of storyboard showing sketches of shots for the video
page 2 of storyboard showing sketches of shots for the video

Design System

I created a visual design system in order to maintain consistency throughout my app prototype. I wanted to use earthy tones in order to emulate plants, which led me to use green and brown as my main colours.

Studium brand colours, fonts, and logo

The App

My app was designed and prototyped on Figma and here is a short demo of my first iteration of the app with a focus on its interactions.