Seedling

UX/UI Design for New App

Project Overview

Timeline: 3 week design sprint

Role: UX Designer - Research, Synthesis, Ideation, Wireframing, Visual Design, Branding

Tools: Figma, Google Suite, Zoom, Slack

Skills: competitive analysis, user interviews, affinity mapping, user persona, sketching, wireframes, usability testing

FIGMA FILE

PROTOTYPE

Gardening can be overwhelming, so this app was cultivated to support new urban gardeners in their journey to grow their own heirloom produce!

As part of a team, I conducted initial UX research to gain insight into what kind of app would most support beginner urban gardeners. From there, we turned the insights into a persona and started to design their journey through the app and the new concept that would help them cultivate heirloom seeds and build a community to help them succeed.

Discovery

Getting into the Weeds

As we started this project, there was one question we all had: who is Rare Seeds? We knew they sold heirloom seeds in an online store. Our task was to help them reach more urban gardeners. That was about it, and there were so many unanswered questions. What was their mission, and how does that connect with urban gardeners? What makes collecting and selling heirloom seeds important and unique? What competitors are out there, and how do they compare?

About the Company

Rare Seeds is an heirloom seed collective run by Baker Creek Farms

It started as a hobby project based on Jere Gettle's passion for growing and sharing heirloom varieties

It is now North America's largest heirloom seed company boasting over 1,000 different varieties!

Heirloom seeds are passed down through generations because they can be stored for future planting

These plants are often praised for their taste and nutrition!

Organic methods are used to preserve these seeds

The mission of Baker Creek Farms and Rare Seeds is to provide the seeds of a sustainable food supply and keep heirloom varieties alive for future generations. They believe farmers, gardeners, and communities have the right to save their own seed, thus preserving seed diversity and food security in an age of corporate agriculture. All the seeds they sell can be saved, shared and traded, and they encourage people to save their own seeds.

Competitive & Comparative Analysis

We looked at competitors to see how they compared to Rare Seeds. I checked popular gardening blogs and groups for seed company recommendations. Then, I examined their products to understand what gardeners liked or disliked. Next, I focused on companies with a wider reach, heirloom seeds, or products to help urban gardeners.

We considered Burbee, Johnny's Selected Seeds, and Hudson Valley Seed Co as the top competitors:

Their seeds are easy for gardeners to find, but their heirloom options are only a small part of their offerings compared to Rare Seeds.

They are well-known in gardening. It offers a wide range of seeds and supplies for indoor and outdoor growth. The company focuses on large-scale operations that sell in bulk.

They concentrate only on heirloom seeds. Gardeners praised this, despite its smaller collection than Rare Seeds. Buying from them supports local farmers and artists.

To get a full view of the competition, we explored the current digital comparators for our app. Searching for other apps for gardening, I came across Planter, GrowIt, and Seed to Spoon. Let’s take a look at how they compare by feature:

Planner?

Calender?

Diagnosis?

Reminders?

Health Benefits?

Recipes?

Shop?

Education?

Planter

✓ yes

✗ no

✓ yes

GrowIt

✓ yes

✗ no

✓ yes

✗ no

✓ yes

Seed to Spoon

✓ yes

✗ no

✓ yes

Most gardening app competitors offer a planner, calendar, and resources. Some include recipes. Features like a shop, plant disease diagnosis, and reminders are less common. Knowing this, we can now search for a niche that adds value to Rare Seeds and meets urban gardeners' unique needs! So what kind of features would be important to urban gardeners? What challenges might they face? What could help them grow nutritious produce?

User Interviews & Affinity Mapping

We interviewed 6 urban gardeners of varying experience, and synthesized their responses in an affinity map. If interested, you can find the full affinity map here. Four trends stood out to us as either determinants of success or failure when gardening:

"I struggle with pests and disease management"

"I think guidance is essential to the planning of an urban garden"

"I appreciate community connection as a beginner gardener"

"I get frustrated when I can't find the plants that I'm looking for"

Problem Statement & User Persona

Getting to know urban gardeners helped us better understand our user persona, Daisy Potts.

Daisy Potts, an urban gardener with a small backyard and a budding interest in heirloom plants, is motivated to dive deeper into her gardening journey and engage in a sustainable gardening community. She needs a better way to access beginner-friendly heirloom seeds and guidance because traditional seed swaps and general gardening resources feel overwhelming and unhelpful.

You can dig a little deeper into her story, needs, and frustrations below:

User Demographics & Gamification

Along the way, we wondered if gamification could motivate her and her community. To confirm our thoughts, I researched a comparison of the majority age groups in urban areas with those who used gamified apps the most.

U.S. Census Bureau data shows that metro areas have more 18- to 34-year-olds than rural areas. Similarly, gamified apps are most popular with users aged 18 to 34 years old. They are more tech-savvy and open to features like rewards, challenges, and leaderboards. It credited using gamification in the app to boost downloads and user-friendliness.

Design

If You Build a Seed Market They Will Come

Now that we knew our user better, we could shift to design. We understood their needs and frustrations with gardening. We knew that troubleshooting, guidance, and community support were important. Gamification could help encourage and support the user journey. How could this look in practice? What elements of comparators might apply, or would we need new solutions that complemented what was already available?

User Flow & Design Studio

We were shifting from curiosity to problem-solving. We all had different ideas to meet user needs and create value. To begin, how would our users navigate the app and what would Daisy’s user flow look like? Which pages did we need to reach the ends of troubleshooting, guidance, and support? We conducted a design studio for the user flow and each designer presented their ideas. Most of the team wanted to avoid making another planner. They wanted something more unique. On the other hand, I wanted to design a complete resource. It would help users with guidance, troubleshooting, and add a community element.

We discussed the finer points of our ideas and the time constraints of the design sprint. I saw the merit in a full-service offering because it would let urban gardeners quickly access everything they needed. However, my team made good points. They said we might not launch it in time. We needed to fill the gap in community support, while meeting Rare Seeds' business goals. That day, I took a step back and a deep breath. I needed to pivot with the team. In the end, we must advocate for the users and create something they value. We were able to create a new user flow collectively and end the design studio. Here is a simplified version of that dev-style user flow we created for Daisy:

Events

Place to post local events (private or public) and see if friends are going

Shop

Connect to Rare Seeds online store to buy seeds if needed

Onboarding

Info to personalize experience & seed recommendations

Home

Central hub for connecting

and getting guidance from the community

Quickly access topics, seeds, and support to grow a garden

Chat

Messaging to ask questions, share tips, and make connections

Profile

Shows accomplishments, vets members, wishlist and seed collection

Start Here

MoSCoW Analysis

Once that was finished, we did a MoSCow analysis. It detailed what to add to those pages and what to prioritize. Then, we began sketching and wireframing in earnest. This let us keep harmonizing and visualizing the same app for urban gardeners. We were making an app to align with Rare Seeds' mission. It would facilitate seed exchanges among urban gardeners and build community.

Sketching Ideas

Now we can start to dig in and get some ideas planted on paper! We can now use those insights to create visual designs. They will let users interact with our solutions to the problem statement in an accessible way. We checked the comparators and sought other ideas for our wireframe components. With the user flow and features in mind, we agreed to each research ideas and sketch something for each page in the flow.

I considered the interactions and features we needed on the six main frames we planned to build for the app. For the home, profile, chat, and event pages, I drew inspiration from Facebook and Messenger. These apps have well-known heuristics and functions. Also, some gardeners we interviewed mentioned Facebook gardening groups. So, our target audience was familiar with them. I found general ideas for the search and onboarding sections while browsing Dribble for component layout and typography. Below are the sketches I created based on my inspiration and what we had discussed as a team:

After finishing our sketches, we reviewed the ideas frame by frame as a team. We voted on our top two favorites for each frame and shared what elements stood out to us from what was shared. From there, we took one or two sketches from each section and used those to inspire our wireframes. We divided the pages in the user flow in a way that ensured each person had one or two to build out. Finally, we could get down to business!

Wireframing User Interface

Most phone users in the USA own an iPhone. So, we started with iOS components and built upon them while wireframing. I was working on the app's profile and chat frames. I began with the smaller components and built up to larger ones on my pages. As we went, we corralled our components into a blank frame so it was easier to go back and make changes more efficiently. I enjoy being detail oriented so I was excited to create a profile page layout that would encourage curiosity, connection, and share their achievements in a clean and interactive way. This page would include a button that connects it to the chat where bonds could be created through sharing tips and making plans to meet up. You can preview how my designs inspired the final prototype below:

Usability Testing

After building out a functional prototype in grayscale from the wireframes, we conducted a usability test to see what users thought of our initial iteration of the app design. I created a template of the test protocol with tasks, measures, and follow up questions. The tasks were to:

Complete onboarding.
Find a specific fruit plant and start a seed exchange.
Search for another vegetable plant and route to the seed shop.

We asked the participants to think aloud as they navigated the prototype. At the end, we asked them to rate their user satisfaction with the overall experience. I analyzed the test notes for trends and averaged the ratings. Many interactive elements were enjoyed by the participants, and their feedback gave us insights into some ways we could improve clarity in a couple of areas.

8 out of 10 in user satisfaction!

Presenting Our Work

I enjoy storytelling in all its forms. This includes creative writing, research papers, and presentations. I enjoy building presentations. So, one of my teammates and I built a slidedeck. It would tell the story of our work and how it turned into a prototype during our design sprint. We had a mixed audience with some that had no reference to the focus of our work, so we laid it out in a way that would get everyone on the same page. We also expanded on Daisy’s journey as an urban gardener and how our app could fit into building her success. If you’re curious, you can take a peak here.

After many hours of curiosity, dedication, and collaboration we had a functional prototype that encourages urban gardeners to contribute to the heritage of heirloom seeds and empower anyone to grow their own food! Let’s follow Daisy’s journey through our app as she signs up and interacts with Seeding: the urban gardener’s companion to building community!

Conclusion

Looking Forward to the Future

After making the adjustments from the initial usability test, we’d love another usability test to be completed on the high-fi version of the app. It can help validate the changes and find insights to improve the design. Our team's research and progress in this design sprint suggest that future design iterations could build a more integrated shop within the app. They could also incorporate the events section and add a user-facing profile to allow users to update and personalize their settings. With the initial feedback, the future looks to be in full bloom for Seedling!

Personally, I learned so much during this design sprint. I got to collaborate with an amazing team and it broadened my horizons in regards to my design thinking and considering how to balance all the needs on the table in a way that best serves the user and leaves them satisfied. It reaffirmed for me that you have to separate yourself from your designs and remember you’re an advocate for your user during the whole process. Beautiful things can happen when you divide and then align.