Designing a Digital Gardening Experience
Plant care looks simple on the surface.
In practice, it breaks down quickly.
People rely on scattered advice, inconsistent sources, or guesswork. What starts as a hobby often turns into frustration when plants don’t survive despite effort.
This project explores how plant care can be structured into a guided, reliable experience rather than a trial-and-error process.
Concept / Product UX
UX Designer
Mobile App
What I worked on
Research
User flows
Information architecture
Journey mapping
Interaction design
Visual design
Challenge
When I started, the problem wasn’t a lack of information.
It was a lack of clarity.
People had access to plant care content, but:
Information was fragmented and often contradictory
Users struggled to identify plant issues
Care routines were inconsistent and hard to maintain
Existing apps focused on features, not real user behaviour
New users especially found it difficult to move from knowing something to doing the right thing at the right time.
The challenge became about simplifying plant care into something that feels manageable and actionable.
Process
Research & Discovery
I started by understanding how people currently approach plant care.
This included:
Competitive analysis across plant care apps and tools
User surveys and interviews
Studying common behaviours and pain points
A few patterns stood out:
People wanted personalised recommendations, not generic advice
Most users needed reminders to maintain consistency
There was strong interest in expert guidance and diagnosis
Users struggled with identifying plant issues and next steps
What this really meant was simple.
People weren’t looking for more information. They were looking for direction.
Shaping the Direction
Before moving into design, I reframed the problem.
Instead of building a feature-heavy app, the focus shifted to:
Helping users understand what to do next
Reducing effort in maintaining plant care routines
Making plant health visible and easy to interpret
This moved the project from an information product to a decision-support experience.
Information Architecture
The structure was built around how users actually think, not how features are organised.
The home experience acts as a control layer:
Active plants
Health status
Tasks and reminders
Each plant becomes a dedicated space with:
Care details
Environmental needs
History and progress
Supporting layers include:
Plant identification (AI scan)
Diagnosis and health check
Discovery and recommendations
The goal was to reduce navigation and keep everything connected within a single flow.
Key Decisions
Some decisions shaped how the experience came together.
Plant care was designed as an ongoing journey, not isolated tasks.
Users interact with plant health over time, not one-time actions.
Actions were prioritised over content.
Instead of reading long guides, users are guided toward clear next steps.
Diagnosis became a core feature.
Users can identify problems and get direction instead of searching manually.
Reminders were built into the experience, not treated as an add-on.
Consistency is what keeps plants alive.
The product focuses on supporting behaviour, not just providing knowledge.
Experience Design
The interaction model reduces friction at every step.
Users can:
Identify plants instantly using the scanner
Add plants to their collection
Track care routines
Receive timely reminders
Each action is simple and contextual.
Feedback loops are built into the system.
Users can see how their actions affect plant health over time.
The experience moves from reactive to proactive.
Visual Design
The visual system is intentionally calm and natural.
Green tones, soft contrasts, and organic layouts reflect the product’s purpose.
The interface avoids looking technical or overwhelming.
It supports focus and ease rather than complexity.
Typography and spacing are designed to keep information readable without feeling dense.
Usability Testing & Iterations
Usability testing helped validate key flows.
Users were able to:
Set up reminders easily
Identify plants accurately using the scanner
Access and understand care instructions without friction
One issue that surfaced was discoverability of certain features like “My Garden,” which was refined in later iterations.
Overall, the experience felt intuitive, even for users with limited prior knowledge.
Outcome
The final experience shifts plant care from uncertainty to guidance.
Instead of:
Searching, guessing, and reacting
Users:
Understand what’s happening and what to do next
It builds confidence over time and makes plant care feel manageable.
Reflection
This project reinforced something important.
People don’t struggle because they lack information.
They struggle because acting on that information takes effort.
Designing for action changes how the entire experience feels.