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Green Our Planet
STEM programs cater to school gardens and hydroponic laboratories
Role
UX Designer
Scope
Product Design
User Research
Branding
Teammates
Kadie Despain
Alice Hsu
Sabrina Hsu
Strategy
Challenge
Make hydroponics go viral
Green Our Planet initially launched their program to cater to school gardens and hydroponics laboratories. However, they are now exploring initiatives that promote not only to the students but to a broader audience as well
Context
Designing a mobile app by using hydroponic growers with the goal of creating a tribal effect with community participation
Active
Participation
Engagement
Feedback
Problem
Green Our Planet is facing challenges in securing funds for school programs due to the increasing trend of community giving in the US. The organization is actively investigating methods to promote hydroponics with the aim of garnering increased public attention, which is expected to contribute to raising funds.
Conflict
While the stakeholders are aware of the project's needs, they offer a vague direction and goal for approaching it. Communicating with them was challenging due to their tight schedules and the lack of clarity in project goals.
Hence, we decided to conduct a site audit on their current website to help identify underlying issues and determine potential improvements.
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Excessive sub-pages
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Lack of clarity in call-to-actions
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Expired links
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Outdated contents
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Navigation is all around places
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Unorganized content hierarchy
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Graphics and overall UI can be improved
Communication
The site audit significantly enhanced the stakeholders' understanding of their limitations. Consequently, both parties now have a clearer approach to resolving issues and constructing something new aligned with the stakeholder's expectations.
Interview Stakeholders
Co-founder - Ciara
"I want it to feel like Peloton. My adrenaline starts boiling every time I see my ranking drop!"
So... is it safe to assume that we are looking into gamification?
Increase brand virality
Obtain sponsorship
Improve user engagement
Create new branding strategy
Raising Action
Based on the stakeholder's goals, the team formulated a series of questions to determine the optimal design solutions.
To advocate for hydroponics, we shouldn't limit ourselves to schools; rather, we should explore other organizations seeking engagement among their members. - Team
Our approach
Introduce hydroponics mobile app for the corporate giving programs
Game
Bond
Interactions & Engagement
Research
We interviewed the hydroponic lovers to find out how they started their hydroponics journey and what they wish to improve. Other than that, we also researched the potential market for the corporate giving program.
Need reminders
Forget to change the water pot, resulting in bad planting conditions
Confusions
Confused about the portions of nutrients and lighting
Study pH level
Difficult to identify the right pH value for hydroponic plants
Big commitment
Perfect concept but requires big efforts to maintain it
Interview Outcomes
Market Research
Ideation
How can we enhance accessibility for users to monitor their plants while supporting GoP in achieving their funding goals and promoting hydroponics advocacy?
Climax
We designed a semi-fictional character - Ashton Raleigh to keep the focus on the end-users throughout the design process. This is to make sure that the final product is tailored to meet the specific needs and preferences of the intended audience.
Ashton: "As a new team member of Accenture, I want to be able to share my team's progress within and out of the app, so that I can visualize how we are positively impacting the community".
Based on Ashton's journey, we decided to listed down the possible features to be included in the app and sort them out based on categories such as: Must Haves, and Nice to Have
Falling
Action
Must Have (part 1)
Reservoir
Planting pods
User manual
Seeds
Lights
Camera
Nutrients
Water pump
pH & TDS meters
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Must Have (part 2)
Log in/ Log out
Home
Profile
Settings
Navigation
Help & Support
Reminder notification
Chat box & call
Photo gallery
Nice to have
Preference quiz
Dashboard (diary)
Augmented Reality
Automatic light control
Automatic nutrient control
24/7 live support
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Falling
Action
Scenario: Ashton is a web designer at Accenture. He is competitive and health-conscious, and he is also an avid user of social media. Most of all, he loves sharing his experiences with others. Hence, the Aloe app for hydroponics is made for him!
Falling
Action
Branding: We opted to generate a fresh logo and app name. The introduction of the name "Aloe" received widespread approval as it symbolizes water, aligning well with hydroponics. Additionally, we chose to craft a new logo for Aloe while retaining the original identity of GoP.
Resolution
Ashton receives a notification from the Aloe app that one of his gardens is in need of nutrients. He uses the Aloe app to order what he needs. In the meantime, he also checks the leaderboard and gets inspiration on what to grow next from the plant menu.
Engagement
Shopping page
Feedback
Data Tracker
Social Media
Active
Interaction
Plant Menu
My Garden
Ashton receives push notifications for health and nutrient updates in his garden, with a call-to-action to sponsor a school, while also accessing a live view to monitor his plants and the option to edit the garden.
My Leaderboard
The dashboard provides Ashton with a real-time comparison of his current rank among co-workers, while the scoring overview serves as a reminder of the points accumulation process, allowing him to view rankings for both the day and all-time.
My Badges
Ashton can utilize the search button on the right-hand side to search for keywords such as names or plant types and also review the badges he has collected over time.
My Plant Menu
After studying the plant manual, Ashton decided to experiment by adding two different plants to the same pod to assess their compatibility, and subsequently, he can add the chosen plants to the cart for purchase.
Introduce
Aloe by Green Our Planet
Ashton can now engage actively with his colleagues while simultaneously visualizing the impact he is making on the community
Delivery!
As the semester concluded, we presented the client with a comprehensive UX package encompassing ideation maps, wireframes, prototypes, and a presentation deck. They were pleased with the results and have decided to move forward with product implementation through the school of engineering.
Reflection
The team initially faced challenges connecting with the appropriate representative from Green Our Planet, and clarifying their expectations and goals. It took nearly four weeks to discern the project's objectives. Given the time crunch, we executed a site schematic and audit to shed light on the organization's existing challenges. We eventually integrated a leaderboard concept into the product to boost user engagement, but lacked time for extensive user testing.
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Given more time, I'd expand user testing, interviewing corporate employees to assess their interest in a hydroponics-based corporate program. Such insights would refine the design from a novice user's viewpoint. Additionally, I'd develop the social media channel (via the gallery button) to further align with the goal of enhancing user engagement.