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Ploogie: Garden Information App
It's Like Google Search, But For Plants
Project Duration: March - April 2021 (Fictitious project)
Tools Used: Figma, Miro, Zeplin
Challenge Overview
Gardening is a complex subject that can be frustrating for many people because of the unique information you need to know for each plant. Gardeners often have questions about plants or insects in their yard. Often times they search for answers using Google Search. Google Search can have irrelevant and untrustworthy information making it difficult to get clear answers. Also care and management of plants and insects can change in different regions of the United States because of the different environmental conditions. It can be difficult to find that local information. The goal of this project was to develop an app that can provide local information on plants and insects that will help gardeners get the best results in their yard.
Photo by Marcus Spiske on Unsplash
Research & Analysis
All participants had questions about garden plants or insects in the past year. Interestingly all questions pertaining to plants were about vegetables. All participants said that they use Google Search to research their questions and some would watch videos. One participant said they prefer to "read articles because it is easier to scan the article and find the information" they are looking for.
Often times the people growing vegetables in their garden have plans for using the produce in different types of meals or food production like canning. "If it is useful to me I will grow it". There was also a mix of people that would attend gardening classes. The participants that did attend events attended zero scape, pest, and pruning classes. This information could help us determine what is important information to have in the app.
The reason participants didn’t use a garden app in the past was either because they didn’t see a need, or was unaware of the app. It might be important to include the ability to share information on the app to help encourage new people to use the app. People that did use a plant app in the past used it to identify plants around their house or for reminders about watering. These people did not use it in the long run though. It would be important to design the app to encourage people to come back.
Photo by Dewang Gupta on Unsplash
Interview Synthesis
Design: Concepts & Sketching
I conceptualized 10 different ideas for this app. For the scope of this project, I chose to focus on three. The three ideas that I focused on were determined by a complexity value matrix. The three ideas I focused on were:
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Providing users with important information about pests and insects. I focused on making it like to Google Search, but only providing garden-based information.
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Some participants mentioned being unsure if plant will grow well in the area or if the plant is native. One participant said "if the nursery has it I expect it to grow in Utah". I thought it would be beneficial to add in the ability to have your location to get relevant information for your area.
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I often found in my own experiences the need to reference old information. When planning what to grow participants would use previous years experience. Adding in the ability to save the information to a favorite location, or “bookmark” seemed like a vital feature to add so old information can be referenced.
Crazy 8 Sketches
Home Screen Sketches
Page Header and Bottom Button Sketches
Favorite Page Sketches
Design: Prototyping
I developed a low-fidelity prototype to help visualize the structure and flow of the app. At the top, I added in the location, a profile picture to help save the information for a specific person, a search bar in the center of the screen, and 2 buttons on the bottom to toggle between the search section and the favorite section.
For the article about plants and insects, I added rectangles that would provide summary information such as light requirements and spacing. It would also use your location to determine if the plant will grow in your area, or when to plant the plant outside. Something similar was done with the insect summary section where it would tell you what life cycle it was in during the year, if the insect was a pest or beneficial and the likelihood that it was in your area.
On the favorites tab to make saving the articles simple it was organized by categories such as plant, insect, and irrigation. That way someone could quickly find the article or they could type in the search bar at the top a keyword to find articles. Additional a cooking section was added because many gardeners mentioned using their produce for cooking.
Test: Validation, Usability, Feedback
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There were five participants that were part of the usability tests.
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They were able to complete all tasks easily except for finding if the plant can grow well in their area.
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80% of participants referred to the plant highlight information as buttons even though it had no clickable function.
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Participants seemed unsure how to interact with the plant highlight information. One participant said the "buttons were confusing" and recommended condensing them.
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Participants seemed to enjoy using the app. One said, "I would probably use that instead of Google because it seems more user friendly".
Design: Iteration
Since most participants seemed unsure how to interact with the plant summary section and struggled with finding the section that tells them if a plant would grow well in Utah, I added a headline and re-organized the buttons to make clear to users what that section is about.
Also since a lot of participants referred to the plant summary rectangles as buttons I created them to be clickable so you can get further information such as when a plant should be started inside and outside. When showing screens to participants one said "I love the option cards that you have and that you could click for different information". That functionality wasn't there, but since people were viewing it that way I thought it would be beneficial to add.
Solution & Impact Overview
While being a prototype many participants seemed to enjoy using the app. One participant said, "I would probably use that instead of Google because it seems more user friendly". And others asked when it was going to be ready to use.
Participants were able to easily use the app. One participant was delighted to see there was a cooking section in the favorites list and that there would be cooking articles. When it came to using the plant summary section many participants seemed unsure how to use it, or didn't use it at all. That section was further developed during the iteration to make it clear to users what it is. It was also adjusted to be actual buttons users could click on to meet their expectations.
This app seems to accomplish the goal of providing local information on plants and insects to gardeners while being simple and straightforward.
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Garden App Information Author/Copyright Holders
1. Alston, Diane; Murray, Marion; and Reding, Michael, "Apple Aphids " (2010). All Current Publications. Paper 664.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/extension_curall/664
2. Drost, Dan, "Tomatoes in the Garden" (2004). https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1237&context=extension_curall
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