My class challenge was to create a responsive website that taught users a skill. I played around with ideas, and decided they would work best as an app. So, to make the website, I decided to design a marketing site for a conceptual gardening app.
This product would organize the process of starting plants from seed for home gardeners. I wanted users to experience aspects of the app that would be suited to a site, so they could appreciate its' value. This meant I had to figure out how to make the website a useful resource on its own.
<note_text>Disclaimer: This work was pursued as a personal project.<note_text>
Seeds have wide array of germination, growing, and transplanting times, and keeping track of everything can be confusing, expensive, and disorganized.
There isn’t a current product, with clean UI and a variety of plant types (ie, not just vegetables) that supports the user’s day to day growing.
People don’t know what the SeedMe app is, how to use it, or what value it would offer to them.
I gathered information from 6 potential seed-starters via phone call, Zoom videochat, and in person one-on-one interviews.
How might we build home gardeners’ confidence in their ability to meet seedlings’ needs?
How might we engage home gardeners with features of the SeedMe app, so they are confident in what they can control?
After presenting my original sitemap in a group critique, I realized that it was way too complicated. I had a lot of ideas for additional features that users might enjoy, and I'd labelled their categories through card sorting. However, these additional features cluttered the navigation and were better suited to the app itself.
I ended up simplifying the website navigation to bring the focus back to the main values and selling points of the app.
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I went through multiple rounds of low-fidelity wireframes.
I'd originally had the idea that the users could find plants in the database, save them, and then sort them into their seed collection.
However, the website didn't need to be that complicated - users could download the app for more advanced interactions.
This database would function better with a simple and familiar wishlist.
I want to find detailed seed-starting information for a pretty zinnia plant, but I don’t know its official name.
In order to save a Wishlist, I need to create an account. Will it be simple and quick?
I’m unfamiliar with this product. What does it offer?
Five adult Gardeners participated in a mix of in-person and zoom tests.
Tasks were timed, and detailed notes were reviewed to establish necessary changes to the prototype.
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I'd like to establish the plant database more. I think, with the wide array of seeds available, tailoring the sort and filter functions would be crucial. That would be a priority avenue to test.
Since this was my first-ever UX project, I learned A TON. This included how to: conduct interviews, design on a grid, make a logo, establish information hierarchy, set style choices, integrate icons, and test prototypes with users.
Simplifying concepts was also a key takeaway - originally I wanted to incorporate a whole slew of features. Narrowing down the scope of the project to the key points increased the quality of the user's experience, and helped keep things on track.
