A sustainable solution for biodiversity.

An app to help users find and buy native plants at local nurseries.

Problem:

California residents need a way to find plants from local plant nurseries that are native to California to help solve the large issue of the California drought. Because of the severity of the drought in the past 10 years, homeowners are looking to find more drought-tolerant plants that contribute to conserving water and contribute to creating more biodiversity in California.

Hypothesis:

We believe that by developing an app that allows California residents to find local nurseries, native plants, and drought-tolerant plants, and allows them to purchase plants, we will help California landscapes become more climate change friendly and help alleviate stress of finding the exact plant residents are looking for.

We will know this to be true when we see more landscapes become drought-tolerant, we see people downloading, purchasing plants, and high traffic throughout the app.

Duration: ~3 weeks

Team: Natalie Alpers (co-lead product designer), Cayti Dilley (co-lead product designer)

Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

Research.

While doing qualitative and quantitative research, our team found that most people in California felt strongly about supporting small businesses, felt like they lacked knowledge of native plant species in their area, were unsure of where to find native or local plants, and did not know what plants were drought tolerant. Our qualitative research also showed us that Maria, and others like her, needed an easy way to learn about native and beginner plants.

87%

of people strongly agreed that supporting small businesses that help combat climate change is important to them.

41%

of people do not know whom to talk to who can help them with their plants’ needs.

69%

of people are unsure or do not feel knowledgeable about plants and how they affect the environment.

36%

of people do not know what plants benefit themselves and/or the environment.

47%

of people do not know what plants are native to their county or location.

29%

of people do not know what plants are drought tolerant in their county or location.

Competitive Analysis.

After doing our research, it was time to look into the companies and applications that were going to be our biggest competitors. We made a list of everything Green Haus needed to be exactly what our users wanted and looked at what our competition was offering.

Personas.

Based on our research, we created two personas from our qualitative interviews. These two personas represent two people struggling to find what they need and our team will use these personas to drive us forward to create an app that has everything they are looking for.

Rudy.

"I want to get into plants, but I don't know where to start or where to find the right information."

"I love plants, but sometimes it's hard to find the ones that I'm looking for."

Maria.

Maria has been following lots of plant influencers lately and is thinking of starting her indoor jungle. However, she has found it difficult to find the plants see she’s online, let alone from a small business. As a college student, she also can’t afford the prices of online plant companies.

Rudy loves plants and has all his life. He often helps his family find plants that’ll work for their yard and has lots of experience with them. He knows a lot, but has trouble finding plants in bulk or for reasonable prices. He’s seen them all, but is always looking for new ways to care for them.

Needs:

A way to find beginner plants
A guide to nurseries in her area

Pain Points:

Can't price match
Doesn't know where to start

Needs:

A way to find plants in bulk
A way to see if plants are in stock

Pain Points:

Can't price match, has to shop around
Wants to learn more

User Flow.

To understand our users needs, we created a user flow to help us understand their process of finishing an important task on our app. Here you will see the user completing a purchase through the Green Haus app.

Style Tile.

Next, we created the style guide that represents our personality and gives Green Haus a brand name. We used warm tones and inviting greens to tell our users that we are looking forward to a green future and to propel sustainability forward in Los Angeles.

Mid-Fidelity Wireframes.

Our mid-fidelity wireframes show our sketches come to life. We took what our users asked for and created an app that gives them what they need. All we need to do now is add color, images, and design to create the perfect plant app in Los Angeles.

High-Fidelity.

Our high-fidelity mockups show our mid-fidelity wireframes in full color with designs and images. These are our final app screens before we do user testing and find any flaws or hiccups in our design.

First impression:

After users download the app, they are given the option to sign up or log in if they already have an account.

Prototype.

Here is a fully-functional prototype of our product. Feel free to click around and use our app! We hope you enjoy Green Haus.

Results.

We tested 5 users and asked them to onboard themselves onto the app. We asked them to find different areas and asked them to complete tasks that we felt were crucial to solving the user problem.

Tasks:

Find plants to add to your cart
Check out from your cart and track your order
Check your messages and talk to a plant expert
Browse for your favorite plants and search for a specific plant

Feedback and Suggestions:

User 1: Wished there was a location button on the browse page to browse nurseries in specific locations
User 2: Wished they could just browse specifically categories/plants/nurseries
User 3: Wished they were told how the app works in the onboarding process like explaining the chat
User 4: Wished there was a nursery icon next to the plant so they knew which nursery carried that plant
User 5: Wished there was an easier way to compare prices of the plants

Reflections and next steps:

Create a browse option on the search page. This will come up before you type in the search, sort of like Instagram's explore page. This way they can browse just plants, nurseries, and categories when they'd like
Allow an easy location change on the profile setting for when someone isn't close to home
Include an app guide in the onboarding process to highlight the more unique features of the app

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